Chipotle fajitas



B

Blair P. Houghton

Guest
Still playing with the dried peppers I got at Penzey's last week. This
time I went for the chipotles (these smell unbelievable in the bag) and
a rehydration experiment.

4 oz eye round or round steak, 3/4 inch thick, sliced into 1/8-1/4 inch
thick strips
3/4 cup diced onion
1 2-inch chipotle, stemmed, seeded, and rehydrated in an ounce of water
and an ounce of red wine
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tbs EVOO
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lime

1 large Roma tomato, diced
2 leaves lettuce
2 low-fat tortillas

put the oil in the pan and heat just below smoking

add the onion and salt and sweat for 30 seconds over med-high heat

add the garlic; add the chipotle and liquid (mind the burning cloud of
fumes)

reduce for 1 minute

add the beef

sautee until meat reaches desired doneness; squeeze lime over pan

heat tortillas in microwave

place a lettuce leaf on a tortilla, add tomatoes and fajitas and
now-caramelized onions and peppers

rejoice in chile-head wonder

Actually, this wasn't as flavorful as I was expecting, but the
spiciness was dead-solid-perfect. I think I need to add a whole
guajillo pepper to it, so there will be more pepper mass in the end
result, thus more pepper flavor. Guajillos are somewhat mild, so the
chipotle will be the smoky, spicy component, and the guajillo will be
the fruity, earthy component. I'm sure the lime perked it up a bit,
too.

Also, I rehydrated before I seeded, which I think helped me get the
membrane, too. That'd be hard with a leathery pepper. But I think a
lot of the spice is extracted into the liquid; so I kept that, and it
was just the right move.

--Blair
 
Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> Still playing with the dried peppers I got at Penzey's last week. This
> time I went for the chipotles (these smell unbelievable in the bag) and
> a rehydration experiment.

<snip>

Use a little lemon juice in your hydration water and the flavor will
steep out a little bit more.
Sounds very yummy, BTW!
-L.
 
On 29 Jan 2006 18:40:50 -0800, "-L." <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Blair P. Houghton wrote:
>> Still playing with the dried peppers I got at Penzey's last week. This
>> time I went for the chipotles (these smell unbelievable in the bag) and
>> a rehydration experiment.

><snip>
>
>Use a little lemon juice in your hydration water and the flavor will
>steep out a little bit more.
>Sounds very yummy, BTW!
>-L.


Lime would be even better.


jim
 
ensenadajim wrote:
> On 29 Jan 2006 18:40:50 -0800, "-L." <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> >> Still playing with the dried peppers I got at Penzey's last week. This
> >> time I went for the chipotles (these smell unbelievable in the bag) and
> >> a rehydration experiment.

> ><snip>
> >
> >Use a little lemon juice in your hydration water and the flavor will
> >steep out a little bit more.
> >Sounds very yummy, BTW!

>
> Lime would be even better.


I'll give both a shot. The last week or so I've collected quite a few
varieties of dried chiles -- guajillo, ancho, chipotle, pequin, tepin,
and pasilla -- and I've been thinking of doing some experimentation
with various liquids -- evoo, light oil, water, vinegar, wine, vodka,
citrus, tomato, coffee -- to see how they infuse and rehydrate.

But, 6 peppers and several liquids means dozens of combinations, which
means quite a bit of time and attention to detail, so it might not be
too soon, as life intrudes randomly...

--Blair