RenoAg said:

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Also for you gringos, be warned that the green sauce by where you pay is indeed delicious. But it is hot AF.

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We're hooked - sh*t is delicious

Just tried their chorizo. Also fantastic. My latina wife cooked it up with some eggs and potatoes. And used their green sauce on top at the end. Homemade flour tortillas that she made herself for tacos. Masterpiece level stuff.

Yall ever cook chorizo from those tubes at the grocery store? Yeah this ain't nothing like that where it seems like 90% of it melts down into grease. This is much closer to something like ground beef in consistency. And spiced and flavored well.

Reno just made me think of queso fundido or chori-queso

1. Get some good quality flour tortillas, Abuelas or the HEB ones, the ones that are raw and you have to cook, or if you are lucky like Reno some homemade ones
2. Cook up some chorizo in a skillet, cast iron if you have it to keep it authentic of how it would be normally served, not a lot, I'm taking a guess here but lets say about 1/4 cup of it approximately
3. While it is cooking, take an 8 oz pack of Monterrey jack cheese, cube it, and carefully melt it int the microwave.
4. When the chorizo is cooked, dump the melted cheese into the skillet with the chorizo, don't drain it, just dump it in there, and stir
5. Spoon some of that deliciousness on a flour tortilla taco style and enjoy the gooey gloriousness!!!

If you are so inclined, you can sub out the chorizo for some diced fajita meat. I prefer chorizo though.

Sit back, enjoy, have a cold one because you are winning at life, haha.

To make it Don Tomate related, use their chorizo, although I have never tried it, I trust Reno. I know that ground beef consistency of which he is referring, that is quality chorizo, not like you are biting into a lymph node or something else from the "tubes".

Was out running errands and was nearby right before closing time. Picked up a couple of pounds of Blanca and green sauce for dinner tomorrow. Grabbed some chorizo for breakfast tacos later this week.

MarylandAG said:

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Reno just made me think of queso fundido or chori-queso

1. Get some good quality flour tortillas, Abuelas or the HEB ones, the ones that are raw and you have to cook, or if you are lucky like Reno some homemade ones
2. Cook up some chorizo in a skillet, cast iron if you have it to keep it authentic of how it would be normally served, not a lot, I'm taking a guess here but lets say about 1/4 cup of it approximately
3. While it is cooking, take an 8 oz pack of Monterrey jack cheese, cube it, and carefully melt it int the microwave.
4. When the chorizo is cooked, dump the melted cheese into the skillet with the chorizo, don't drain it, just dump it in there, and stir
5. Spoon some of that deliciousness on a flour tortilla taco style and enjoy the gooey gloriousness!!!

If you are so inclined, you can sub out the chorizo for some diced fajita meat. I prefer chorizo though.

Sit back, enjoy, have a cold one because you are winning at life, haha.

To make it Don Tomate related, use their chorizo, although I have never tried it, I trust Reno. I know that ground beef consistency of which he is referring, that is quality chorizo, not like you are biting into a lymph node or something else from the "tubes".

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Pay special attention to this instruction: don't drain the chorizo. You need all that grease. For flavor? Sure but the real reason is you gonna need it to help ease that brick through your innards. Otherwise it might get uncomfortable. Heed these genius words of wise viejos that have been so generously shared through the years and are now being disseminated to the gringo masses of the Tine board.

I picked up some marinated costillas and cecina to try. Any recommendations on the best way to make the cecina? Grill?

I would get the fajitas again, probably wouldn't get the costillas de res again and definitely would not get the tamales again.

Well I took a picture but somehow managed to delete it. It's doesn't matter, they don't look much different anyway.
I bought two pounds of blanca and two pounds of non-seasoned. Huge difference! The blanca melts in your mouth. The regular were very tough.

It's not any special seasoning on the blanca, it's the tenderness of them that really sets them apart.

Maybe I am off base, but I suspect there is some type of meat tenderizer in the marinade mix, something like Adolf's seasoned or unseasoned meat tenderizer powder. My guess is that is what gives them the tenderness. I bought some Adolf's to play around with different marinades. If they put it in there, they probably marinade in the stuff for at least 24 hrs before they hit the shelf.

