European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Kitty Crider Cox news service fajitas Are no Flash in the pan. These Juicy morsels barely known in the United states a decade ago have gone from Border grills to the Tony restaurants from tried and True suppers to trendy party food from beef to fish. If it fits in a Tortilla Call it a Fajita. Not without objection from purists however. There is Only one Fajita they argue. Fajita is Spanish for Quot Little Belt Quot or Sash. It is beef skirt or the diaphragm muscle of the cow which resembles a Belt. And it was from this Cut of meat that the Fajita was born along the Rio Grande. Although theories differ As to when fajitas originated food historian Juanita Garza of pan american University places the time around the turn of the Century according to the official Fajita Cookbook. Others say the �?T30s or 40s. But it has Only been in the past decade or so that Fajita fever has swept Texas and spread to the rest of the United slates and into the most unlikely places such As the Chicken House. Ironically about the same time the Fajita craze crested so did the health push to eat More poultry. Now Chicken fajitas even in Texas rival beef in popularity. But it does t Stop there. In recent years Clever chefs and food news makers have rustled up such exotic fare that few South Texas cowboys would recognize them a blackened Lamb Fajita with Pecan pesto a pork Fajita with pickled cabbage a shark Fajita a Rattlesnake Fajita with roasted gingered peppers and even a mini Fajita of sauteed greens grilled Chicken and Green Beans. Party fajitas these. But so Are traditional fajitas. In tune with the casual lifestyle of the times fajitas May be the hottest food this Side of the Jalapeno Here Are recipes for some of the More traditional yet still trendy fajitas. San Jacinto pork fajitas 4 pounds pork loin Cut into 2-Inch strips marinade 2 onions sliced Fine 2 Tablespoons diced garlic juice of four limes two bottles of dark Beer 1 cup red wine vinegar 2 Jalapenos diced 1 Tablespoon dried thyme 1 Tablespoon dried oregano 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce Salt and Pepper Cilantro diced for cooking Olive Oil red and yellow Bell peppers Julienne marinate the meat Tor at least 18-24 hours in covered Container. Then Drain and sear meat in very hot pan with a Little Olive Oil. Add red and yellow peppers. Cook until done about 4-6 minutes. Serve in flour tortillas with toppings of Choice. Suggestions Honey Mustard sour Fajita a fever v it f l 0 w Cream pickled cabbage Tomato cumin Salsa serves 20. If loin is too expensive substitute one or two family. Packs of pork chops trimmed of Bone. Sizzling beef fajitas 2 to 3 pounds skirt Steak Vonch thick marinade 4 garlic cloves minced 1 Tablespoon Lime juice Vamp cup Worcestershire sauce or Vamp cup soy sauce 4 Serrano Chiles stemmed and minced a cup Apple cider vinegar 14-ounce can beef Broth 2 Tablespoons safflower Oil 2 Large yellow or White onions thinly sliced 2 Belt peppers thinly sliced 4 limes Cut in half flour tortillas 1 cup sour Cream Pico de Gallo guacamole at least 3 hours before grilling the meat trim to remove All fat and Gristle. For skirt Steak use Flat meat Pounder to tenderize. Put the meat in a shallow Glass dish or plastic bag. Combine the marinade ingredients and pour Over the meat. Marinate for about 3 hours in refrigerator. About 45 minutes before serving clean the Grill surface and rub it with an Oil dampened cloth. Preheat the Grill for about 30 minutes. Remove the meat from the marinade. It Sprinkle the meat with Salt and Pepper and place Ilo Grill. Baste with marinade Grill then turn Baste again until medium rare about 5-6 minutes in All or until Del oneness. Remove cover with foil and keep warm heat 2 Tablespoons Oil in a cast Iron Skillet Over Mil High heat. Add the onions and Cook until browned m Crisp. Remove and add Bell peppers. Saute Abo uial and add onions. Remove the Skillet from the heat. Preheat the oven to 450 f. Wrap the tortillas Orpila in foil and heat until warm 8-10 minutes. Cut the beef across the Grain into strips about a thick. Reserve All the juices. Put the Skillet Back on i Long enough to get hot then add the meat. It will Sizzo immediately