January 25, 2010

Leftovers, Oh How I Love Thee....

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem




Alhamdulillah, we had plenty of fajita leftovers from last nights impromptu dinner so I didn't have to do much else than reheat and assemble. These fajitas are my attempt at recreating my mother-in-laws fajitas, so she really get all credit for this one. It was her suggestion to me on how to use up leftover chicken or meat, but they're so good I defrost fresh meat just for it! Besides being incredibly delicious, they're come together very easy and is my go-to meal for those hectic days when I can't spend much time in the kitchen.


Chicken Fajitas
1 chicken breast (boneless/skinless) small dice
1 green pepper, cut into 1/2 " strips (or half a green pepper and half a red pepper)
1 small onion , cut into 1/2" strips
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cajun seasoning (I love Tones over anyother brand,use what you like)

1. In a little oil over medium high heat, sweat out the onions and peppers (for a charred effect, add less oil and keep them moving as they get black spots). As they start to get soft, create a well in the middle of the pan and chicken. Sprinkle with salt to taste, minced garlic and cajun seasoning.

2. When chicken is no longer pink on all sides, stir peppers and chicken together (add more oil to the pan as needed). Add in lemon juice and keep things moving. Reduce heat and continute cooking until chicken is cooked through. If you find things drying up too much and burning, add small amounts of water, but make to sure cook off any liquid at the end. Excess liquid creates soggy fajitas, thats a no-no!


Toppings: sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole


Roti
1 cup all purpose flour (or half allpurpose and half whole wheat)
1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp oil
1/2 cup very warm water (add in small amounts as needed)

1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, yeast and oil. Mix with hands.

2. Slowly add water (1/4 cup at a time) until dough comes together in a ball. Add more flour if its too sticky, more water if too dry. Once the dough forms one smooth ball, knead for a 2 minutes.

3. Lightly oil bowl and turn dough to coat, cover with kitchen towel and leave it alone. You don't want your rotis too "puffy" for fajitas, so I wouldn't suggest letting the dough double. Instead, leave it to reast about 20 minutes and the yeast will create a soft dough that will give you soft and tender rotis to roll you fajitas in.

4. Break off pieces of dough into egg-size balls (for bigger or thicker rotis, break-off bigger pieces). Gently pat into flattened circle and lightly dip into bowl of reserved flour; shake-off excess.

5. On a clean surface (you shouldn't need to flour the surface as the dough has been dusted with flour already) roll flattened circle into 6" circle. With a rolling pin, start rolling from center of circle outward with continue long rolls (don't start and stop in the middle of the circle).

6. Drizzle a little oil on a hot skillet (I use a tavvah, but a large frying pan or skillet does the same job). Make sure your skillet is hot to begin with. Carefully lay roti in hot oil. Let it cook on one side without disturbing, until you see little bubble appear on the surface. Using a large spatula, flip roti and cook second side.

7. Arrange cooked and hot rotis on a plate and cover loosely with foil. Best eaten hot.


Oven Fries
1. Pre-heat oven to 420.

2. Peel large russet potoates (I leave the skin on and give it a good scrub). Slice length wise into thirds. Slice each third into rought 1/2" strips. Oil a baking sheet (or cover with oiled sheed of foil) and spread out fries in a single layer.

3. Drizzle fries with enough to oil to light cover each piece. You can add more during the cooking process if they are beggining to burn. Sprinjle with garlic powder, cajun seasoning or Italian seasoning. Using hands, toss to ensure fries are evenly coated with seasoning. Spread back into single layer.

4. Bake in oven until cooked through (keep testing at around 15 minutes). Sprinkle salt over fries AFTER they have been removed from oven.

6 comments:

  1. Yumm! Jazakillah for sharing the recipeee!! =) Btw, what's cajun seasoning?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cajun seasoning is a spice blend that you can find in many different brands. It's usually a blend of paprika, garlic bowder, chili
    powder, black pepper, onion powder and a few other things. I like the flavor and kick it gives and use it for a lot of things.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just wanted to say that I'm glad my wife knows about this blog!

    Jazaaki Allah khair.

    A Happy Hubby

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yum, that looks good masha'Allah!!

    JazakAllah khayr for all your recipes. =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Assalmu Alaikum!! =) After the dough is puffed up, what do you do? And where do you make the rotis in? =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry for the incomplete instructions, Muslimah 93! I fixed it just for you :)

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think! As always, feedback and reviews are appreciated...happy cooking!