Also, the first time I ever bought them the butcher was taking them out of a stainless steel container, kind of looked like a bigger version of the instant pot, so I figured it was some type of tumbler, maybe a vacuum tumbler but who knows, all I know is that is where he grabbed them from. I asked him for some regular ones that time and he asked if I had ever tried the blancas, I said no and he said "estan para chuparse los dedos", which loosely translates to "they are finger licking good", so I bought some, was pretty skeptical because they looked like normal fajitas to me, but when I tried them, my reaction was "dayuuuuum", thus this thread.

I am going to experiment with some regular ones and use the tenderizing powder as a base and a mininum of 24 hrs before I cooked them, along with various spice and maybe oil combinations. I am positive they both start off as the same fajitas they just put the magic concoction on the blancas whatever that is.

Ok westside Ags ... if you want some excellent barbacoa, try out Dona Tere on Franz Road in Katy. Got a pound there today. Outstanding. Both the red and green salsa they gave with it were on point too. Good flavor and significant heat without being overpowering. Warning - there were quite a few folks in the taqueria that's connected. All were wearing masks if they weren't eating/drinking. But if a large amount of people under one roof in a smallish area would bother you, this might not be your place.

I didn't get anything else from there. I wasn't even paying attention to be honest. This gringo was sent on a mission for barbacoa by his esposa. So I was in and out fairly quick. I'll have to do another recon trip to see what else they might have that looks good for the grill.

Have been getting their fajita blancas since they opened....they are the best fajitas you will ever cook at home consistently. They are even better day two. Chicken fajitas - I have my own method that I have yet to find a better pre-packaged or meat market product so I just do them myself.

The chorizo is outstanding there. Never had the high quality stuff and now I can never buy the stuff in a tube/casing ever again.

Well...spill the beans on the chicken marinade bud...

Went the other day and brought my Spanish speaking friend. There was a different guy behind the counter then usual. When my friend asked him the difference between the red and white fajitas, he said food coloring. No idea if that's really true!

Fiesta brand fajita seasoning (not the chicken fajita seasoning) .....lots of it. Canola oil and overnight marinating. A little pour of a lite beer also helps.

The amount out seasoning is the trick. I never actually measure but I just eyeball it and know. When you think it looks like too much..... Add some more.


One edit...... And very important....... Flatten the chicken before marinating

Thanks. I usually just use lime juice and a bunch of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder and cumin.

I'll try the fajita spice and see which I like better.

Also I hate flattening the chicken, but will give it a go.

If you are in a pinch and can't make it to Don Tomate try the Ryan Express marinated fajitas at Kroger. They have a mild seasoning and are pretty tender. Cut against the grain.

Good luck T Durden! I can't stress that being liberal on the seasoning for marinating is critical. No need to add more during cooking.

Sweet Moses, it's quite a pile o meat

The sausage is just a giant pack of sh*tty eckrich, but threw in some limes for tequila & an extra green sauce came out to pretty much $60 even

I recently learned that Bayou City uses Eckrich in their gumbo, which is a shame bc they really nail their roux.

How was the sasoned chiken?

It's red chicken quarters - looks the same as the boneless stuff I got last time, which was lacking - but I'll cook some up on the grill tonight and see if they're any better.

I'll probably throw most of the chicken in the freezer for another time and maybe tweak em seasoning wise if the test ones aren't up to snuff

Bought the special for a later day. Not sure why they charged sales tax on it though seeing as how it is all food.

The chicken quarters are oddly cross cut after just dumping them out. I'm probably just gonna freeze em and grill em during a football Saturday to snack on

Just cooking up what I know my crew will tear up tonight - a pile o blancas!

Love their green sauce. Trying their red sauce also.

I went Saturday and bought a lb of blancas and a lb of their red fajitas (I think they call them Maranadas or something like that) and a lb of chicken for a small group on Sunday. Yummy as always..

I think I liked the red better than the blancas. The blancas have too much non-meat/beef type flavoring if that makes any sense. It's the same reason I don't love Lupe's fajitas...they taste like one big lime to me and I lose any sort of beef flavoring. I'll eat them but they're not my favorite.

Saw a sign for another location today on kuykendahl, think it was between 99 and craft grill

This place still around? Still good?

I got some fajitas there on Grant road for july 4th. So unless they've closed it since then, it's still open there.

Still there. Still great.

Still there and still good. I'm the OP and haven't been in a while, just got busy. Thanks to this thread I know what I am having for lunch tomorrow!!!

Nm

man, i havent been to the Tomate in quite a while