Using bison flank steak for fajitas is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. First, I wanted to experiment with a good cut of flank steak before I decided to do a full blown fajita dinner. I started with a very nice cut of flank steak that I purchased by mailorder from a small bison ranch Minnesota recently. I used an adobo recipe I found in Rick Bayless’s Authentic Mexican cookbook but altered it slightly for some more ground chiles I had in my pantry. I used a mix of Pasilla and New Mexico ground chiles. You can generally find Ancho or Pasilla chile in ground form in the Spice Islands display at a good grocery store or you may find small packets of ground chiles at upscale markets such as Whole Foods or Wild Oats. Adobo marinade is basically a mix of ground or dried chiles, salt, cider vinegar, garlic, ground thyme and oregano, cloves, and cinnamon. It is a traditional Mexican marinade and you will find a good recipe here: Adobo Marinade. After you make this marinade, it will look somewhat pasty and that is just fine. Put it all over the flank steak and let it rest for at least an hour. However, make sure you don’t let it marinate too long as the vinegar will make the meat mushy. Vinegar based marinades essentially start to cook your meat after too long of a soak. Traditional mexican meats in the north are generally cooked over charcoal. Cook your meat to medium rare and slice it into one inch strips for your fajitas. Serve your fajitas with lightly steamed flour tortillas and pico de gallo. Remember that bison meat cooks more quickly than beef.
My bison flank steak turned out very well and was much more lean than beef. It was a big hit with our guests and a few people asked for the marinade recipe. Steak cooked over charcoal is amazing.