My family refers to me as a “social beast”. I happily agree I’m social, but I regret admitting the beast often emerges 45 minutes prior to hosting a dinner party. My husband keeps a wary distance during this crunch time, biting his tongue only because he knows the beast retreats once the guests arrive. I don’t like this personal trait. I admire hosts who entertain with a smile and aplomb set against a backdrop of dirty dishes and a half-set table. Guests never seem to mind and it may even contribute to creating a relaxed, party atmosphere.

I love entertaining so I’ve had to develop tactics through the years to calm my pre-party, “everything has to be perfect”, jitters. I invited 14 people over for dinner last night. I minimized party nerves with a thorough check-list and as much advance-preparation as possible. The relaxed casual days of August certainly helped. So did a popular and easy, mostly make-ahead dinner I’ve perfected through the years: Grilled Fajita Bar.

A fajita bar is fun and the best part is your guests build their own fajitas saving you the last-minute hassle of assembling plates. Picky guests can avoid items they don’t like and I can include some seasonal treats from my garden. Last night I grilled chicken breasts as the centerpiece for the fajitas but in the past I’ve grilled flank, skirt steak or shrimp. If I’m feeling really ambitious, or entertaining more guests, I’ll make all three of these proteins. Though most work is completed in advance, I always enjoy the last-minute culinary drama that a 20-minute sizzling grill provides.

Advance Optional Prep: Several days ago I cleaned my grill and organized my grilling utensils. If you use a gas grill make sure you have a full back-up tank of gas in reserve. If you're grilling over charcoal, double check to insure you are stocked with coals. I smoked my chicken breasts so I checked to make sure I had enough wood chips. (See July 30 dinnerFeed for tips on smoking food.) I organized plates, glasses, serving utensils, lots of bowls, platters and baskets for the fajita bar. I also chilled beverages, purchased ice, and set up my bar in advance. I purchased my avocados to insure they would be slightly soft to the touch and ripened for the guacamole.

I made my chicken rub and did my shopping the day before the party. I grilled my peppers until blackened the morning of the party. They need to steam several minutes before peeling and cleaning them is a bit messy. I’d rather do that in advance and put them in a metal pan on the grill to reheat as the chicken grills. Several hours before the guests arrived I rubbed the chicken, chopped the lettuce and placed all of my ingredients in individual bowls. I covered them with plastic wrap, refrigerated them, and arranged all fajita bar ingredients on a serving table before dinner.

My daughter arrived early to make the guacamole, that’s one item on a fajita bar that I think should be made no earlier than an hour in advance. We'd make more guacamole and salsa if we were serving them as appetizers with chips.

Short Cuts: You can substitute the rub (the first four ingredients) with a packaged fajita rub. Making guacamole is so easy I've never purchased pre-packs, but I've seen it packaged at many groceries around town. I have also seen jars of Delallo roasted red peppers at Hillers and Busch's.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons brown sugar
 3  teaspoons kosher salt
 3 teaspoons ground cumin
 1 teaspoon cayenne
 12 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 3 red peppers 3-4 ripe avocados 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 2-3 packages (8-10 inch) tortillas (about 24-30 tortillas) 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 2 cups fresh or prepared salsa 1 1/2 cups sour cream 1 cup chopped hot peppers, such as jalapeno, poblano or serrano 2 cups chopped tomatoes 4 cups thinly sliced lettuce 2 cups shredded cheese, such as cheddar or pepper jack (optional) 2 large sweet onions, cut into 1/2-inch slices

Directions:

1. To make a chicken rub, combine sugar, salt, cumin and cayenne. Rub both sides of chicken breasts with rub. (May be done up to 3 hours in advance.) 2. To make roasted red peppers, place whole peppers over a high flame, roasting on all sides until blackened. Steam at least 15 minutes in a paper bag, remove, and when cool enough to handle, remove loose blackened skin. (I don't wash the skin off with water as it removes alot of the flavor from the roasted pepper flesh.) Remove pepper top, membranes and seeds and cut into slices. 2. To make guacamole, slice avocado in half and remove pit. With a spoon, remove flesh from avocado. Place in a bowl and smash with a fork until just blended. Add 1 tablespoon of lime juice. Taste and add additional lime juice and kosher salt to taste. 3. Prepare a gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. 4. Place cilantro, salsa, sour cream, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese, if using, in individual bowls.(This can be done several hours in advance.) 5. Grill onion slices and chicken 7-9 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink (170Ëš), and onion is tender. Wrap fajitas loosely in foil in packages of 10 and place on grill to heat while chicken cooks. (You can also stack tortillas on a plate, cover in saran, and microwave in 15 second intervals until tortillas are warm.) 6. Separate grilled onion slices into rings and place in a bowl. Let grilled chicken sit for 5 minutes then slice into strips. Place in a bowl. Arrange bowls of vegetables, chicken and warm fajitas on fajita bar and invite your guests to assemble their fajitas.