Fajitas!

The following is submitted on: veryhelpful.blogspot.com

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My favorite “spicy” memories would have to come from México. It’s a great place for them! Being grande, rubia (blond), and not used to extremely spicy foods, I couldn’t have felt more gringa.

The last full day of our 4-week stint in Guadalaraja, Miriam and I went with Mrs. Susan to eat at una pequeñita Tacquería owned by a couple in the church. We got there, and Jesús (the husband) started preparing our tacos right away. I could smell the grease – they looked so delicious! Mrs. Susan kindly reminded him “Son gringas, no deben ser muy picantes.” (they shouldn’t be very spicy for the gringas”) “Claro, yo sé, no son picantes para nada ” respondió. (of course, I know, they’re not at all spicy)

Miriam and I sank our teeth into those “not spicy” tacos and instantaneously felt flames leaping out of our mouth. Wow! Any hotter, and I really don’t think I could have continued. Sweating, tears forming in our eyes, we plunged on with our meal, taking big tragos de agua and breathing hard in between mouthfuls. Despite the unexpected bite from the spice, it was really quite rico. But I have to say that it was the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten. Patético considering, for a Mexican, it was “not at all spicy”. Ha!

I have developed a great appreciation for spicy cuisine these past few years, so my hope is that I’ve succeeded in killing some taste buds and building up a tolerance to spiciness for the next trip.

De todos modos, aquí llegamos a mi razón de escribir este post… I wanted to share a recipe that’s recently become a family favorite: fajitas!

Otra receta mexicana? Once again, it seems like I’m copying recent recipe ideas, but I’m really not! I didn’t even see the previous post until submitting this one. De verdad.

Up until about a year ago, I thought fajitas were pretty good, but didn’t get very excited about them. Our recipe was just so-so. It was only sort of spicy and just not very flavorful. We all agreed that something was lacking, but never ran across or really spent time looking for a better recipe.

Our friends served us their fajitas one evening when we were at their place, and we finally knew what a real fajita tasted like. One bite and I felt like my mouth truly was overflowing with flavor. My eyes grew wide and all I could think was “Oh wow. This… is… so… flavorful!” I couldn’t get enough of it.

So, our old fajita recipe se fue a la basura para siempre and we’ve happily adopted this one. It uses a lot of spices, which is why it’s so amazingly rico. I have to admit that I’m surprised my mom really likes it so much. She’s not usually into comida muy picante, and this is quite spicy. All of us in our little three-some really, really enjoy it.

La receta :

2 lbs. skinned and boned chicken breasts

1 tbsp red chili powder (or more if you like it spicier)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp salt

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1-2 bell pepper, in strips (or more, if you like pepper)

1-2 onion, in strips (or more, if you like onion)

Tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, chopped tomatoes, refried beans, lettuce

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together spices for rub. Trim chicken and cut diagonally into strips. Add oil and mix well. Toss with spice rub, cover and marinate 15 mins to several hours. Stir-fry meat; when almost done add vegetables and stir fry. Wrap meat in tortillas and garnish with guacamole, sour cream, beans, cheese, and lettuce. Serves about 6 people.

Buen aprovecho!

(this picture does NOT do them justice, but I was too focused on eating my fajita to get a good picture... lo siento!)