Hot & Spicy Chicken Quesadillas

Occasionally, L and I will take a late night ride to Taco Cabana for a chicken quesadilla, margarita and some people watching. I wanted to see I can make a quesadilla to rival theirs and am quite pleased with the result. I followed the recipe below but marinated the chicken overnight in McCormick's chipotle pepper marinade. Also, I added some fire roasted peppers and onions I found in the freezer section of Trader Joe's. Enjoy!

Hot and Spicy Chicken Quesadillas
Adapted from CD Kitchen

2 teaspoons Olive oil
2 Boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 tablespoons Chili sauce
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
4 Flour tortillas (8-inch size)
1 cup Shredded Cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons Canola oil or plain vegetable oil

Directions:

• Preheat a griddle on medium heat on top of the stove. Add the olive oil to the hot pan. Place the chicken strips, chili sauce, peppers, onion and jalapeno pepper in the pan and sauté until cooked through, approximately 3-5 minutes. Remove and reserve.
• Wipe the pan clean.
• Place the chicken mixture on one half of each of the flour tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese and fold over to form a half circle.
• Again, preheat the griddle on medium. Oil the cooking surface with one tsp. Canola oil. Place a filled tortilla on the cooking surface. Cook until light brown. Turn. Repeat with the other three tortillas. Slice each tortilla into three wedges and serve with salsa and black beans.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Today's crock pot recipe was a new twist on pork roast. It is another Publix Simple Meal recipe. Based on the recipe I thought it would be full of flavor but it just didn't produce the symphony of flavor I was looking for. I ended up shredding the meat and adding some BBQ sauce to it. I may end up freezing it for some late fall or early winter BBQ craving.

Ingredients
olive oil cooking spray
1 pork shoulder roast (about 4 lb)
1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 fresh garlic cloves
2 chorizo links (about 3 oz)
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles (undrained)

Steps
1. Coat slow cooker with cooking spray; preheat on high. Cut 10–12 one-half-inch-deep slits into fat side of pork, about 1–2 inches apart. Sprinkle roast with adobo seasoning and pepper; place in slow cooker (fat side up).
2. Crush garlic, using garlic press, over top of pork. Use knife to remove garlic from bottom of press. Rub garlic into pork, pressing into slits (wash hands).
3. Slice chorizo lengthwise, then into 1/4-inch-thick pieces; sprinkle over pork. Spread chiles over top of pork. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 8–10 hours or until tender and internal temperature reaches 160°F. Use a meat thermometer to accurately ensure doneness. Serve. (Makes 6 servings.)

Get Yo' Man Chicken

Today's dinner recipe is from Gina Neely of "Down Home with the Neely's". Since I had all the ingredients on hand, I just had to try it. While cooking, it reminded me of the smells of my mother's kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. Hope you enjoy it as well.

Get Yo' Man Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 chicken thighs, skinless
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in thick puree (I used fire roasted tomatoes)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon-pepper
Hot buttered rice ( I used yellow rice)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken, meat-side down first, and turning once, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate to reserve.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan.

Add onion to the pan and saute until tender, roughly 3 minutes. Add the stock and wine and stir, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to high and reduce by half, about 3 minutes.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the dried herbs and lemon pepper. Add the chicken thighs back into the pan.Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 40 minutes.

Remove chicken from liquid and serve on hot buttered rice. Ladle the sauce on top and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I originally intended to make these cookies for Inauguration Day in honor of President Obama. Well laziness got the best of me and the ingredients just hung out in my pantry until I came across the white chocolate chips last week. I must say, I am so mad at myself for not making these sooner because they are wonderful. My co-workers will enjoy these on Monday.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

2 cups all purpose flour ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt (I omitted since I only had salted butter)
¾ cup melted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups chopped macadamia nuts
2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
3. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the egg yolk, then beat in the vanilla.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just moistened. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chip by hand with a rubber spatula.
5. Roll into balls or drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets, and press down on the cookies with your palm a bit to flatten.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges look golden brown and the middles don't look quite set. Allow to finish cooling on the baking sheet.

Martha Stewart Cupcake Club

I've decided to amend my 101 list to include baking my way though Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book. I plan on completing at least 15 of the projects. For the most part, I will be going at my own pace but once a month I will participate in the MSC monthly baking challenge organized by Sugar B of eatmycupcake.com.

My first challenge is due in 3 weeks and I'll post the results at that time. This should be interesting and my husband and co-workers will be happy with the results.