Midnight Meat Attack

Sometimes in the middle of the night you have to throw together something to soak up all of the scotch.

All of this stuff could easily be in your kitchen at this moment. Leftover meat, tortillas, veggies. Just sitting there waiting for usage or rot. The proportions you use depend on you. I had:

Corn tortillas

Flat iron steak

Red peppers

Red onion

Black olives

Limes

Garlic

Cilantro

Spices - Coriander, cumin, oregano, ancho chili powder, salt, and pepper

Olive oil

Crumbly cheese (goat, feta, blue, whatever)

Options: Sour cream, guacamole, diced tomatoes, anything on hand.

I prefer skirt steak for . . . I don't know what this is. A taco? Fajita? A sad Americanization of Hispanic goodness? Whatever you call it I thought I should pound the steak a bit before coating it in the spices. I couldn't find my meat mallet so I used a framing hammer. Worked well.

If you're cheesed off that I haven't mentioned how many tablespoons of this or that spice to apply I don't know what to tell you. I go by look. I sprinkle them on one at a time so I can gauge how much might get into my mouth on each bite. Doing this you have to consider how thick the meat is and adjust how much you put on the outside accordingly. Imagine the meat in 3D and the amount of spices you put on the outside spread all through it.

Cook your meat in your favorite method. If you have a lot of whiskey, wine, or beer in your stomach you might want to start with coffee. If you remember that you only bought one steak and when you look at your cutting board you see two, you might just want to go pass out somewhere instead of burning your house down in a drunken culinary disaster. Otherwise cook to your desired doneness. Save any juices that exude while you let it cool. Slice it thin.

Add some oil to a skillet and throw in your onions and red peppers. Cook until your desired doneness. I like a little char on them. Then add the garlic near the end. Add the juices from the meat and set it aside.

Heat up a skillet with a little olive oil and toast your tortillas.

Assemble your thing-a-ma-dingy.

Tortilla on the plate, meat next, onion/pepper/garlic/juice mix next, then top with cilantro, cheese, and few olives. Add sour cream or guacamole in there if you have it and want it. Squeeze some lime juice over it and shove it into your gob.