company

The summer has been a whirlwind of travel, eating, hiking, friends, and more eating. A cheeseburger at a roadside drive-in after a 5 day backpack can be supremely delicious, but meals at a friends house, or at our house with friends visiting truly stand out.

Recently, our friend was coming through town on an incredibly hot day and we fired up the grill for some fajitas. He commented that "Better Chicken Fajitas" were definitely better than college cafeteria food. Even better than most fajitas you pay too much for at a restaurant. We made fajitas again for other friends at their place and nothing was more simple or more delicious.


Chicken Fajitas
(who would I be without Cook's Illustrated, thanks guys)

Serves 4 to 6

1/3 cup lime juice , from 2 to 3 limes
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 jalapeno chile , seeds and ribs removed, chile minced
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
Table salt and ground black pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed of fat, tenderloins removed, breasts pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
1 large red onion (about 14 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (do not separate rings)
1 large red bell pepper (about 10 ounces), quartered, stemmed, and seeded
1 large green bell pepper (about 10 ounces), quartered, stemmed, and seeded
8 - 12 plain flour tortillas (6-inch

Mix lime juice, 4 tablespoons of the oil, garlic, Worcestershire, brown sugar, chile, and cilantro in a small bowl. Add 1 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper. Measure out 1/4 cup of the mix and reserve. Add another teaspoon of salt to the rest of the marinade. Place chicken breasts in marinade for 15 minutes. Probably a good idea to keep the marinating chicking in the fridge. Brush the peppers and onions on all sides with the rest of the oil and season with salt and pepper.

On your gas grill, light all the burners on high and let grill heat for 15 minutes. Scrape grill once hot, then leave one burner on high while turning the rest down to medium.

Place chicken on hotter side of the grill and the onions and peppers on the cooler side. Cook chicken until nicely browned (4 to 5 minutes) and then flip. Cook on the other side until chicken is no longer pink (4 to 5 minutes, or 160 degrees with thermometer). Remove chicken to plate and tent with foil. Simultaneously, keep an eye on the peppers and onions. Cook pepers until slightly charred with blistered skin, flipping a few times (about 8 to 10 minutes). Cook onions until tender and charred on both sides (10 to 12 minutes).

Don't turn off the grill yet! Set all burners to medium and warm the tortillas, cooking about 20 seconds per side. Keep tortillas warm as they come off the grill.

Slice the chicken into nice sized strips (1/4 inch) and toss with 2 T of the reserved marinade. Separate onions into rings and slice peppers into strips and toss those two with the rest of the marinade. Serve up the chicken and veggies on a platter with the tortillas and enjoy. A little bit of sour cream is a nice accompaniment, but really these fajitas shine on their own.