Homemade Fajitas

Love fajitas?  Always buy the trusty sachet of spice mix in the yellow and red Mexicana themed packet?  Try my recipe below next time you have fajitas and you'll never go back to that little packet again.  We're talking juicy, tender meat with zingy garlic and lime juice, smoky, earthy depth from the paprika and cumin all finishing in a tingling heat...flavours that really wake up your taste buds.

This marinade works brilliantly for chicken or beef, allow about 500g of meat.  Chicken breast or rump steak cut into strips would be my choice.  I used it once on fillets of salmon then grilled them until sizzling and cooked through, pretty amazing served with avocado and plenty of lime juice in a tortilla wrap.

Just a quick note on ingredients, if you haven't used smoked paprika before it's well worth adding to your spice cupboard, I use Pimenton de la Vera Dulce, it's used in lots of Spanish and Mexican recipes and it's great in barbecue marinades too.  If you can't get the chipotle chilli flakes you could use chipotle paste instead or just use ordinary chilli flakes, it depends how hot you like your fajitas, I do like the depth of flavour that you get from combining the smoked paprika and the smoked chipotle.

Ingredients

Juice of 2 limes (or 1 if your lime is particularly large and juicy)

2 tablespoons olive oil

generous pinch of salt (about half a teaspoon)

good grinding of black pepper

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

half a teaspoon of chipotle dried chilli flakes

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

half a fresh chilli (more or less according to your liking)

large pinch of dried oregano

• Mix all the marinade together and throw in your strips of either chicken or beef.
• If you have the time let this marinate for around two hours or more, otherwise an hour will be fine.
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan until hot then tip your marinated meat into the hot pan.
• Spread it out into a single layer and let it cook on high for a few minutes then toss the pieces over and let them cook for another few minutes.
• After this time the steak will be ready however if you are using chicken it will need a few minutes more.
• When the meat is cooked through transfer it to a pre-heated oven dish and serve.

Everyone has their favourite accompaniments, for me it's strips of red pepper and onion that have been quickly fried until the edges are browning, then I keep it old school with sour cream, tomato salsa and avocado that has been mashed with lots of salt and lime juice.