Chicken Fajitas

Tonight we decided to make some chicken fajitas, since we once again have access to a grill. We threw together the marinade about 5-6 hours in advance, and it turned out wonderfully.

Marinade (measurements are approximate)
3 tbsp Goya Brand Adobo fajita seasoning
juice of 3 limes
4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1.5 tsp cumin
1 heaping tsp smoked bittersweet Spanish paprika
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce (for chicken)
1 heaping tsp chili powder
1-1.5 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup margarita (premixed Jose Cuervo)
3 tbsp dried oregano crushed leaves
dash of powdered thyme

We marinaded two sliced chicken breasts, one sliced onion and one sliced green pepper in this mixture for around 5-6 hours, then grilled over high heat until cooked, around 10-15 minutes. We used about 1/2 cup of the marinade into the grilling pan, to help further concentrate flavor. Serve, as typical, with warmed tortillas, cheese, tomatos, lettuce, guacamole, salsa or whatever else you so choose.

During the marinade the chicken developed a brilliant and sharp lime flavor that was just outstanding.

Turkish Hummus

Katie and I really like hummus. What we don’t like is hummus that has a sort of bitter funky flavour to it that a lot of places seem to have. Cafe Istanbul in Wichita has probably the best hummus we’ve ever had. They serve it with olive oil on top, as well as Turkish red pepper (maras biber) and Turkish paprika. I think the big issue with respect to bitterness is the amount of tahini used, as well as the type of olive oil used. You want an oil that is very neutral and mild.

Turkish Hummus

Ingredients
1lb bag of chickpeas/garbanzo beans
2 cloves of garlic
Juice of 3 small-ish lemons, or around half a cup (to taste).
1/4 cup of tahini plus a little more, again, to taste.
salt to taste – probably around 2tsp.
Approximately 1 cup olive oil.

Prepare the chickpeas acorrding to the directions on the bag. We did the quick soak method, then cooked them normally.
Load the chickpeas and garlic into a food processor and puree into paste. Add the lemon juice, then slowly drizzle in the tahini and salt, then the olive oil.

You should check the flavour at least a couple of times while you’re putting the tahini in, to make sure the taste of the tahini isn’t becoming too strong. Then put in the olive oil, and check it every so often to make sure that the hummus isn’t too thick or too thin.

We made the hummus while the chickpeas were still hot, and it had a more or less ok texture, with about 1/4cup of olive oil. We refrigerated it and this morning checked it and it was too solid, and we probably added something like 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of oil, which thinned it out and smoothed the texture as well. When you serve it, top it with the turkish pepper and paprika.

Its really very nice, I strongly recommend it. It is time consuming though. In a hurry, Giada’s cannellini bean dip is a good substitute. If you have time though, this beats the pants off of store bought hummus. Keep in mind however, that this doesn’t have cumin, pine nuts, or anything like that, so it’ll be different than what seems typical for a Lebanese hummus – at least what is popular in a few other Wichita restaurants.

Squid Ink Tagliatelle with Bolognese Sauce

Today for dinner, Katie and I got up the courage to try some squid ink tagliatelle that I purchased at World Market a couple of weeks ago. We made a batch of Giada’s Simple Bolognese sauce to go with it. We left out the celery, because we didn’t have any, and we used more herbs. Dried basil, oregano, and thyme, plus more pepper than the recipe calls for. We used slightly less tomato, as we had a box of Pomi brand chopped tomatos on hand, which weigh in at 26oz instead of 28oz. We also left the Parmigiano out, and added it as we served it. I don’t relish the idea of trying to get Parmigiano to unstick from cast iron. The sauce turned out well, though it was very very chunky. I have to admit that I’ve become very enamoured of the simple tomato sauce posted by Barbaresco, and I really don’t like this as well. I guess I just prefer meatballs, or Italian sausage chunks in that simple sauce over Bolognese.

I should note also how different this sauce is compared to the Bolognese sauce from the Silver Spoon, which uses 1tbsp of tomato paste, diluted ‘in a little water’ to 1lb of meat. What this difference in ratio means culturally, I have no idea.

I was frankly amazed at how utterly normal the squid ink pasta was. It didn’t have any flavour beyond that of typical pasta, and it looked really cool. It also did not bleed color into the water we cooked it in, which surprised me a great deal. I had sort of expected the ink to turn the water black.

Anyway, it was definitely cool, and I’d gladly do it again.