El loco spread...

Wintery slow braised beef and kidney bean Fajitas.

This Winter i have etched a newfound love for legumes and beans! Working as a chef at Google i have seen them used in a variety of dishes. These hidden gems are not only a great source of energy but have a hidden talent for carrying stupendous flavour throughout a dish. Packed with protein, these wholefoods are great additions to soups, sauces and in this case Fajitas! To rehydrate these wonder foods, you can either leave them over night in water or bring them to the boil and leave them covered for 1 hour. Either way its worth using the dried variety as they haven't been sitting in a can for god knows how long. Bizarrely this is the freshest approach.

Fajitas are more or less a wrap and these bad boys are worth every minute of prep time! 

A different kind of winter warmer to keep you full and happy this cold season. 

Enjoy.

Beef and kidney Fajitas with salsa and spicy jalapeno yoghurt:

Ingredients:

12 Tortilla wraps. 

2 porthouse steaks/ sirloin steaks. approx. 500g

Marinate:

1 strip of rind and the Juice of 1 orange

1 Tbs Ground cumin

1tsp Ground chilli

1tsp Paprika

1tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp black pepper

3tbs olive oil.

Sauce:

100g kidney beans- rehydrated overnight in water.

420g can of crushed tomatoes

100ml red wine

1Tbs Red wine Vinegar

2 Garlic cloves

1 red onion

250 ml beef stock

1/2 green chilli 

Salsa:

1 Tomato, seeds removed and diced.

1 Corn cob, corn kernals removed and blanched. (canned can also be used)

1 Capsicum, small dice. 

1 Avacado diced. 

1/4 of a small red onion, finely diced.

Chopped fresh Corriander

1tsp salt

1/2 tsp white sugar

70 ml Fresh lime juice.

50 ml Olive oil.

Jalapeno Yoghurt:

1/2 Bunch of coriander

2 garlic cloves peeled

50 g pickled jalapenos.

250ml natural yoghurt

Method:

To prepare your meat:

1. Marinate beef pieces in orange juice, spices and olive oil for 1 hour, or overnight.

2. Remove meat from marinate and seal-off with 1 tbs of olive oil in a large pot. Then set aside.

3. Cook the onions and garlic in the same pot with some more oil until translucent.

4. Meanwhile mix the red wine and vinegar into the bowl that was used to marinate the meat- this way we get all the spices and flavour into the dish.

5. Return the meat to the pot of onions and add the wine and vinegar mix to de-glaze the pan.

6. Then add the tomatoes, beef stock, kidney beans and chopped green chilli. 

7. Leave to cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Either on a low flame simmering or in the oven at 160 degrees Covered. 

MEANWHILE.

To prepare your tortillas:

Wrap the tortillas up in aluminium foil around 6 per bundle. 

To prepare your salsa:

Put all your cut vegetables into a bowl. And add the lime juice, olive oil, salt and sugar. Softly toss it all together and taste for extra seasoning.

To prepare you jalapeno yoghurt:

Get a food processor and blitz your coriander, jalapenos and garlic to make a paste. In a separate bowl mix the paste with the yoghurt and season to taste. 

When the meat is ready break it up a bit to form shreds. Put the foil wrapped tortillas in a hot oven of 280 degrees for 3 minutes.

To serve have all your condiments out in small bowls, with some extra coriander and lime wedges, and let everyone make their own wraps. 

A colourful mexican banquet for the shared Winter table!