RE: [CH] Homemade Fajita seasonings

Frank J. Hashek (fhashek@comcast.net)
Wed, 5 Oct 2005 13:06:27 -0500 

Matt,

You are indeed correct about Americans bastardizing Mexican cuisine.  My
first experience with the difference was when I wandered into a very small
(about 12 seats) Taqueria.  I asked for Tacos Lengua.  The
cook/cashier/proprieter asked "Mexican or American style?".  I said Mexican.
I received my tacos on soft homemade corn tortillas.  The meat was only very
lightly seasoned, garnished with a little onion and cilantro.  It was served
with a wedge of lime.  Probably the best tacos I ever had.

Blue skies and hot chiles,
Frank

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com
[mailto:owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com] On Behalf Of Matt Evans
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 12:29 PM
To: WV Mountaineer Jack
Cc: dougandmarie@shaw.ca; chile-heads@globalgarden.com
Subject: Re: [CH] Homemade Fajita seasonings

Well, realistically, what is a fajita anyway?  It's something concocted by
Chili's (or similar) to appeal to American palettes -- but it's certainly
not Mexican.  It's an adaptation of "tacos al carbon" -- or, grilled meat
tacos.  In Mexico, this would probably be grilled meat seasoned only with
salt and lime.  The tacos would be built on a pair of soft corn (not flour)
tortillas and topped with a mixture of diced white (not yellow) onion and
cilantro.  They would be served with table sauces -- maybe a tomatillo and
chile de Arbol sauce, a roasted tomato and jalapeno sauce, and a guajillo
chile sauce.  If this were a sit-down meal (as opposed to "street food") a
bowl of steaming pot beans would probably be served as well.

Perhaps my favorite variation on this is something I picked up out of a Rick
Bayless cookbook.  I use a very large cast iron wok (yes, a cast iron wok)
to prepare this dish.  Set the wok on high heat and allow it to warm (dry)
for several minutes -- you want it screaming hot.  Slice a couple dozen
(yes, 24) serranos twice down their lengths leaving them connected at the
stem end (think flower) and slice a couple of white onions.  Once your wok
is hot, throw in a tablespoon or so of bacon fat (or lard) and quickly add
the onions and serranos before the bacon grease burns, or worse, catches
fire.  Stir-fry the vegetables like crazy, preventing burning, but allowing
everything to become blistered and blackened in places.  When cooked but
crunchy, add some lime juice, give a final stir, and remove from the pan.
Add a little more fat to the pan and then cook whole slices of bistec that
have been seasoned with salt.  Remove when medium rare, chop into bite-size
pieces with a cleaver, and toss with the veggies.  I like this mix in tacos
with a cooked tomato-chipotle salsa.

But, we still haven't tackled fajitas, have we?  Well, I suppose my point is
that you should make a fajita seasoning that represents what you consider to
be fajitas, since there is no real standard.  I might suggest something
along the lines of the following:

1 T smoked paprika
1 T chile powder (NM, ancho, etc.)
1 t cumin seed, toasted and ground
1 t Mexican oregano, toasted and ground
0.5 t garlic powder
0.5 t onion powder
0.5 t very hot chile powder (say, Tabasco)
0.5 t sugar
salt to taste

That is a reasonable approximation of an all-purpose seasoning/rub that I
keep in my cupboard for quick meals -- e.g., grilled pork chop and veggies
seasoned with this mix over steamed white rice.

Let us know how your fajitas turn out.

Matt

On 10/5/05, WV Mountaineer Jack <wvmountaineerjack@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hold On, I Did Not say I didnt like Alex suggestion, he ALWAYS has 
> Good suggestions on CH. I am just trying to find a base for what 
> fajita mix is, for the posts here it seems its basically chili powder 
> with a little extra spices. Maybe I am looking at it wrong, is it the 
> spices that make the fajita or the way you make the fajita that makes 
> it a fajita?
>
> Pepper Jack
>
> --- Doug Irvine <dougandmarie@shaw.ca> wrote:
>
> > Hey Jack....why not just do what we do? Seeing as you didn't like 
> > Alex's suggestion, just take a little container of your own home 
> > grown, home ground chile pepper blend along witcha wherever you go? 
> > Marie carries one in her purse, and we use it on everything when we 
> > eat out, even when visiting our kids! I have yet to have a chef come 
> > and berate me for changing the flavour of his "creation" however 
> > that could happen, depending on how fancy a restaraunt it is. I 
> > think his suggestion was a good one. Surely you must have some 
> > chiles to grind, add garlic powder, cumin powder, blend well and 
> > "Voila"!! Hey, ya coud even label it....just think:  Pepper Jack's 
> > Jerk Spice Blend and compete with some of the wimpy jerk seasonings 
> > out there. If ya do that,  ya gotta add allspice! Cheers, old Doug 
> > in BC
> >
> > WV Mountaineer Jack wrote:
> >
> > >Has anyone out there got a good recipie for mixing
> > up
> > >your own fajita seasoning at home instead of just buying a jar of 
> > >it at the supermarket?
> > >
> > >Pepper Jack
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
>
>
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