This meal of my touted “best steak street tacos” almost didn’t come together. It was 8:11pm two nights ago, and I had promised dinner at 8:00. If I were to deliver on the garlic parmesan roasted asparagus as well, it might push me another 15 or 20 minutes.
I don’t really sweat my day job in nonprofit fundraising.
It’s mealtime delivery that gives me indigestion.
My 17-year-old son Teak and I had gone to the H-E-B grocery store on Main Street, and not only had I decided late in the game to cook steak street tacos, but I also took longer than expected to find everything on my list.
Plus, I was having fun showing my 17-year-old son how to pick produce. Honestly, I didn’t know how much I knew about doing it. It’s like that when you have to talk impromptu about a subject. Of course, the opposite is true. That’s why I rarely go to home improvement stores with Karen.
In any event, during our shopping excursion, I also spotted this foodstuff [pictured at right]. “Impossible” is right. Frankly, they could have used a different color green or a different color altogether to distract the eye from the dog-puke meat color.
The real deal
Before we get to the fajita meat for the tacos — because I didn’t created the recipes for the meat rub or the chimichurri or the asparagus, but I did for a new kind of pico de gallo, one that kicks you in the butt when you’re focused on eating one of your steak street tacos — let’s talk produce.
My pico includes habanero peppers rather than jalapeƱos.
If you didn’t see this YouTube video I posted the other day, it’s worth a look, even a brief one. Because habaneros are nothing compared to what these Brits put in their mouths with a little sadistic encouragement from the audience.
Like I said, habaneros are maybe second or third, at most, on their docket of digestive death.
But I thought: why make a bland pico with jalapeƱos when I can go the habanero route instead? It’s a rung higher on the jungle gym. A foot farther out on the tree limb. A step closer looking over that cliff’s edge.
And I’ll level up next time. (Or, instead of pico, that might have to be a salsa, the way I created HERE.)
My pico included (I kind of created this loosely, not by a recipe that I tracked, so I can’t give you exact amounts):
- roma tomatoes (3)
- habanero (3)
- red onion
- cilantro
- cumin
- garlic (or garlic powder; though I supposed I should have minced some while I minced a lot for the steak, chimichurri and asparagus. I must have minced about seven cloves. I almost always have garlic wasting away in my cup on the counter. I don’t now.)
- lemon juice (I didn’t remember to get a lime at the store)
- salt and ground pepper
So, as you can see, while there was an 3-on-3 showdown between the larger tomatoes and smaller, shrunken habanero, who do you think won with a first-round knockout?
Yeah.
You guessed it.
Habanero was doing that thing of standing on the corner of the ring, looking out at the crowd with its little green stem arms raised and crying out: “Ā”En vuestros caras!”
The “best steak street tacos ever”?
As a family crowd pleaser, these did their job. There were lots of “yums” going around the table.
Teak has always been a foodie, ever since he had a bite of my fish taco when the family went to St. Croix on vacation. He was maybe on the shy side of 8. He took a bite, chewed and swallowed and, with a faraway look said, “Am I in heaven?”
Eight years old.
I think I’d improve the meal, though, on the meat side. It was pan-seared, and I want to sous vide it and then blacken it on a grill (which we don’t have).
I’ve got the the go-ahead on the grill purchase, so next taco installment should find Teak in seventh heaven.