Fajitas!
Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 1:27PM 
This is actually the second time I’ve posted about fajitas. The first time my photos sucked super badly, and I have something else to say about them now, so I took down that post and here we are talking about fajitas again.
Firstly, I (we) love fajitas. We’ve always loved fajitas, but we love them even more since I’ve discovered something kinda important about them. It seems that the cool thing people want to do is grill their meat for fajitas, but I’m just going to come right out and say “Don’t do that!” I know that sounds really bossy and opinionated, but let me explain.
One of the most important features of a good fajita is a good marinade. That marinade not only should tenderize the meat, but flavor it, and also add a nice sauce to your finished dish. I found out that if you take the time to make a marinade and park your meat in it for several hours, you shouldn’t waste it by letting it fall through the grill and end up flavoring just your charcoal.
The very first fajitas were done in a skillet or on a very hot griddle so all those juices stayed with the meat and ended up in your fajita where they belong and that’s the stand I’m taking on how to make a good fajita.
For the last couple of years I’ve been using this marinade from a Tyler Florence recipe and it’s the best I’ve had. The citrus (lime and orange) go so heavenly with the flavors of the chipotle in adobo. Never again will I let those beautiful flavors fall through a grill. No sir, grab a heavy skillet (you can do this on the grill too) and quickly sear your meat and veggies and make sure it all gets safely nestled inside your tortilla. We like to add a little squeeze of lime, an avocado, maybe some sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro. But I surprised myself this time by crumbling a little feta cheese in there, and WOW! was that good!!
OK, I’ll stop talking now so you can go make some fajitas.
Fajitas
Printable Recipe
Adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence
1 orange, juiced
2 limes, juiced
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
For the Fajitas:
2 - 3 lbs of chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced (or any color - red, orange, yellow)
1 poblano pepper, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons each lime juice and olive oil
12 flour tortillas, warmed
For serving:
Sour cream, sliced avocado, chopped fresh cilantro and queso fresco cheese (or feta cheese), lime wedges
Directions:
In a 2 cup measuring cup, or something similar size and shape, combine all the marinade ingredients. Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth.
Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the meat, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the meat for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the meat.
Preheat a heavy skillet (cast iron works great) on high heat and lightly oil the pan.
Remove the chicken from the marinade with tongs and place in the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Sear the meat over medium-high heat and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest for at least 5 minutes or so. Depending on the size of your pan you may need to cook in batches.
Slice the meat into strips.
Toss the peppers and onions with a little lime juice and olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the meat is out of the pan and resting, add the peppers and onions, and cook the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.
While the peppers and onions are cooking, heat up a griddle (cast iron works best) and place each tortilla on the hot griddle for about a minute on each side.
To serve:
Place a tortilla on a plate and top with enough of the meat/peppers to fill the center of the tortilla. Top with chopped cilantro, avocado slices, sour cream (if desired) and queso fresco (or feta) cheese. Roll to enclose the filling or fold in half. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing.
Serves 4-6
Reader Comments (6)
You nailed it! I completely agree! I discovered this exact thing on a camping trip once. We stuffed chicken, onions, bell peppers, and marinade in a ziplock bag and threw it in the cooler before we left. It all marinated overnight, and we just cooked it all in a big cast iron pan over the campfire. Best fajitas ever, and a super easy camping meal. Beautiful photos again!
Ok, I trust you, I will try that next time. I also will try that marinade, love all those flavors. I made fish taco's for dinner tonight, I should have checked to see if you had a recipe, do you? I'll look...
OK, I must try these. Fajitas regularly feature in our household. But, I'm ashamed to say with a shop bought spice mix. It's time to get real & make them properly. Thanks. BTW your photos look fab. How do you get the tortilla to stay together & not open out before photographing?
Marie, I don't have a fish taco recipe on the blog...yet. It's one I've been working on for the past month or so. I hope to have it up really soon. Very hard to photograph! Oh, and Deb, about the fajita photo... the only way I could get the fajita to stay closed was to tie it with a little kitchen twine and then strategically place the cilantro to hide the string.
Thanks, tberry! I could almost taste your fajitas over the campfire... makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
I have always grilled my fajitas (although I usually use beef), but I like your point about not letting the delicious marinade "get away". Thanks for the tip and for the inspiration...the photo is beautiful.