When you make peppers and onions for fajitas....

pupwhipped · ‎03-11-2010

do you have a tip or trick? I know this seems like a dumb question, but I never really like how my turn out. They never taste as good as the ones in the Mexican restaurants. Granted, we cook our chicken on the grill for the fajitas, and I cook the onions and peppers on the stovetop. Maybe it would help to grill them, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Hubby can barely grill the chicken. Ha!

Over the years I've cut the peppers and onions into smaller strips and that helped. I've also cranked up the heat on the stove to get them more charred. Just right now, for the first time ever, I sprinkled in some cumin cause I love cumin and thought that might help. We'll see as we haven't eaten yet. Do any of you have any tips or tricks to share?

Thanks for any thoughts.

pup

AnnMarie-1 · ‎03-09-2010

Do you add an oil?

I toss the peppers/onions in a bowl with olive oil, then add to pan

I've added different spices, sometimes oregano or a mexican spice, dried cilantro, anything really, I usually add spices while in bowl, or can add spices when in pan

a medium heat & wait until I see some browning before I start tossing around the pan

house cat · ‎08-23-2012

I start by cooking them slowly in a bit of olive oil. I don't turn up the heat and brown them until they are tender throughout.

lovesrecess · ‎03-14-2010

get a grill basket; wms-sonoma has a great one for $24.99 right now that will let you put the peppers and onions right on the grill with the chicken....brush with a bit of olive oil before grilling; I also grill yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. in the basket when grilling steaks; yummy!

Mistreatedbycs · ‎03-10-2010

The secret is fajita seasoning from Penzey, seriously, no kidding, there is nothing else that can compare to their seasoning.

I grill the chicken or sirloin steak, cut up in strips, sauté the peppers (I use orange, yellow and red, no green) add the onions then add the seasoning according to directions (there's water needed) and then add the meat.

Oh my gosh, it is the best.

use leg of duck instead of chicken or steak, sub the salsa with ranch sauce....

to die for.........................the tastes are incredible especially with a whole grain tortilla

Deadeye Daisy · ‎01-18-2011

At home, I char, then peel the peppers and onions before tossing with oil and cooking in a grill basket over high heat. Cut the skirt into strips and cook quickly over high heat in grill basket. If you happen to have a cast iron griddle, you can do all of this on the griddle, except for charring the peppers.

I learned from Ninfa Lorenzo back in the early '70s. This was while the 'restaurant' was still part of the tortilla factory. She pretty much developed the idea of 'Tacos al Carbon' way back. Sliced skirt with onions, red and yellow peppers. Served in flour tortillas with pico de gallo, guac, shredded lettuce and crema on the side. Fajitas was made with skirt steak, never chicken or shrimp. Last I looked, never saw a chicken 'skirt' as part of it's anatomy, nor a shrimp.

DDIL in CA does them the lazy way, but they do come out good. Uses Trader Joe's frozen Fire Roasted Peppers and Onions. Tosses them on a screaming hot cast iron pan on the grill for a few minutes; removes the veggies and tosses in the skirt strips that are lightly tossed with grapeseed or peanut oil, also on a screaming white hot cast iron pan. Whole thing takes less than 6 minutes. She does it all on the grill, including heating the flour tortillas.

RespectLife · ‎02-27-2012

On 3/20/2014 nantucket shore said:
The secret is fajita seasoning from Penzey, seriously, no kidding, there is nothing else that can compare to their seasoning.

I grill the chicken or sirloin steak, cut up in strips, sauté the peppers (I use orange, yellow and red, no green) add the onions then add the seasoning according to directions (there's water needed) and then add the meat.

Oh my gosh, it is the best.

use leg of duck instead of chicken or steak, sub the salsa with ranch sauce....

to die for.........................the tastes are incredible especially with a whole grain tortilla

Thanks nantucket for the suggestion. On my Penzey's wish list it goes!

pupwhipped · ‎03-11-2010

Thank you all very much for the suggestions! I guess I really need to start cooking them on the grill at the very least. Think I will surprise my husband with that chore the next time around.

AnnMarie-1, I do put a little olive oil in my pan when cooking. The onions and peppers were okay last night, but I don't think the little bit of cumin I added was that helpful.

I've never ordered any Penzey spices before, but have certainly seen a number of threads here about them. Maybe I will take the Penzey's plunge. ha!

Jerz-girl · ‎03-09-2010

My trick I promise will not disappoint!! it's, soy sauce!! Soy sauce cooked with the onions!

Also use, yellow onions.

Slice your onions and marinate them in a little bit of soy, if you have to, you can add a little bit of water to stretch the soy sauce, marinate for 10 minutes.

When you add the onions to the frying pan, make sure the skillet or flat top is extremely hot with a little bit of canola oil. Add onions and then sprinkle with a little salt & pepper and that's it. (You do not need the marinade) Be careful when adding the onions, they spit and "spark", some will even blackened. Caramelize the heck outta them! You can make them hours in advance in either heat up in the microwave or you can heat up with the peppers.

When doing the peppers, (peppers and onions are cooked SEPARATE!!!), slice green & red peppers and season with salt & pepper only, why...because you want them to stand alone...you DO NOT want to add any fajita mix!! You only want to taste peppers and onions (the soy does the trick, I promise!!) you don't want everything, every one bite to taste like fajita, you definitely want the separation of flavor!! Doing it the way I suggest will do that!! Anyway, add peppers to a very hot skillet that has a little butter & canola oil...do not cook long, you want them crunchy, barely cooked. If you want you may add the cooked onions and reheat with the peppers.

Now for the fajita mix, I'm sure a Mexican restaurant in your area would be more then happy to give you some of their house Fajita mix, just ask...you may have to pay but so what, well worth it!

Also when making chicken fajitas, you may want to try marinating the meat in just a little bit of oil with minced garlic for a couple of hours, over night is even better, add salt & pepper and even a little fajita mix and marinate as long as you can. When cooking meats of your choice, season very well with Fajita mix, this is where all your flavor is coming from!!

Lastly, if you can, grill with hickory wood, make's all the difference in the world. (Along with the onions!) If you cannot, try adding a pinch of a hickory liquid smoke to your meat.

9 key things to remember:

1. Hot skillet!

2. Marinate onions with soy sauce for at least 10 minutes!! (They will be brown in color)

3. Do not season you peppers or onions with Fajita mix! Keep flavors separate!

4. Cook peppers & onions separately!!

5. Marinate the meat before cooking!

6. Season all meats very well with fajita mix!

7. Hickory wood is also key when grilling the meats!!

8. Peppers & onions are cooked SEPARATELY!

9. Peppers are barely cooked and are crunchy where as the onions are cooked until very soft, caramelized, with some charring!

Enjoy!

Jerz

AuntG · ‎03-09-2010

How are you supposed to eat fajitas? I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know what to do with the tortilla (roll it up, put it on the bottom, make layers of them.....)