Re: [CH] Homemade Fajita seasonings

Matt Evans (tmattevans@gmail.com)
Wed, 5 Oct 2005 14:18:32 -0400 

Frank --

I couldn't agree more!  Mexican food might be my favorite cuisine of
all time -- you just can't get it in America.  I'm so tired of going
to "Mexican" restaurants and getting burritos smothered with Velveeta
and accompanied by bland rice and "refried" beans from a blender. 
This type of goo (when consumed with a half dozen very cold Modelo
Especials) might be an exceptional hangover cure, it's not Mexican
food.

We have got an excellent taqueria near our house, but none of our
friends like it -- because it isn't Americanized.  They want chicken
quesadillas and too-sweet margaritas instead of sublime red chile pork
tacos with bits of pineapple, raw onions, cilantro and lime.  One of
their table sauces is a screaming hot concoction of roasted
tomatillos, roasted garlic, and roasted habanero -- in roughly equal
proportions, I think.

Some of the best meals I have ever eaten cost less than a dollar and
were consumed on a street corner somewhere in Mexico while drinking a
salted Tecate.

Matt

On 10/5/05, Frank J. Hashek <fhashek@comcast.net> wrote:
> 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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