Chicken fajitas

This chicken recipe is for chicken fajitas.  This chicken fajita recipe is great served with soured cream, sliced jalapeño peppers, julienne of cucumber, grated cheese and extra lettuce.

Ingredients

Approx. 250g chicken breasts
4 soft flour tortillas
½ red pepper
½ green pepper
1 red onion
1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
Fajita spices, to taste
2 medium size tomatoes
½ iceburg lettuce
2 teaspoons coriander
Vegetable oil, to shallow fry
Soured cream, as accompaniment
Grated cheddar cheese, as accompaniment
Slices jalapeño peppers, as accompaniment
Julienne of cucumber, as accompaniment

Mise en place

1. Wrap the tortillas in tin foil and put aside.

2. Trim the chicken of any excess fat or skin and cut into thin strips and place into a clean bowl.  Don’t forget to wash your hands after handling raw chicken.

3. Cut the lime into half and squeeze the fresh juice over the strips of chicken.  Add the olive oil and season to taste with the spices.  Don’t forget, the more spice you add, the hotter the fajitas will be. Mix well, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for an hour or so to marinate.

4. Cut the red and green peppers into half lengthways.  Save the halves you don’t need for another recipe.  De-seed the peppers and cut into fine slices.

5. Peel and cut the onion into fine slices.

6. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, remove the seeds and cut each wedge in half across the centre.

7. Wash, dry and roughly chop the coriander.

8. Wash, dry and finely shred some iceburg lettuce.

9. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4).

Method

1. Place the wrapped tortillas into the oven to heat through, which should take about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat on the hob.

3. When hot, add a touch of vegetable oil, then add the sliced peppers and onion and stir-fry for about 3 minutes.

4. Add the pieces of chopped tomato and fry for a further minute.  Spoon from the pan and keep warm.

5. Heat the pan once again and when hot, carefully add the thin strips of chicken and the marinade.  Stir-fry for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked.

6. Mix the peppers, onion and tomatoes back into the frying pan with the chicken to heat through.  Remove from the heat and mix in the chopped coriander.  Check the seasoning.

7. Remove the tortillas from the oven.  Unwrap them taking on at a time, place onto a large plate.  Sprinkle over a small handful of lettuce and some of the chicken mixture and roll up the tortillas, giving two per portion.

8. Serve the chicken fajitas hot with an accompaniment of soured cream, sliced jalapeño peppers, julienne of cucumber, grated cheese and extra lettuce.

• You can, of course, buy soured cream, but you can easily make your own.  Whisk some double cream slightly until it just begins to thicken, then add a touch of lemon juice

• It is very nice, if you so wish, to place everything in the centre of your dining table and let people help themselves and wrap their own tortillas with their own choice of fillings and make great tasting chicken fajitas