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Fajitas

Note to self, when posting entries which have been in draft for ages, remember to update the posting date when you publish!

Stolen from the Sainsbury's Magazine, April 1998 and finally posted up - I've only been promising to do so for over five years now! It's a really good marinade for making fajitas, one of my favourite Mexican dishes, and not just because it contains alcohol. Of course, tequila generally comes in bigger bottles than 50ml but if you buy more limes than are strictly necessary then the tequila oversupply often solves itself...

Ingredients

• Juice 1 lime
• Juice 1 orange
• 2 fl oz (55ml) Tequila
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 rounded teaspoons mild chilli powder
• 1 rounded teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 rounded tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped
• about 1lb 10oz (740g) sirloin or rump steak, or similar amount of chicken
• 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparing the Meat

Combine the lime and orange juice, tequila, garlic, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, a teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste and place in a double plastic bag or a covered bowl with the meat. Leave to marinate in the fridge for about two hours.

The original recipe said to drain the marinade before frying up the meat, but I usually just tip it all into a big frying pan and reduce it down, along with some thickly sliced onions and/or peppers.

Assembly Instructions

Now comes the fun part, building your fajitas and eating them! The following method of assembly doesn't manage to fit quite as much filling in as other methods, but in my experience manages to keep virtually all of its contents inside the tortilla whilst being consumed, making it much less messy.

The cooked meat should be served with warmed flour tortillas (for wrapping) and a selection of sauces and the like (for additional filling). I'd usually provide some lettuce, soured cream (or creme fraiche), salsa, guacamole, and grated cheese.

1. Place your choice of fillings in the middle of the top half of a tortilla
2. Fold the bottom half of the tortilla toward the top
3. Now fold in first one side...
4. ...and then the other
5. Enjoy.

Posted by Adrian at April 16, 2005 12:42 PM | TrackBack