then put the onions and peppers on Toff reserved juices on top to create a sizzle. Carry thes immediately to the table. Squeeze Lime juice on  use tortillas to enclose meat strips peppers onions i Gallo guacamole and sour Cream. Makes 8 Servings Pico de Gallo 1 Tomato chopped 1 onion chopped 5 Cilantro sprigs chopped 1 Jalapeno Pepper chopped 1 Lemon Cut in half Salt to taste mix Tomato onion Cilantro and Jalapeno in a sent dish squeeze Lemon juice Over mixture and adds taste and serve. Making Manchaca burritos by Rose Dosti los Angeles times Dinora Guzman is a Mobile truck Cook catering mostly to hungry workers from the garment District buildings in downtown los Angeles. During the morning a lot of the Early risers can be seen eating Guzman s Manchaca burritos Guzman s method for preparing Manchaca is to season diced round Steak with Mustard and Cook it with a sprinkling of Worcestershire a Guzman Calls it Quot Black  the eggs Are scrambled with sauteed onions Green Pepper and Tomato mixed with the meat then wrapped in a Tortilla sometimes a Topping of Beans is added. You can duplicate the Manchaca at Home for a breakfast party. Arrange the filling tortillas and toppings a Beans sour Cream Cilantro and hot sauce a separately on a table and allow each guest to created his or her own Manchaca Burrito. It s a Complete breakfast in a Tortilla. Manchaca Burrito lard butter or Margarine 1/i Pound round Steak diced 1 Teaspoon dry Mustard seasoned Aalt freshly ground Pepper 1 to 2 Teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 Small onion diced h Green Pepper diced 1 Tomato diced 6 to 8 eggs lightly beaten 6 to 8 flour tortillas mexican Beans optional grease griddle or Skillet with some of lard. Add beef season to taste with Mustard seasoned Salt and Pepper Sprinkle with Worcestershire. Saute until browned and done As desired. Remove meat and set aside. Melt 1 Tablespoon lard in Skillet. Add onion and Green Pepper. Saute until onion is tender. Add Tomato Anda until Tomato is tender. Add eggs and Cook stirring to j scramble. Add meat mixture. Toss until heated Thron heat tortillas on griddle to heat and soften. Top a with some of egg and meat mixture. Top with Beans i if desired. Fold in sides of Tortilla and Roll to make neat package serve like Burrito to eat out of hand for Breal lunch. Makes 6 to 8 Servings. Mexican Beans 1 cup dried Pinto Beans Well rinsed Teaspoon Salt dash ground cumin dash Chile powder vie cup Oil place Beans in water to cover generously in sauce bring to boil. Gently boil covered 45 minutes. Adda cumin and Chile powder and Cook 15 minutes Longe j Beans Are tender. Drain Beans and Reserve cooking a to retry Beans heat Oil in Skillet. Add Beans and so bean cooking liquid. Mash partially so some Beans whole. Cook until mixture is thick but still moist. Ms1 2 cups. Page 14 a the stars and stripes Friday wine info former mets Star Rusty staub appraises a Vintage at his restaurant in new York. Cleaning up consumer confusion by Frank  new York times. A Quot some wine labels in the United states say that the wine contains sulfite some done to. How do i find wine without sulfite Quot. A Quot my wife gets headaches from red wine or White wine or Sweet wine. What can be done about it a a Quot i have a bottle of wine someone gave my father 20 years ago what is it Worth and How do i sell it a a Quot what does a $5,000 wine taste like Quot a Quot we often have half a bottle of wine left Over at the end of a meal. Can it be kept Quot readers questions about wine Range from the technical Quot what does carbonic maceration do for a wine Quot to the bizarre Quot my dog loves red wine will it Hurt him quo but some recur frequently. Aside from queries about specific wines the five questions above Are among those that seem to turn up most often. Nothing has caused More confusion than the sulfite warning on wine bottle labels. The warning became mandatory in january 1987. Wine bottled before then does no to have the warning wine bottled since does. But All wine contains sulfite. They Are produced naturally during fermentation. Bread Beer and cheese also contain sulfite. Fulfur in its various forms is a preservative and without it the wine would spoil. Some people Are allergic to