Okay, use a decent gravy instead of the bouillion cube and
add a little meat, and you might have something there.

My wife is English, and has gotten me hooked on Bisto gravy granules -

just

add hot water, and you get a passable gravy. Comes in a traditional

English

brown gravy, curry, and onion.

Lots of glutamates, I reckon. Adding fat will improve
things, guaranteed.

It's hard to find, though - best to get it online or at a local English store, if you have one.

Next picnic, perhaps. This picnic, we made steak and
kidney pie, and I made a decent though pale gravy. A
few shakes of soy sauce fixed that (Lea & Perrins
would have worked maybe, but I tasted it again, and as
Weller reports, the stuff was sweet and gross, very
unlike the Worcestershire I grew up with).

I guarantee Kathy would find modern American
Worcestershire would be an abomination in this recipe:

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: Kathy Pitts' Fajitas
Categories: Mexican, Beef
Yield: 4 servings

1 1/2 lb Beef skirt steak*
1 c Beer
1/2 ts Liquid smoke
2 Lime's juice
2 tb Worcestershire sauce
1 tb Soy sauce (opt'l)
pn Cumin
pn Mexican oregano
Pepper; black or lemon
Garlic powder

This Tex-Mex favorite was around LONG before the yuppiefood industry
snagged it, and turned it into a cliche. This is our version of the
dish, which is (I think) pretty close to the original. Our marinade
for this changes from time to time, depending on the mood of the
cook, the contents of the pantry, and perhaps the phases of the moon,
so feel free to fuss with it.

Skirt steak is the diaphragm of the beef, a long very stringy cut of
meat that accounts for the name of the dish (trans. "sashes"). It
used to be dirt cheap, and was poor folks fare until the food
faddists discovered it.

(Depending on where you live, this cut may either be easily found at
your market, or require a special order with the butcher. In a
pinch, you could substitute flank steak, just don't tell me about it
:-) ) To be tender, the meat demands VERY careful handling. Arm
yourself with a small, sharp knife, and obsessively trim off ALL the
fat, and as much of the silvery membrane surrounding the exterior of
the meat as you can manage. This can take a while, but be persistant.
The more you trim, the better the finished product.

Place the meat in a deep non-metallic pan, and cover with a mixture
of the remaining ingredients. Marinate the meat, turning
occasionally for at least 2 hours (overnight is better). When the
exterior of the meat is grey, it's ready to cook.

The soy is NOT authentic, but since Ninfa's, the Tex-Mex restaurant
chain that originally popularized the dish uses it in THEIR marinade,
I sometimes do, too. It gives the finished dish a nice shiny glaze.

To cook, fish the meat out of the marinade, and dry well. Season the
exterior with a liberal quantity of cracked black pepper (lemon
pepper is good, too), and garlic powder (not salt).

Grill over a medium-hot charcoal fire (best), or broil or grill
indoors. Either way, be VERY careful not to overcook the meat. If
you cook skirt steak beyond medium rare, it will be the toughest cut
of meat imaginable. Since the steak itself is quite thin, cooking
time will be brief. To serve, cut into thin, slanting slices, carving
against the grain of the meat.

The Accompaniments

Fajitas are generally accompanied by sauteed or grilled onions and
sweet green peppers (you can saute the onions and peppers well in
advance, and re-heat on the grill if you are doing the dish outdoors).

Also served is Pico de Gallo, a fresh tomato based salsa.

You will also need a stack of the best flour tortillas you can find.
Some refried beans on the side would be nice, too.

Other possible accompaniments include guacamole or sliced avocados,
lime wedges to squeeze over everything, shredded cheddar cheese, sour
cream.

To eat, take a few slices of meat, and lay on a tortilla. Top with
the sauteed onions and peppers, pico de gallo, and whatever else
suits you.

Fold into a soft taco, and enjoy.

Kathy in Bryan, TX

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