ROUSES.COM
11
TeX MeX
All recipes adapted from Robb Walsh’s
The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbecue
Cookbook
(2010, Broadway Books).
Tex-Mex Grill Spice Blend
This all-purpose spice blend is easy to make
and adds chile-spiked alternative to our
familiar Louisiana “Cajun spice” mixtures.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
4
tablespoons sea salt
3
tablespoons powdered chile of your choice
2
tablespoons dried granulated garlic
2
tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
1
tablespoon ground thyme
1
teaspoon ground coriander
1
teaspoon ground cumin
HOW TO PREP
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, blending
well. Be sure to break up any chunks. Store in a
spice jar or baby-food container. Shake or stir again
before each use.
(Makes about 1 cup)
Chile Butter
This simple compound butter is great to
have on hand during grilling season, as
it adds spicy richness to everything from
rib-eye steaks to grilled corn on the cob. It
also adds zing to steamed vegetables and
weeknight pasta.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1
dried chile, stemmed, seeded,
and softened in hot water
2
cloves garlic, minced
1
cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
Sea salt
HOW TO PREP
Place softened chile, garlic, butter, and salt to taste
in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and
beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Put
the butter mixture in the refrigerator for an hour to
allow the flavors to develop.
Remove butter mixture from bowl with a rubber
spatula and place on length of foil. Roll the mixture
into a 1½ inch-wide log, squeezing to remove any
air pockets and rolling to shape the cylinder evenly.
Wrap tightly in foil and freeze until ready for use.
For steaks, cut butter into disks (don’t try to unwrap
it, just cut through the foil, then remove the foil).
Put a cold disk of flavored butter on top of a sizzling
steak. For grilled corn and other uses, let a portion
of chile butter thaw and spread as needed. Chile
butter will keep in the freezer for several months.
(Makes eight 1-ounce portions)
Flatiron Fajitas
Flatiron steaks are cut from the chuck
shoulder. Rouses exclusive Texas Star Beef is
great for this dish.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
MARINADE
1
cup pineapple juice
1
cup soy sauce
3
limes
2
cloves garlic, minced
1
pound flatiron steaks,
or 1½ pounds beef chuck top blade roast
Salt and pepper
HOW TO PREP
Prepare marinade by combining pineapple juice
and soy sauce in large mixing bowl. Wash and zest
3 limes, adding zest to the juice mixture. Cut limes
in half after zesting and squeeze juice into the
bowl; also throw in skins. Add garlic.
Place steaks in a resealable plastic bag with the
fajita marinade and gently remove the air. Place
bag in bowl to catch any leakage and place in
fridge for a few hours.
Light grill. Put meat on the hot part of grill and cook,
turning once or twice, until it registers medium rare
on the meat thermometer. (The meat is very tender;
you don’t need to overcook it.) Remove from grill,
and salt and pepper to taste.
Cut a test slice to find the direction of the grain,
then cut into thin strips against the grain. Squeeze
the remaining lime over the meat and serve
immediately with warm flour tortillas and fajita
fixins.
(Serves 2 to 3)
as “the heart of modern Tex-Mex,” the
regional variant of Mexican food native
to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in the
southern reaches of the Lone Star state.
Originally cooked by Tejano cooks —
Texans of Mexican descent — sometime in
the 1960s, this spicy, savory grilled specialty
appeared on menus across the country
twenty years later, making the humble cut
of meat (outside skirt steak) popular and
increasingly in demand.
“These days, it’s tough to get outside
skirt,” he explained. Due to loopholes in
international trade laws, ranchers export
90% of the cut to Asian markets. “I got
this at A&M, but when I can’t, I substitute
a flatiron steak, which is cut from the
shoulder, or a butterfly cut across the
boneless short rib.”
“If you have any questions about a cut, ask
your Rouses Butcher. We will gladly cut,
trim or butterfly any cut of beef we sell.”
—James – Rouses Meat & Seafood Director
“Here we go ... Just about done.”
After a quick check, he lifted the thin slabs
of meat to a waiting platter, let them rest for
a few minutes, then cut them carefully across
the grain before bringing them to the table.
Over the next hour or so, I built a series of
perfect tacos with the spread set before me:
guacamole, three homemade salsa, refried
beans, shredded lettuce and cubed summer
tomato.
Each beefy taco slightly different, but
absolutely perfect.
Pushing back from the table, I had to admit
that Robb was right after all. On this day,
during summertime grill season in the
heart of Texas, I was indeed in luck.
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