Fajitas

Although cooking for yourself is good if you want to experiment or try a recipe you're not so sure about, it is definitely more fun cooking with friends.  The other day I got together with a couple of people to cook dinner and as one of them is a vegetarian I decided to try a recipe I've had my eye on for a couple of weeks now in my GoodFood Magazine; mushroom fajitas with avocado houmous.  Although not a vegetarian myself this doesn't stop me from enjoying a good veggie meal from time to time and I love houmous so this recipe seemed perfect.

Mushroom fajitas with houmous

As there were 5 of us we had to scale up the recipe but I think the quantities were about right in the end, although we did have some of the houmous left over (no worries, I had it for lunch the following day!)

For the houmous:

3 avocados

1kg chickpeas (weight of chickpeas before draining - drain and rinse)

1 large garlic clove (use 2 if the cloves are small - crushed)

the zest and juice of two lemons (if you're not as keen on lemon just use 1)

5 tomatoes (deseeded and diced)

It has to be said that making houmous without a food processor is tricky and probably not worth the effort.  I tried it last year in Germany and with only a garlic press to crush the chickpeas it took me a while!  Fortunately, at the beginning of the year I invested in a mini 250ml food processor (the Kenwood mini chopper).  As it is quite small I had to add the ingredients in stages and mix them together in a large bowl afterwards.  I did the chickpeas first, then the avocado and once I had processed them I mixed them together with the crushed garlic, lemon zest and juice and the diced tomatoes.

While I was busy doing that one of my friends was making the fajita spice mix.  You can buy this pre-made but as I had all the necessary spices I decided to make my own.  We used:

2tsp chilli powder

1tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp cumin

2tsp ground coriander

1tsp salt

1tsp white caster sugar

1tbsp corn starch (if you don't want to buy/use this then use more of the other spices but be aware that you won't need as much spice mix as what you have will be spicier)

(you could also add 1/2 tsp onion powder but as we were using fresh onions anyway we decided not to)

To make the fajita spice just mix all these things together in a bowl.

The rest of the ingredients

2 onions

5 large flat mushrooms

olive oil (for coating and frying)

tortillas (at least 1 each)

lettuce (little gem works well - shredded)

Tabasco sauce (optional)

My lovely friends sliced the onions and mushrooms for me nice and thickly.  I then drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled over the spice mix and used my hands to toss them to make sure they were nicely coated in the mix.  Heat some olive oil in a pan, make sure it is really hot, then fry the onions and mushrooms for about 5 mins until they are nicely browned.  For an even better effect you can use a griddle pan but a frying pan works just as well.

Toss the mushrooms and onion in the spices

Once cooked you're ready to make and serve your fajitas, we just put everything in bowls on the table and helped ourselves but if you want to present them nicely then spread some of the houmous down the middle of each wrap and top with the mushrooms and onions.  Then sprinkle over some shredded lettuce (little gem lettuce works well for fajitas) and if you fancy you can add a dash of tabasco sauce.

The fajitas were really tasty and went well with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Keeping it simple

I'm quite pleased as I have managed to cook a couple of different things since my last post.  As the title suggests, none of them were very complicated but that didn't make them any less yummy.

The first recipe I'm going to tell you about was one of my go-to lunches last year.  It's quick, easy and is perfect if you want something a bit different to a sandwich.  So here goes, the recipe for Sweetcorn and avocado wraps.

This is quite a flexible recipe but here's how I normally make it (quantities are for approximately one portion)

Mash up 1/2 an avocado with a fork (I used my blender on this recipe for the first time, but I actually prefer the avocado when it's a bit lumpier).  Next, squeeze in some lime juice (a little less than half a lime), stir in a couple of teaspoons of tinned sweetcorn (add as much or as little as you fancy).  I then like to add some chilli flakes, but they're not essential.  Finely chop a spring onion and add to the avocado along with some basil (fresh or dried) - once again as much or little as you like - and you can even add 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.  Season with some salt and pepper.  Spoon the mixture onto a wrap and top with rocket, roll up the wrap and enjoy!

If you want more filling you can also dice half a tomato and add that to the avocado or a quarter of a red onion.  This turns it into more of a guacamole and is a bit more filling.  If you don't fancy rocket then other lettuce works just as well, but I must say that the rocket and avocado combination is yummy.

Sweetcorn and avocado wrap

My next recipe is not as tried and tested, in fact it was the first time I've tried it.  This is mainly due to the fact that it's a lamb dish and in Germany it is remarkable difficult to find lamb, so I saved this for when I got back to England!

I do have a set of scales but I have also got quite used to approximating quantities based on how much is in a packet.  I cooked this for Dave and myself and it turned out very well for a first effort.

You need to heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan (all the ingredients end up going in so make sure your pan is big enough to start with!)  When the oil is hot fry 325g lamb (remember this is for two people) for 5 minutes until brown.  Chop up an onion and after you've browned the lamb add it to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes until it has softened.  You then need to add the spices.  Add about 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and 2 teaspoons of ground coriander and fry for another minute (make sure you mix it well to get everything coated in the spices).  Then stir in about 90g of rice (long-grain rice is recommended, if like me you'd rather use brown rice make sure you cook it for 10 mins before you add it).  If you can't weigh out the rice add about a handful per person.  Then add 2 teaspoons of dried oregano and 1-2 tablespoons of tomato puree.  Grate the zest of 1/2 a lemon and add that along with the juice of half a lemon.  Then pour in 425ml of boiling water.  I had a measuring jug but if you don't then find a glass which you know the volume of e.g. a pint glass and use that, or just guestimate!  All you have to do now is stir well, bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes (I would say nearer 25).  I also steamed some veg in the microwave to have with this and just before you serve you can stir in some fresh parsley.

I realise that this recipe uses a lot of herbs and spices, but dried herbs and spices do keep for a long time.  Alternatively share them with a friend or cook for a large group of people, as I discovered last year, that is a very quick way of using things up!

One-pot Lamb with Rice

Finally, I made a chicken caesar salad.  Normally I get the ready-made dressing but this time I decided to make my own!  Once again I made this for two people, as it's always more fun when you're not eating something on your own.

Season two chicken breasts and try them until cooked (my recipe recommends 4 mins on each side but it may take a little longer), if you're unsure just get a sharp knife and cut them in half to check.  Crush a clove of garlic (or chop finely if you don't have a crusher).  In a bowl mash an anchovy (I used a fork to shred it), add the garlic and grace in a handful of parmesan (or equivalent cheese).  Mix in 2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 1/2 tablespoon of white wine vinegar (I put in a little more than this).  It should be the consistency of yoghurt, but if it isn't add a dash of water until it is.  Next tear up some lettuce (I used a romaine lettuce but cos is also good, or just pick your favourite).  Shred the chicken onto the lettuce, add the dressing, mix, then grate over some more parmesan and if you want you can buy some croutons to sprinkle over the top.  (You could also make your own but as I don't have an oven I couldn't really do that).

This recipe was far quicker than I was expecting it took less that half an hour to make and tasted a lot better than the stuff you can get out of a packet (in my opinion anyway).

Chicken Caesar Salad

Well done if you've made it this far!  I'm going to try and keep my posts to one recipe in future!  I hope I've encouraged someone to try making something from scratch rather than going for the ready-made supermarket stuff, it really is quick and easy, especially once you've done it once or twice and the good thing about these recipes is that you can make more than you need and have some another day.  Watch out for my next post as it will be all about making cake without an oven (or even a microwave)!