Welcome back! Summertime heat, fun and food! As we get ready for another active wildland fire season, it’s also the time to clean the grill and get some quick, healthy and delicious food into our firehouse kitchens.
Today’s fire service is tasked with doing more with less. That is true in many categories, including increased call volume, inspections, training and maintaining the importance of the community meal inside America’s firehouses. To try and meet these ever-increasing challenges and maintain morale amongst our peers it is important to place a high significance and value in eating together.
The kitchen table is where we laugh, train, hold safety tailgate sessions, learn about one another and enjoy stories that seem to gain new versions every time they are told. It is not always possible for us to cook a time-sensitive meal, so it is great to have recipes that are convenient to prepare and that are healthy.
Grilling & BBQ
The summer season is exciting in the culinary world because grilling is easy and makes almost any food taste good. My extended fire service family in the South will tell you that grilling and BBQ are completely different things – and they are right!
Grilling is simply the act of cooking food on a grill, whether it is with gas, propane or charcoal. BBQ is a method of cooking that can involve introducing smoke to infuse the food and add another depth of flavor. The term “low and slow” is synonymous with BBQ and this is not a good choice if you are pressed for time. Today’s BBQ has been kicked up with numerous options of wood to use during the smoking process. We will focus on BBQ and include recipes in future editions of the Firehouse Chefs Corner.
When grilling food, it is important to start with a clean grill and oil your grill grates. Make sure that you do not forget about your grill being left on and end up with a pancake fundraiser to replace the firehouse you just burned down! Marinades, spice rubs and simple citrus are great ways to flavor your proteins or even veggie options like a portobello mushroom burger. Don’t forget that you can grill fruit and veggies as well. Grilling these items helps release flavor and natural sugars, which will enhance your summer dishes even more.
Things are busy for Firehouse Chefs and I am happy to announce my first brick-and- mortar restaurant will be opening in Southern California. The Firehouse Chefs Food + Drink will be located in Bellflower, CA, which is 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles or from Disneyland in Orange County. The restaurant is also near the Los Angeles County Fire Museum, home of Engine and Squad 51 from the 1970s TV show “Emergency!” I will share more information about our first restaurant and share recipes from our kitchen. Please stay safe and enjoy a blessed summer season.
To close this edition of the Firehouse Chefs Corner, I am sharing my recipe for blackened chicken fajitas. This will be a firehouse and home hit!
BLACKENED CHICKEN FAJITAS WITH CILANTRO LIME MARINADE
Serves: 4-6
Preparation time: 15minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
These delicious fajitas don’t need a whole lot else to make them shine. That being said, for a complete meal, serve with Eddie’s Saffron Infused Yellow Rice and his Chipotle Guacamole, along with black beans and the usual suspects: salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro and lime wedges.
Marinade:
3 bunches cilantro, roughly chopped, separated into thirds
2 limes, juiced
2-4 garlic cloves
One-quarter onion
2 tablespoons sour cream
Pinch of crushed red pepper (or 1 chipotle pepper, seeded)
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Three-quarters to 1 cup olive oil (to taste)
Fajitas:
3-4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced *
3 Roma tomatoes cut into small wedges
One-half teaspoon ground cumin
One-half teaspoon granulated garlic
(* Switch it up and add 2 diced zucchinis and/or 1 cup of your favorite mushrooms, sliced)
1. Put all of the marinade ingredients in a blender (reserve one-third chopped cilantro for garnish). Start blending on low, then increase speed as the marinade is coming together. While still blending, slowly pour in the olive oil until marinade is well blended and looks like salad dressing. Set aside.
2. With a mallet, pound chicken breasts so that they are tenderized and will cook evenly. Salt and pepper both sides of breasts; place breasts in a large Ziploc bag and pour in enough marinade to coat evenly; set aside to marinate for 30-60 minutes (the longer you marinate, the stronger the infusion of flavors).
3. Grill the marinated chicken breasts (internal temp 180°) on a BBQ grill until tender yet done. After breasts are done, let rest off of grill for at least 5 minutes (so that chicken retains juices), then cut into thin strips, approximately 2-3 inches long. Set aside.
4. Over medium-high heat, heat olive oil, then add the onions and peppers. Season with salt, pepper, another pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, and granulated garlic. Sauté over high heat until veggies are cooked but remain al denté. Add the tomatoes and some of the remaining marinade and gently stir to coat.
5. Place the chicken strips on top of the vegetables. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with Spanish rice, black beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and cheese.
