Marinade:

2/3 cup Mexican beer
1/4 cup chopped chipotle in adobo sauce, found on international foods aisle
1 lime, juiced
2 garlic cloves finely minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/8 cup vegetable oil

Fajitas:

Flank steak

8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips
1 poblano pepper seeded and sliced into thin strips
1 medium yellow onion, sliced into thin strips
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Combine marinade ingredients in a large zip-type bag. Turn flank steak in marinade and let stand 15 minutes. The meat can sit in the marinade all day for a very strong and spicy flavor. A shorter marinade will result in a milder tasting meat.

You can cook the flank steak on an outdoor grill until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the meat is 145 degrees Fahrenheit, which is medium rare. If using a grill pan, heat the pan to high heat and sear the flank steak 4 minutes on each side. Reduce heat and cook meat 6 to 8 minutes longer, turning occasionally. Do not overcook or the meat will be tough.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over high heat. Blister the tortillas 30 seconds on each side and stack them on a plate. Loosely wrap tortillas with foil and set aside.

Add oil to hot pan and sear sliced peppers and onions for fajitas. Season peppers and onions with salt and pepper. Char the edges and sauté the peppers and onions until just tender, about 2 or 3 minutes. Transfer to a platter and cover with loose foil to keep hot. Add another tablespoon oil to the pan along with the garlic, jalapeno and chopped onion; sauté for 2 minutes.

Remove meat from grill pan and let it rest 5 minutes for juices to distribute. It is very important to let the meat rest. Slice meat very thin on an angle against the grain. Pile meat on top of cooked peppers and onions and take the hot grill to the table, placing it on trivets or a cool wire rack. Stack meat and veggies in warm tortillas and enjoy.

8 tablespoons chili powder
4 tablespoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground oregano
4 teaspoons garlic salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until evenly mixed.  Put into a small Mason jar with a tight fitting lid.  Makes 1 cup.

1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt

Combine cocoa, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Add water, and mix until smooth. Bring to a boil. Allow it to boil for one minute, be careful so that this does not boil over. Remove from heat, when cooled add the vanilla.

2 Cups corn flour (masa harina)
1 Cup water

DIRECTIONS: Combine corn flour and water. Mix with hands until dough is moist but holds it’s shape. Add more water if needed. Divide dough into 12 balls. Dampen dough slightly with water. Press between sheets of waxed paper to 6-inch diameter using a tortilla press or flat baking dish. Carefully peel off top sheet of paper.

Place paper side up on hot, ungreased skillet. Gently peel off remaining sheet of waxed paper. Cook until edges begin to dry, about 30 seconds. Turn; cook till puffs appear in tortilla. Repeat with remaining dough. Spread with butter, fold in quarters and eat as bread or fry in hot oil. MAKES 12.

4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 cups water

Mix all ingredients. Form into golf ball size balls. Roll out flat into a circle. Cook on each side in a dry non-stick pan until starting to brown. DO NOT OVERCOOK. The tortillas cook quickly and it is easy to burn them if you turn away.

Buttermilk: Take 1/4 cup of buttermilk and add it to four cups of milk in a glass container. Stir well, cover and set it out on the counter. In about 24 hours, you will have buttermilk. To make more, just remember to save 1/4 cup of buttermilk from each batch for the next batch.

It should last about 2 weeks in the fridge and yes, you can keep using the same culture.

Be sure to wash and sterilize the container (the dishwasher is great for this) before you mix and culture each new batch.

Tip: use the 1/4 cup to culture a batch and then freeze the remaining store-bought buttermilk in recipe size amounts. You can’t use the frozen buttermilk for culturing but if you ever run out, or find you have a bad batch, you have some to thaw and use.

Sour cream: same as above recipe, only you use heavy cream in place of the milk.