Fajitas!
A sizzling favorite at Mexican restaurants and an easy-peasy dinner option. All you need are peppers, onions and the right spices.
Don't bother buying fajita spice seasoning packets. A well-stocked kitchen has all the spices you need in the pantry already. Maybe you'll need to go get the red pepper flakes, but those are worth it when you make homemade pizza. That recipe will come up one of these days - as soon as one of the grocery stores imports some fresh mozzarella for a decent price!
Premade tortillas here are too expensive AND I really like making them from scratch, so I've also included a quick tutorial on corn tortillas in this post.
1 cup masa harina
2/3 cup water
Pinch of salt
For the fajitas:
1 large chicken breast, or similar amount of beef or tofu or other protein source (optional)
2-3 tbsp fajita spice mix (recipe follows)
1 onion, sliced into thin strips
2-3 African-sized bell peppers (one American giant will probably do), sliced into thin strips
other condiments of your choice, such as hot peppers
Fajita Spice Mix:
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp crushed chicken bouillon cube
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
A sizzling favorite at Mexican restaurants and an easy-peasy dinner option. All you need are peppers, onions and the right spices.
Don't bother buying fajita spice seasoning packets. A well-stocked kitchen has all the spices you need in the pantry already. Maybe you'll need to go get the red pepper flakes, but those are worth it when you make homemade pizza. That recipe will come up one of these days - as soon as one of the grocery stores imports some fresh mozzarella for a decent price!
Premade tortillas here are too expensive AND I really like making them from scratch, so I've also included a quick tutorial on corn tortillas in this post.
Fajitas for Two
Ingredients:
For eight tortillas:1 cup masa harina
2/3 cup water
Pinch of salt
For the fajitas:
1 large chicken breast, or similar amount of beef or tofu or other protein source (optional)
2-3 tbsp fajita spice mix (recipe follows)
1 onion, sliced into thin strips
2-3 African-sized bell peppers (one American giant will probably do), sliced into thin strips
other condiments of your choice, such as hot peppers
Fajita Spice Mix:
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp crushed chicken bouillon cube
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
Directions
First off, to make the
tortillas: Measure masa into a bowl. My package has instructions to make 4, 8
and 16 tortillas. This recipe made 8.
Measure out the water but don't add it all at once.
Pour in half or 3/4 of the water and mix thoroughly with your hand, kneading and squishing. Add more water as necessary until the dough becomes, as Alton Brown said, "like mashed potatoes." Moist so it sticks to itself, but not yet squishy. About like this:
Divide the dough into two even logs, and then cut each log into four equal-sized pieces. Voila: eight tortillas.
With experience, I've learned to eyeball the quantity needed and take it off the dough mass at once.
Keep all the dough you're not yet using in a bowl under a damp dish towel to keep it moist.
Grab your handy-dandy tortilla press! Make sure you have some plastic in there to keep the dough off of the plates. I use a cutout from a zip-top baggie but I know others who use squares from heavy-duty garbage bags.
Measure out the water but don't add it all at once.
Pour in half or 3/4 of the water and mix thoroughly with your hand, kneading and squishing. Add more water as necessary until the dough becomes, as Alton Brown said, "like mashed potatoes." Moist so it sticks to itself, but not yet squishy. About like this:
Divide the dough into two even logs, and then cut each log into four equal-sized pieces. Voila: eight tortillas.
With experience, I've learned to eyeball the quantity needed and take it off the dough mass at once.
Keep all the dough you're not yet using in a bowl under a damp dish towel to keep it moist.
Grab your handy-dandy tortilla press! Make sure you have some plastic in there to keep the dough off of the plates. I use a cutout from a zip-top baggie but I know others who use squares from heavy-duty garbage bags.
If you don't have a tortilla press, you can press the tortillas between the counter and a heavy book, or under the bottom of a coffee can.
Roll the dough bit into a ball, center in the plastic and center the plastic in the tortilla press, then smoosh!
Flip the tortilla at least once, for even squishing, and re-press. The part closest to the lever's base gets squished the thinnest.
Carefully unpeel the tortilla from the plastic and place into a hot pan. No oil is needed; the water in the tortilla will steam and cushion it from the bottom of the pan. Try moving it around the pan; you'll see! It's like a hovercraft!
If your edges taper (mine often do) you can tell the first side is done when the edges start to curl.
The second side is done when the tortilla begins to balloon up inside. Like this...
See that shadow in the front? Ballooning!
Tortillas can be kept warm in an oven or toaster oven on low. If in the oven, cover 'em up with something... in the toaster oven, covering may be too risky but keep the heat way low to stop them getting too crispy. They still need to be pliable for fajitas.
If you're lucky, you'll have a willing kitchen assistant nearby. While one makes the tortillas, the other can start cutting protein of choice (optional), onions and peppers into small strips, and/or mixing the spices.
When the spices are mixed, rub 2-3 tbsp (depending how spicy you want your fajitas) onto the protein, if using, or the peppers 'n onions, if not.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry the protein until nearly cooked through. Add the peppers 'n onions and whatever extras you choose to throw in.
Cook until the veggies are soft.
Serve with salsa, sour cream and grated cheese.
To serve: Spread ingredients in a line down the middle of the tortilla, and roll it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment