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.

Angel Hair With Spicy Shrimp

I absolutely love Brown and Bridal and the things I've learned from the fabulous ladies that frequent the site. I found out about this recipe while reading the weekly menu of one of the posters and just had to try it.

Angel Hair with Spicy Shrimp

3/4 pound angel hair pasta or spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound frozen peeled and deveined medium shrimp, thawed
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute (do not let it brown). Add the shrimp, wine, red pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer until the shrimp are opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the butter until melted.
3. Toss the pasta with the shrimp mixture.

I modified it slightly be increasing the amount of crushed red pepper and adding 1/4 teaspoon of ground red pepper. This one will go in the recipe binder.

Enjoy!

Bringing Crockpot Tuesdays Back

Today, I decided to pull out my crock pot. I tried a recipe I found on Publix's Simple Meals. You have to love a one dish meal.

Ingredients

1 (18-ounce) bottle barbecue sauce

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

3/4 cup cooked sweet Vidalia onions and peppers

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin chops

1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning

Steps

1. Preheat slow cooker on high.

2. Stir together in slow cooker: barbecue sauce, sugar and flour.

3. Stir in onions and peppers.

4. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with steak seasoning. Add to slow cooker and submerge in barbecue sauce. Wash hands.

5. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 8-10 hours. Serve.

All in all, it was ok and I prefer real BBQ since it is so flavorful. If I make this again, I may marinate the chops or add some extra seasonings.

I've been tagged

Today, I was tagged by fellow Babbie Mrs. G of The Givens Chronicles. The rules are simple and are listed below.

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. List six things that make you happy.
3. Tag six bloggers and let them know they're "it".

So the 6 things that make me happy...
1. God's love
2. My wonderful husband
3. My family and friends
4. Strolling aimlessly through The Container Store
5. Listening to Adore by Prince
6. My suga booga (dog), Kincaid

The bloggers I'm tagging:
The Givens Chronicles
Soul of Charanne
The Divine Diva Files
Sweetcakes by Melissa
MmmmUmmGood
Deals for the Short and Curvy

Sweet and Hot Chicken

I learned of this dish after it was shared in a post by one of my online friends. It is simple and most important quite tasty. L and I enjoyed this dish and will make it again. I think next time I will tweak it a bit to give it a little spicy kick.

Sweet and Hot Chicken

Chicken wings cleaned and separated
1 pack McCormicks Grill Mates Peppercorn & Garlic marinade
Honey
BBQ Sauce

Follow directions to prepare marinade and add 3 tablespoons of honey for sweetness. Allow chicken to marinate 1 hour or longer before baking. Once the chicken has browned, remove it from the oven and place the chicken into a baking dish (I used a disposable pan for the first phase of baking then transferred to a baking dish). Drizzle with BBQ sauce and more honey then place back in the oven until its done

Thanks Monique!

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Over the past few weeks I haven't cooked much at home. On Friday, I sat down planned out meals for the next two weeks and am committing myself to continuing doing this. I purposefully, added new recipes to the mix and will update the blog after each.


Today, I decided to make homemade brownies as dessert. I love brownies but can not recall ever having them made from scratch. A few weeks ago, my brother gave me a copy of Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and I used her fudge brownie recipe.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan or heatproof glass dish. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on 2 sides. Set aside. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.
Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until cake tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Using parchment, lift brownies out of pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board; cut into 2-inch squares. Brownies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Getting Excited!!!

Earlier this summer I purchased tickets for the traveling production of The Color Purple. I love love love the movie and have seen it countless times. "You told Harpo to beat me....." classic!

I hadn't given the play much thought this summer but I recently saw a commercial advertising its Atlanta run. I can't wait to get the opportunity to see it and will be certain to post after the production. Stay tuned.

My kind of sports bar

After a few weeks of conflicting schedules, my co-workers and I had an opportunity to go out for another team lunch. Today, we took a quick walk to a nearby sports bar STATS. I am not a sports fanatic, but I wouldn't mind catching a game here.

I loved the design of the restaurant and its furnishing. They had these extremely neat tap tables. Basically, you have the bar at your table. I don't drink beer but like the concept nonetheless. It would be great if they had those for martinis. Hey, a girl can dream can't she.

The menu was not your traditional bar grub. Our waitress recommended the Crabcake BLT and we all took her up on the choice. She was right, this sandwich was great. I'll have to make myself try something different next time.

To top off a great outing, we found out that since our employer is nearby, we qualified for 10% discount during lunch. Got to love that. We will certainly go there again.

The Joy of Baking....kinda

Recently, I made two cakes for some friends. I am happy that others are enjoying the result of my cake decorating courses. Plus, as mentioned earlier it gives me a chance to practice.

For the time being I am still using box mixes. I'll venture out and begin using my mom's recipes soon.

Anniversary cake for friends 5th wedding anniversary. She requested a basket weave since that was the design on their wedding cake.

Birthday Cake- Lemon cake with lemon icing wrapped in fondant.