Beef Fajita Crescent Braid

Wow, I know I’ve been out of touch for a while, but I can assure you I have still been cooking!  I’m finally sitting down to catch you up on some of the things that have been ‘kooking’ in my kitchen :)

Recently, fajitas were very on sale at our favorite grocery store (HEB), and I cooked the entire package one day for lunch.  Of course I cannot eat several pounds of meat in one meal for myself, so I decided to browse around for a way that I could use up the rest for dinner when my sous chef came home.  While this recipe didn’t call for beef, I decided to adapt it to work for beef.

Beef Fajita Crescent Braid
Adapted from Chicken Fajita Crescent Braid

INGREDIENTS
2 cans (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent rolls
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 to 1/2 pounds of freshly cooked Fajita meat
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup green or red bell pepper strips (2x1x1/4 inch)
1/4 cup your favorite salsa 
2 cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese blend (8 oz)
1 egg white, beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F.  Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray or use a baking stone.

2. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper strips, chili powder, cumin, mexican spice blend, salt and garlic; cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.  Add in freshly cooked fajita meat; cook 1 to 2 minutes longer, making sure vegetables are tender and meat is cooked to your desire. 3. Layer each crescent as shown in the picture above on a cookie sheet or baking stone.  Spoon fajita mixture in 4-inch strip lengthwise down center of dough. Top with salsa;  sprinkle with cheese. Alternately cross strips over filling; press edges to seal. Brush with egg white. 4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices. The sous chef very much enjoyed this recipe!  I think that because this recipe has ingredients he’s a little more accustomed to, he wasn’t so bewildered to eat it :)  I can imagine this would be huge kid favorite especially if you served it around Halloween and called it something ‘Mummy’ like.  Right?!