Having Houston For Lunch - A Broncos Tailgate Theme

The Denver Broncos are hosting the Houston Texans on Sunday, which means "Tailgate Alley" in the Stadium parking lot will be an alive and joyous place to revel on Game Day in the Mile High city. The contest doesn’t begin until 2:25 in the afternoon (Mtn Time), so that gives us time to have the Texans for lunch. The last time they came to town we Tore Up the Texans. So fire up the grill and lets kick off the celebration

Even though it is a home game, the theme for today will be the flavor of Tex-Mex. This is kind of uncanny, because I am attending the annual Chili Festival today in Pueblo, Colorado. You can expect some future recipes with that ingredient later this season since I am stocking up for the year.

The first down play offers up a 4 Receiver (servings) set that should only take about a half an hour to complete. As with a lot of Tex-Mex fare, we begin with Steak. It’s what’s for Lunch.

Ancho-Onion Steak

Ingredients

• 3 Lbs. of Skirt steak
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3 Ancho Chili peppers, seeds and stems removed
• 1 1/2 cups of Chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Add the butter to a skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted, caramelize the onions (about 20 minutes). Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste, then move the skillet to the warming area of the grill and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Place the Ancho chiles in small sauce pot with the Chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat and allow the chiles to steep for 5 minutes.

Put the Chiles and the onions in a food processor and puree. Season this mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

Season the meat with salt and pepper and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Grill over high heat 5 to 6 minutes total, turning once, for rare. Remove the steak to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak and arrange on a serving platter. Serve with lots of steak sauce poured over top.

I don’t know about you, but that makes me hungry.

It wouldn’t be Tex-Mex cuisine if it weren’t for the old staple of Fajitas. Steak, Chicken or Shrimp, the choice is yours. The easy way out here is to go to the store and buy a pre-made mix and hit up the butcher at the meat counter and purchase your meat already cut up. But this kid doesn’t play the game like that. So here are two tasty marinades you can make for yourself. That way, you’re all set if you have unexpected guests at your Tailgate or Patio party.

Fajita Marinade #1

• 1/2 Cup of olive oil
• 1/2 Cup of soy sauce
• 1/2 Cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/3 Cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 Cup of lime juice
• 3 cloves mashed garlic
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt*

* I caution patience with the use of salt here. Soy sauce is very salty, so wait until you taste this concoction before adding more salt to it. You can always add more salt. It's not so easy to take it away.

Combine all ingredients. Marinate meat overnight. Cook over medium high coals 6 to 7 minutes each side or until done.
This recipe makes enough marinade for 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. of meat.

Fajita Marinade #2

1 Cup of soy sauce
1 1/2 Cup of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
4 ounces of liquid smoke
3 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ofgarlic powder
6 to 12 oz. Beer

Mix all ingredients and marinate your preference of meat overnight.

Obviously, this is a dish you must prepare beforehand, but that is the best part. You spend less time working and more time partying on Game Day and that’s really what it’s about isn’t it?
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Okay, so we have the play called with the marinade. Now we need to be in the right formation.

Building the Perfect Fajita

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ½- 3 pounds meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast, skirt steak or peeled and deveined shrimp)
• 1 large Onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
• 1 Green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 Red bell pepper, sliced
• 8- 10" Flour tortillas