Attached photos are for illustrative purposes on Vic Socotra for The Daily. Food styling by Nicola Justine Davis for The Washington Post, where a line of images from Google Search collectively represents versions of Mexico’s delightful fajitas for The Post).

Ann Maloney is the Recipes Editor at The Post, the newspaper I considered equivalent to Revealed Wisdom for several decades. The Writer’s Section generally had the same experience, and no day could be said to have started the day until reviewing the OpEd pieces at the back of the Front Section. We are done with that, since the Post and New York Times have abandoned objective journalism.

Ann contributes a weekly column on “quick weeknight meals.” She is always looking for recipes that taste like they took longer to prepare than they really did. He self-described goal is to convey techniques and tips that can help us collectively get dinner on the table in 45 minutes or less — sometimes much less!

Like so many cooks, her palate has been shaped by the people and places dear to her. She proudly advertises her heritage as a New Orleans Native in the banner for her column. We tried that after Marlow left us the lease on his apartment in Key West. We tried to make it work for a couple years, but were still working half-heartedly. KW is truly one of those magical places, but it happens to be located at the distant end of two-lane highway festooned occasionally with small islands.

Medical needs with specialized solutions drove him and his lovely bride Janet up to the Coastal Empire, and we let the lease expire in the Keys and started looking west toward New Orleans, another magical place with just a little more water than most folks are used to. We tried Pass Christian, Mississippi. New Orleans is just a few dozen miles further west, and we even looked for a job there at the World War II Museum.

It did not work out, but we never lost our taste for a nice plate of fajitas.

Ann Maloney is a New Orleans native with a strong affinity for Cajun and Creole flavors. She would be happy to explain things like “roux” and “gumbo” if you have the time- and her favorite recipes include things like red gravy anything garlicky extra-garlicky.

She is aware of the virtue component in cooking though and is virtuously attempting to eat more vegetables and become aware of the subtleties of tofu. We are successfully- so far- avoiding the latter.

Ann claims she loves to hear from readers (who apparently eat). You can Email her at ann.maloney@washpost.com, and sign up for her weekly Recipes newsletter there.

Essential topics to demonstrate why reading Ann Maloney equates to culinary virtue:

· Master a Cajun classic in 30 minutes with this easy shrimp étouffée

· This pasta milanese is a pantry-friendly taste of tradition

· Make a big batch of pantry-friendly tomato sauce for a leg up on dinner

· Ease into cooking seafood with good fish and simple techniques

· ‘Gumbo diplomacy’ from this ambassador’s classic recipe

· 5 money-saving tips for cooking at home

· How to make your grocery shopping more eco-friendly

Virtue does conflict with tradition, and Ann claims you can make vegetarian fajitas, or make them with chicken or shrimp. In this variation, she went with the more traditional ‘beef.’ The word “fajitas” comes from the Spanish word for “belt,” which only makes us thankful the Spanish did not think up the “Fajitas y Camino” initiative for their Belt and Road initiative. They take a more modest approach with the skirt steak traditionally used in the dish. Flank steak, which is thicker and wider, is a bit easier to find in stores, so she used that here. Both cuts work for the dish.

In Ann’s field trial, she made a delicious batch, but without the sizzle, she felt left down. In order to explore the full spectrum, she was determined to see whether it was possible to carry a skillet of steak fajitas to her dinner table, complete with the trail of steam — without cheating.

Was she successful? Yes, and no. The fajitas were delicious — what’s not to like? — with seasoned and seared beef, peppers and onions with lots of toppings on warm tortillas. While she never claimed to have delivered the crowd-pleasing white contrail that restaurants do, with careful timing she was able to plop that skillet on the table while it was still audibly sizzling and emitting thin wisps of steam.

Here’s how she claims she did it:

First, marinate the meat. While the beef soaked up flavor, she sliced the vegetables and cooked them in a hot skillet. She then transferred them to a bowl and covered them to keep them warm while shredding cheese (yes, we are like her. We like cheese on our fajitas, like Ann does. Based on her recommendation, we put the crema, fresh salsa and pickled jalapeños in serving bowls. Then, sliced the avocado, washed a handful of cilantro sprigs, cut a lime into wedges and added them to the table on the Patio. Finally, we wrapped the tortillas in a towel and warmed them in the microwave before adding them to the table.

If you’re going to make a presentation with the sizzling skillet, you need a feast, right?

In the center of it all for presentation, she placed a trivet for the hot skillet. We set out corn chips and asked the Salts to gather at the table and enjoy a few while we slipped back to the stove for some final adjustments.

There, we reheated the skillet to near smoking hot and then seared and cooked the steak to just short of our liking. Pushing it to one side of the skillet, she added the vegetables to half of the pan, tossing them a few times to get them nice and hot. As soon as everything was just a little shy of being done, she lifted the pan and carried it in a cheery haze of delicious smelling steam straight to the table.

Heads turned as the hot, hot cast iron was hoisted into its place of honor, delivering a delicious scent driven by those muted, but still telltale, sizzles and steam.

The Salts approved, and in an instant callused hands were reaching for tortillas, filling them with meat and vegetables. Then the toppings went on, and the other smokey haze of conversation rose with steam over the table.

We like Ann Maloney’s approach to Fajitas, and are going to try some of the other recipes in her bag of tricks next time!

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