I'd like to take my chicken fajitas up a notch and 1. brine 2. impart a unique flavor.

I am more about savory dishes so no pineapple juice style. What do the local places do to their chicken? I've never investigated. My go to Fiesta seasoning is getting old.

In before the "there's no such thing as chicken fajitas" post.

I make a mojo style marinade for grilled chicken tacos that I serve along with fajitas. Measurements are best guess, but, should be close enough for cooking

3 small cans orange juice (I use the canned kind as it is more sour than fresh or bottled)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, about 3 limes plus zest of one
1 Tbls dried oregano
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 fresh jalapeo or 2 fresh serrano
1 Tbls kosher salt
1 Tbls Ancho chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground pepper

Put everything in a blender and puree. Marinate chicken or pork

I use this recipe and its great.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/04/grilling-chicken-fajitas-cinco-de-mayo-mexican-recipe.html

Sig - give a try to our new Fiesta SW Fajita Seasoning or the Chipotle Hamburger spice for your next fajitas. We think both are quite good and very different. The both add depth to your meat.

There's no such thing as chicken fajitas.

I will brine breast and/or thigh meat in the following:

Per 1 quart of water -

3 tbsp sea salt
2.5 tbsp raw sugar
.5 tbsp granulated garlic (you can use 3 to 4 crushed garlic cloves if you make it a day in advance)
.5 tbsp granulated onion ( go with .25 to 1/3 of a cup chopped if you're making it the day before)
1 tbsp brown mustard
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp fresh ground black pepper (coarse)
cayenne pepper to taste

This also works great for wings.

Brine for 2 hours and then grill over mesquite coals until happy.

And really, if it ain't skirt steak, it ain't fajitas. Don't mean it ain't good to eat, it just ain't fajitas.

I don't have my recipe written down and I usually just eyeball it by how much meat I have, but it usually goes something like this:

Wet ingredients:
-Fresh squeezed Lime juice
-4ish clovers of fresh minced garlic
-1 Mexicany beer
-Worcestershire
-Olive oil
-Red Wine Vinegar
-Fresh chopped cilantro

Dry ingredients:
-Fiesta Brand fajita seasoning
-Whatever steak seasoning I have in the cupboard
-A LOT of FRESH ground pepper (please dear god do not use preground)
-MAYBE some salt (the steak and fajita seasonings are already a bit salty)


While Grilling I also baste the meat with the remaining marinade.

I had not seen these in the store! I'll have to pick them up.

Thanks for all the other input. I like what I see and will try some of these. I also buy the premade over at central market when we don't have time to do it right. I don't have HEB anymore in N. Dallas =(

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And really, if it ain't skirt steak, it ain't fajitas. Don't mean it ain't good to eat, it just ain't fajitas.

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I guess you do see skirt steak more often, but I am much more a fan of Flank Steak. Tenderize with a meat tenderizer before marinating and you end up with a more tender and less gristly piece of meat that is easier to cut/serve.

So, a grilled chicken breast on a burger bun should be referred to as a hamburger?

Flank steak isn't fajitas either (again, doesn't mean it's less tasty). Fajita is like saying ribeye, t-bone, or sirloin. It's a specific cut on the carcass. Doesn't mean it's superior or anything, it's just describing a cut of meat.

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So, a grilled chicken breast on a burger bun should be referred to as a hamburger?

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Is a hamburger listed in the English dictionary as a chicken breast on a bun? Fajita is a cut of meat in Mexico. Where they speak Spanish. Words can have different meanings in different languages. Lasagna can be the shape of a pasta and a casserole.

Hey, the more you know...

Actually, the term was coined in the Rio Grande valley, although it's debatable as to whether that's really America, so your point may have some validity.

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So, a grilled chicken breast on a burger bun should be referred to as a hamburger?

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I've see them referred to as Chicken Burgers all the time

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then grill over mesquite coals

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Who has time for that?

"Only skirt steak can be called fajita" guy is almost as terrible as "kolaches don't have meat and the correct spelling is kolach" guy

I'm mostly just jacking with Marko.

But I am correct.

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There's no such thing as chicken fajitas.

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BINGO!

A bunch of people calling something the wrong name doesn't make them right

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There's no such thing as chicken fajitas.

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BINGO!

A bunch of people calling something the wrong name doesn't make them right

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http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fajita

eot

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There's no such thing as chicken fajitas.

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BINGO!

A bunch of people calling something the wrong name doesn't make them right

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http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fajita

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Umm, no. I don't think most people believe Webster's dictionary is any kind of arbiter for Mexican food.

But, by all means, keep calling it whatever you want, even if it is wrong.

Words can have multiple meanings. Does lasagne only refer to a shape of pasta?

Do Mexicans refer to skirt steak as fajita?

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Flank steak isn't fajitas either (again, doesn't mean it's less tasty). Fajita is like saying ribeye, t-bone, or sirloin. It's a specific cut on the carcass. Doesn't mean it's superior or anything, it's just describing a cut of meat.

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Not for the majority of people. Fajita now refers to a type of dish rather than a cut of meat. So it's more like ribeye, t-bone, and sirloin are all types of steak. Saying steak covers any of those. Saying fajita covers any sliced meat (though admittedly steak is better than chicken) put in a flour tortilla.

Hell, go look at a Tex-Mex food places menu and there's your answer.

Words mean what the majority of people use them for. That's why language is constantly evolving.

i have to agree with slicer. I have this argument with the order taker at taco cabana every so often.

Slicer is correct. The rest of you se vayan mucho a la chingada.

I get a kick out of these threads where a bunch of engineers start talking recipes and cooking techniques .....it's almost like reinventing the wheel.....or building a piano

Rattler12 said:

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I get a kick out of these threads where a bunch of engineers start talking recipes and cooking techniques .....it's almost like reinventing the wheel.....or building a piano

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Yup. It's not that precise. Use a simple brine recipe, but cook the brine a bit with garlic, cumin, and a little bit of lime juice. Then you grill it. Then you eat it. Simple.