OLE!

[hammb]

Tonight's dinner was freakin' awesome and I'm starting to get a pretty good buzz goin' so I figured I'd share it with ya'll.

Chicken Quesadillas

Green Peppers
Red Onion
Tortillas
Cheddar Cheese
Shredded mexican spiced chicken.

Chicken was leftover. Basically just stewed some chicken leg quarters for a couple hours. When they're falling off the bone shred the meat (I recommend saving the water as chicken stock & freezing it). After shredding the chicken place in new pot with 1/2 cup of your homemade stock. Add mexican seasonings (I wussed out with Taco Packets; if none handy a combo of salt, cayenne, pepper, cumin, & chili powder works great. Simmer over low heat until liquid is gone.

Roast Peppers & Onion on direct heat over charcoal with a chunk of cherry wood for some smoke. Onion should be quartered, but peppers whole. Baste onion with melted butter, and let it carmelize. Peppers should be grilled w/o basting directly over the fire. Turn when each side gets charred. After the entire pepper is charred place in a plastic grocery bag to steam for 5-10 mins. When the peppers are done steaming take out of the bag and remove the skins. Cut them open, remove seeds and dice peppers, along with the onion.

To complete the quesadillas brush some melted butter over one side of 2 tortilla shells and place butter side down on the grill. Put a handful of cheese on each tortilla, and follow with peppers, onions, and shredded chicken on one of the tortillas. I'd do these direct so that the tortillas do get crispy, but watch them close. The tortillas will want to burn, so keep an eye on them constantly. You'll want a 3 zone fire so that you can move the tortillas off to a cooler zone if they start to burn. When they have crisped up nicely put the tortilla that only has cheese on it on top of the one that's loaded. Pull off the grill & cut in quarters. Serve with sour cream and pico de gallo.

Pico de Gallo

I served my quesadilla with homemade pico de gallo. Unfortunately the fresh ingredients are still a month or two away, so I had to do this with store bought.

3 medium-large tomatoes
1/2 large red onion
3 large jalapeno peppers
handful of fresh cilantro
juice of one lime.

All I did was remove the seeds and chop the tomatoes finely. Chopped the onion finely as well. I halved the jalapenos and removed the seeds & ribs. I then chopped these as finely as possible as well. Coarsely ran my knife through a handful of fresh cilantro and then squeezed the juice from one lime over top. I put in the fridge for 2 hours or so to let the flavors mingle. I'd think that 3+ hours would be ideal here...definitely don't serve it directly after combining.


Cilantro/Lime Rice

This was modeled off the rice you get at Chipotle. I found the recipe online. The rice is supposed to be Basanti, which I found at Kroger.

2/3 cup Basanti rice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp butter
juice of 1 lime
couple oz of cilantro


This is pretty straight forward. Melt the butter with the salt in a saucepan over low heat. Add the rice & squeeze the lime. Mix this together for a minute or so. Add the water and bring to a boil. When it hits a rolling boil reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and let simmer until the rice is done and all liquid is absorbed (approx. 20-25 mins).

Fluff the rice with a fork and add the cilantro (after a nice coarse chop).


MARGARITAS!

These are what have me feeling pretty good right now, and my god are they great. I'm not sure I've ever had a Margarita before tonight that wasn't made with mix...these are infinitely better. Recipe makes one fairly strong margarita.


1 1/2 shots Tequila (I used some Cuervo Reposado; anejo would be better, obviously)
1 1/2 shots Grand Marnier
1 Lime
Ice
Kosher Salt


I ran the lime over the rim of the glass and then put salt on the rim of the glass. I then filled the glass halfway with ice.

I put some ice in my cocktail shaker. Add the liquor and the juice from the lime. Then, just for grins, throw the lime halves into the shaker as well. Shake for 10-20 seconds and pour, through a filter, into the glass over the ice. Makes one very nice, decent kick, margarita. This is not absurdly sweet like most margarita mixes are, so it's very good. Just the sour of the lime and the wonderful orange from the Grand Marnier mixed with the Tequila flavor...this is a true margarita. If you want some sweetness I'd add some simple syrup or, better yet, some agave nectar. Personally, I like mine without the sweetness.

[Rightupinthere]

NICE, Brian!

Instead of cheddar cheese on the Quesadilla, try Chihuahua cheese (no it's not made from dog's milk.)

You'll thank me.

[hammb]

NICE, Brian!

Instead of cheddar cheese on the Quesadilla, try Chihuahua cheese (no it's not made from dog's milk.)

You'll thank me.

Where would I find this miniature dog cheese? I have had very poor luck finding traditional mexican cheeses in BG.

Typically I would've used Monterey Jack for thi quesadillas, but I was out. Cheddar sufficed because I was already a few margaritas in.

[Rightupinthere]

NICE, Brian!

Instead of cheddar cheese on the Quesadilla, try Chihuahua cheese (no it's not made from dog's milk.)

You'll thank me.

Where would I find this miniature dog cheese? I have had very poor luck finding traditional mexican cheeses in BG.

Typically I would've used Monterey Jack for thi quesadillas, but I was out. Cheddar sufficed because I was already a few margaritas in.

I would think Kroger would have it. It would be in the specialty cheese section (if they still have it). It should be in the shape of a wedge about the size of a piece of layer cake. With the migrant worker population around BG, I'm pretty confident you will be able to find it.

It's a very soft, buttery mexican cheese which melts quickly. It is the best stuff going for quesdillas.

[jacojdm]

Where would I find this miniature dog cheese? I have had very poor luck finding traditional mexican cheeses in BG.

When I lived in BG, I found at a Meijer both in BG and and Rossford.
Around here, Giant Eagle usually has it, so I'd assume the same is true in Sylvania or Rossford.