sulfite and  drink wine. The number of people with such allergies is extremely Small and most of them Are aware of their condition. The amount of sulfite used in wine making is Small and getting smaller As wine making techniques improve. There Are experimental win making processes that produce sulfite free wine or almost sulfite free wine and one German producer Walthart contends that his wines Are in fact completely free of Fulfur compounds. Even so called organic wines Are not sulfite free. When the grapes Are grown organically sulfite must be used to preserve their juice and the wine made from it. In the amounts used they Are harmless to anyone but the Small group of people who Are allergic to them. Headaches yes there Are people who get headaches from wine. Among the compounds and Trace components that Are byproducts of the fermentation process in wine Are histamines. The amount of histamines while Small can vary from wine to wine even from bottle to bottle and they do give some people headaches. Old bottles in the attic or Hall closet too much fuss is made Over old wine. Some very special wines usually red wines from Bordeaux Are highly prize by collectors and wine connoisseurs but not if they come from someone s attic. Wines can age if they Are Well treated kept in a dark Cool place with no vibration. Even then quite a lot of it goes bad. Anyone with an old bottle can get Good advice from a reputable wine merchant or from one of the big auction houses like Christie s or soothe by a they hold regular wine auctions but Only in one or two states. In most parts of the United states it s illegal to sell wine unless you have a retail License. There is of course a Lively Gray Market. Collectors Trade Back and Forth and occasionally retailers will do a quiet Deal on the Side if they re reasonably sure the wine they Are buying or trading for is Good. So if you happen to be sitting on a couple of bottles of some pre prohibition Muscatel your Grandfather hid from the revenues be informed that the world of Fine wine is not waiting to snap it up. Which leads More or less directly to the question of those super expensive bottles that Are purchased at auctions every year or so. Can anything really taste that Good the answer unequivocally is no. People buy these bottles for publicity to fill out a collection to show off to invest. Sometimes the bottles Are opened usually at some fund raising event or at some International tasting but More often than not they rest in someone s cellar for a few years increasing in value before being sold at another auction. Occasionally a very old bottle is opened and turns out to be delicious. Usually it is a bottle that had never left the cellar of the winery or chateau where it was made and even the great Bordeaux Chateaux often open some rare old treasure Only to find that it had passed on Many years before. Saving wine a not necessarily for financial gain but because there is too much of it a confuses Many people. Over the Long haul wine eventually Dies. But when it s Young it s actually rather sturdy stuff. A half finished bottle of wine can be kept overnight with a Cork in it either in the refrigerator or out. In fact kept in the fridge it will last for a week. It wont be As fresh As when it was first opened perhaps but it will still taste Good. Most red wines Are drunk far too Young everyone who enjoys wine has had at least one experience with leftover wine that tasted better the second Day even when the bottle was open All night. Some perfectionists decant the remainder of a bottle of wine into a half bottle so that less air can attack the wine surface. Keeping unopened wine is another matter. Again there Are a lot of misconceptions. To achieve truly Long life wines need special care but most wines Are consumed within a year after they Are made and even relatively Good wines rarely stay around for More than three or four years after they Are released. Temperature controlled cellars with handsome wine Racks Are pleasant to have but hardly mandatory. Any wine will keep very Well for several years lying on its Side in an apartment closet. Just keep it away from the steam pipes. The one wine that does t need aging is Champagne. The stars and stripes a a Page 15