~*Cooking with Bae: Part 3 - Fajitas*~

It's been a while since I've posted a "Cooking with Bae" piece!




Last weekend was the first time in ages since J and I were able to cook something at home (blame the Christmas madness!) and to be honest, it wasn't anything massively exciting or complicated. Nevertheless, I am going to share it with you and hope that this inspires you to cook at home...maybe with your bae too!




This time, we decided to cook Fajitas, mainly because it's cheap and quick to prepare, and J wanted Mexican food (like he always does). We did cheat a little...well, quite a lot actually, because most of the stuff that we used, such as the Fajita seasoning and the accompaniments, were shop-bought, i.e. from packets and bottles! BUT...please take this as a review of the products we used, as we still encourage home cooking as much as possible!


First, we cut up some fresh chicken breast, onions and peppers and placed them in a frying pan, lightly cooking over medium heat. We then mixed in a packet of Santa Maria Fajita Mix (mild) and stirred until the chicken, onion and peppers were covered in seasoning.

We also chopped up some fresh iceberg lettuce and grated some cheese (J's job!) to add to the Fajitas.

For accompaniments, we used Mexi Grande Guacamole (in a bottle), Santa Maria Classic Mexican Salsa and Aldi's Snackrite Sour Cream. I have to be honest, the shop-bought Guacamole has nothing on the proper homemade stuff!!

The wholemeal wraps that we used for the Fajitas were Asda's own brand which I lucky managed to buy from the "Whoopsies!" section for 10p a packet (of 8 wraps). So I bought 5 packs and froze most of them! :D


We also cut up some fresh watermelon for dessert.

For those who know me are aware that I am not a big fan of pre-made sauces, seasoning, etc, but the ones we used in this instance were OK - nothing too special. I wouldn't discourage people from purchasing the products we used, but I personally wouldn't be in a rush to go out and re-buy them either.

Overall, I would give the food portion of the dining experience a 5/10, though dining with J after a 2-week gap was a lot of fun - I really miss him when he's not around. Next time, we will definitely be cooking from scratch!

~*Dinner Date @ Barrio Comida (Newcastle)*~

I have been fortunate enough to have spent more than the usual amount of time with J this week, as he's been back home in Newcastle for the Christmas holidays (yey!).

For one of our dinner dates during this time, we visited a new Mexican eatery called Barrio Comida. Situated in the Quayside area of Newcastle, Barrio Comida is a gorgeous little place that is made up of two shipping containers, and is perfect for date night or a super chilled catch-up with friends. If you sit by the window, you'll have a lovely view of the Tyne Bridge, which is especially beautiful at night. The entire restaurant is candle-lit, creating a romantic and hygge-like ambience, and the décor is simple, with aloe vera plants placed on typical Mexican-style plastic table covers.

Prior to going to Barrio Comida, I had read a number of great reviews and I knew both J and I needed to try it out.

J is half Mexican/Geordie, and he absolutely loves Mexican food. After checking out their website (www.barriocomida.com) and scrolling through their menu, which mainly focuses on traditional tacos which are cooked to order, I knew that Barrio Comida would be right up his street. I also loved that Barrio Comida isn't a chain (I believe there is another one in Durham and that's it), so I expected the food to be of high quality, fresh and as authentic as possible.

We started our date with a Michelada each. Michelada is a popular Mexican cocktail prepared with clamato (a mix of tomato and clam juice), beer, lime juice and assorted sauces and spices. It is definitely an acquired taste; J loves it but I personally wasn't crazy about it. It reminded me of a watered down Bloody Mary with stronger flavours of spice. I ended up giving most of mine to J to finish off!

Michelada

We then ordered our tacos (suggested serving of 3 tacos per person) - this was a difficult task since they all looked absolutely delicious! In the end, we ended up settling on the following:

J: Al Pastor, Camaron & Mole
Me: Lengua, Ensenada & Cabeza

Please check out www.barriocomida.com to see what each of these tacos consist of.

The tacos were AMAZING - you could taste the freshness of the ingredients, which were all well put-together to create incredible flavours. J, who has a talent for clearing his dinner plate in a matter of seconds, hoovered his tacos up at record speed - they were just too good!

J's tacos!

 

My tacos...my God I'm getting hungry again

 

J enjoying his grub!

J also treat us to a Ceviche Tostada (raw Tuna, Salsa, Chipotle Crema and Avocado on a toasted taco) each, which was definitely my favourite out of all the tacos we ate that evening - it was ridiculously good!

Heaven on a plate...Ceviche Tostada

We had another round of drinks to finish off our meal; J had another Michelada and I opted for a non-alcoholic homemade Agua Fresca called Jamaica, which is a lightly sweetened Hibiscus infused juice-like tea. The Jamaica was super tasty and the flavour of Hibiscus was just right, making it refreshing and very easy to drink.

A cup of Jamaica

All in all, it was a brilliant dining experience and I would strongly recommend anyone with a love of good food to try this place out. It's a very chilled setting so there's no need to get dolled up for the occasion either, which makes it the perfect place to have a laid-back gathering with your friends and loved ones.

Barrio Comida

Wesley Square

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 3DE 

~*Cooking with Bae: Part 1 - Simple Paella & Guacamole*~

J and I had been hemming and hawing for a while about what to cook for our first "Cooking with Bae" sesh. Japanese, Mexican, Italian...so many great cuisines to choose from!



In the end, we settled on a Spanish/Mexican/French fusion - a simple Paella, Guacamole dip and a side of baked baguettes (which we didn't bake ourselves - yes, we cheated!), Ardennes pate and Spanish meats. This was served with a large bottle of Sangria.


Head chef J was in charge of cooking the Paella while I, sous chef MY, whipped up the Guacamole and prepped the table.


For someone who hasn't had very much experience in the kitchen, J did a brilliant job of the Paella! I was pleasantly surprised at how well he took to cooking, and he looked so cute using the spatula when mixing everything up in the frying pan...:) I'll be sure to give him a more challenging dish to cook next time...without my help!


Both dishes turned out very well, but the Paella for sure was the star of the show. J was so proud of himself that he ended up cooking the Paella for some friends when he went back down to London. I've been told that he got massive thumbs-up for his efforts too!


Anyway, here are the recipes that we followed for the Paella and Guacamole...enjoy! XOXO

Paella  (serves 2)

1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Slice chorizo (please feel free to be generous with this!)
1/2 diced onion
1/4 tsp turmeric
300g cooked plain rice
100g cooked prawn
50g frozen peas
Lemon wedges (to serve)

1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Tip in the chorizo, onion and garlic, then cook for a couple of minutes until softened. Stir through turmeric, followed by the rice, prawns and peas and 150ml of water.


2. Keep stirring until everything is warmed through and the water has been absorbed. The rice should still be wet. Decorate with lemon wedges.



Guacamole (serves 2)


2 ripe avocadoes, mashed
1 diced tomato
1/2 diced red onion (or a whole one, depending on how strong you want the bite)
Chopped coriander
1/2 lemon for the juice (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to season)


1. Place the mashed avocadoes, tomato, red onion and coriander into a bowl and mix well.


2. Take the lemon and squeeze small amounts of juice into the avocado mixture at a time. Keep adding the juice until you are happy with the taste.
3. Add salt and pepper to season.







J working his magic!



The table! Alfie the cat was "guarding" the food at the time!



Made with love