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You’ve heard my raves about Lupe Tortilla’s beef fajita meat.
I was drooling.
I know it’s not polite, but I just couldn’t help it!
The meat was fan-tab-u-lous.
Technical term… Don’t let it scare you.
Okay. I dare ya – look “fantabulous” up in Webster’s dictionary.
Good ole Webster will look at you, laugh and say, “You’ve been reading that ‘Smiles’ girl again, haven’t you?”
Yup.
I’ve been working on tweaking my version of Lupe’s beef fajita meat… And I think I’m getting close…
Think tender, small bite-sized pieces of meat, with a taste of lime and a hint of mesquite flavor…
YUM.
Ideally, I’d like to grill the meat (using my grill basket so that meat won’t fall through the grate on the grill), but it was faaaareeeeeeeeeeezing last night, and I wasn’t about to go out in teen-degree weather with my flippy-floppies.
So, I improvised. And it worked out purdy darn good… 
Enjoy, my Friends.
Serves 2-4.
* 4 small beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed of fat and cut into 1X1/2 inch strips; (you can also use skirt steak)
* Juice from 5 limes (that’s not a type-o – you need a lot of lime juice!)
* 2 tsp garlic powder
* 1 Tbsp mesquite seasoning (I like Goode Company’s)
* 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 2 tsp taco seasoning
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 5 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
* 1/2 cup water
* Colby-Jack cheese (as much as you want), shredded
* 6-10 medium-sized tortillas (2 per quesadilla)
Your 'gredients! (Ok - I used a bit more meat and limes!!)
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic. Infuse the garlic into the olive oil, cooking it on very low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Infuse the olive oil with garlic!
Add the water and taco seasoning. Stir to combine and heat for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, add the meat, salt, pepper, mesquite seasoning, lime juice, and garlic powder. Add the cooled olive oil/taco seasoning mixture. Mix thoroughly.
Getting the marinade and the meat ready!
Cover, and allow the meat to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight, stirring occasionally.
Pour the meat and marinade in a large skillet. Heat over medium. Turning the meat once, cook until the marinade begins to bubble and froth a bit. Strain the marinade from the meat (using a fine mesh strainer). Discard the marinade return the meat to the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cooking, stirring occasionally until the meat is slightly dark in color on the outside, but still tender on the inside (you may have to strain a bit more of the marinade out, one more time). Remove from heat.
Spray another skillet with non-stick spray. Heat over medium. Lay down 1 tortilla, topping it with cheese and meat, then another tortilla. Cook each side of the quesadilla until it’s golden and the cheese is melted.
Serve with your favorite salsa, pico de gallo, or RoxStar’s homemade Chopotle Salsa.
Enjoy!
