food / drink
RECIPE
Homemade Fajitas
words EMMA JENKINS www. ejcatering. com
PETTIGREW EXPAND
After an incredibly successful first year of business, Pettigrew Tea Rooms, on the edge of Cardiff’ s beautiful Bute Park, have expanded their premises to keep up with a burgeoning demand at the start of the peak spring and summer season. Now serving breakfasts, as well as their increasingly popular selection of homemade cakes, afternoon tea, sandwiches and lunches, Pettigrew’ s reputation is continuing to grow from strength to strength with their excellent range of loose-leaf teas drawing many admirers. They’ ve also reopened the gift shop which will now stock locally sourced preserves, herbs and other surprises from their Victorian herb garden.
Info: 029 2023 5486 / www. pettigrew-tearooms. com
WATERLOO GARDENS TURN ATTENTION TO WASHINGTON GALLERY
Specialist tea retailers Waterloo Gardens are drawing up plans to open a second teahouse at the recently closed Washington Gallery in Penarth. Currently located in Penylan, the company are not simply looking to replicate what they already offer at the incredibly successful Waterloo Gardens, but to create a space which complements the tone and art-deco themes which run throughout the contemporary gallery. There’ s no doubt that their offerings at the Washington Tea will be just as pleasing on the tastebuds, with Waterloo pledging to maintain their commitment to the sourcing and service of the world’ s finest teas. The teahouse is set to open in July of this year.
Info: 029 2045 6073 / www. waterlootea. com
MAIBOCK BEER FESTIVAL
Chapter Arts Centre certainly love their beer, and with the return of their MaiBock Beer Festival from Thurs 9-Sat 11 May, we can all expect another fine selection of unique German beers to tickle our tastebuds. Following the success of last year’ s Oktoberfest, Chapter will be bringing in more kegs than ever. There’ ll be over 1200 litres of wheat beer, pilsners and smoked beers to get through – many from tiny breweries such as Brauerei Enzensteiner and Pax Brau who only brew in small quantities and are hard to find anywhere in the UK – and the bar will also be offering up some delicious bratwurst to complement the varied selection.
Info: www. chapter. org
LAST night my supper was delicious; full of flavour and fun to eat. But, as I munched I was not sure whether I was eating a tortilla, a fajita, an enchilada or a burrito. So what’ s the difference? Burrito is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a wheat flour tortilla wrapped or folded into a cylindrical shape to completely enclose a filling. In Mexico, meat and refried beans are often the only fillings. An enchilada is another traditional Mexican dish. It is a floured tortilla flat bread rolled with a beef filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce. Fajita, on the other hand, is a Tex-Mex dish. Tex-Mex is a fusion of Texan and Mexican cooking. Basically the Texans took the Mexican style and added twice the amount of meat, vegetables and loads of cheese. Here is my collaboration of ingredients which I’ ve rolled in a Mexican flatbread.
SERVES FOUR
INGREDIENTS 1 packet of floured flat breads or tortillas / free-range chicken breast / 1 tsp cumin seeds / 2 tsp paprika / 1 clove grated garlic / olive oil / cherry tomatoes / 2 sliced chillies / 1 clove garlic, sliced / pinch of brown sugar / ½ a cucumber / rock salt / fresh coriander / yoghurt
PREPARATION
• Cut the chicken breast into strips and marinate in the cumin seeds, paprika, garlic and olive oil for a couple of hours or overnight.
• Fry the chili in a little oil on a low heat to infuse the oil, this takes about 10 mins and will slightly colour the edges of the chillies. Turn off the heat and add the garlic which will cook in the residual heat and not burn. Then add the pinch of brown sugar. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and dress with chillies and oil.
• Leave to stand in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
• Cut the cucumber top to toe and de-seed using a teaspoon. Cut into chunks and season with salt and coriander.
• When you are ready to eat, pan-fry the chicken strips.
• Once cooked, load up the tortilla with the salad, chicken, yoghurt and roll up into your own fajita.
BUZZ 24