This was a pretty simple recipe, but it turned out great! This dish was easily one of the most delicious things I've ever cooked.
I was coming home late after work and decided to stop by the food store to pick up dinner. We didn't have much in the fridge -- just some nice jack and cheddar cheese I'd picked up a few days earlier to make quesadillas, but we were out of tortillas. I figured I'd pick up some meat and garnish and we'd have some quick, simple meat quesadillas for dinner.
Ingredients (enough for two very large quesadillas):
- Skinless, boneless chicken thighs (~1/2 lb, cut into small pieces and cleaned of fat and gristle)
- 3 medium tomatoes (diced)
- half a large, sweet yellow texas onion (diced)
- mild taco sauce (~6 oz)
- a large dash of: cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin, crushed and dried basil leaves (to taste)
- salt (~4 tsp)
- 2 very large, stretchy tortillas
- jack and sharp cheddar cheese, grated (~1/4lb each)
- olive oil (~1 and 1/2 Tbsp)
- fresh garlic (1 clove)
Garlic butter:
- green salsa (~1/2 cup)
I first chopped the tomatoes and onion and set them aside in a bowl. Then I prepared the chicken by peeling the thighs open with my fingers, and cutting the meat out of the fat and gristle. It was a pretty messy meat, but after removing the excess it was tender and delicious. I cut the meat into small bite-sized chunks, to fit in the quesadillas.
I pan-fried the chicken lightly in olive oil in a large frying pan, starting on very high heat and then reducing to barely more than a simmer, after searing the meat to retain its juices and flavor. I then added the salt, and scrambled it in the pan with a spatula, making sure there was no pink left on the outside. I cooked it for about 5 minutes after the pink was gone. This made for a very tender, juicy meat, but without a hint of pink inside.
I prepared the tortillas by heating them on the open flame of the stove on high. I turned them around over the flame slowly, but not slow enough to burn them. This made them soft and ready for pan-frying. I put one aside, and put the other in a very large frying pan on very high heat. I put in half of each type of grated cheese. After it had begun to melt, I put in enough of the chicken and sauce to cover the cheese, but not too deeply. I used a spatula to fold the tortilla over itself, making a large, cheesy, delicious quesadilla! The high heat of the pan seared the outside of the tortilla, making it crispy and strong enough to hold in the juicy interior, which in turn kept it cool enough not to burn. I left this on high heat for about another 30 seconds to 1 minute, and flopped it onto a plate (that was the hard part...)
Finally, we decided to make a simple guacamole garnish. Michelle mashed one ripe avocado with a fork in a small bowl, and I added green salsa as an afterthought. It made for a delicious cooling addition to this great dish!
Read more »
I was coming home late after work and decided to stop by the food store to pick up dinner. We didn't have much in the fridge -- just some nice jack and cheddar cheese I'd picked up a few days earlier to make quesadillas, but we were out of tortillas. I figured I'd pick up some meat and garnish and we'd have some quick, simple meat quesadillas for dinner.
Ingredients (enough for two very large quesadillas):
- Skinless, boneless chicken thighs (~1/2 lb, cut into small pieces and cleaned of fat and gristle)
- 3 medium tomatoes (diced)
- half a large, sweet yellow texas onion (diced)
- mild taco sauce (~6 oz)
- a large dash of: cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin, crushed and dried basil leaves (to taste)
- salt (~4 tsp)
- 2 very large, stretchy tortillas
- jack and sharp cheddar cheese, grated (~1/4lb each)
- olive oil (~1 and 1/2 Tbsp)
- fresh garlic (1 clove)
Garlic butter:
- fresh, salted butter (~2 Tbsp)
- fresh garlic (2 cloves, diced)
Guacamole:
- 1 soft, ripe avocado (mashed with a fork)- green salsa (~1/2 cup)
I first chopped the tomatoes and onion and set them aside in a bowl. Then I prepared the chicken by peeling the thighs open with my fingers, and cutting the meat out of the fat and gristle. It was a pretty messy meat, but after removing the excess it was tender and delicious. I cut the meat into small bite-sized chunks, to fit in the quesadillas.
I pan-fried the chicken lightly in olive oil in a large frying pan, starting on very high heat and then reducing to barely more than a simmer, after searing the meat to retain its juices and flavor. I then added the salt, and scrambled it in the pan with a spatula, making sure there was no pink left on the outside. I cooked it for about 5 minutes after the pink was gone. This made for a very tender, juicy meat, but without a hint of pink inside.
I then added the diced onion and tomatoes. I also poured the taco sauce over it, just enough to moisten and flavor the whole mixture. I cooked this on high heat for ~20 minutes. This made the mixture into a sort of stew. As I cooked (stirring occasionally), I added the spices and 1 clove of finely diced garlic. The mixture began to bubble as the water boiled off, reducing the mixture into a flavorful sauce. I left this on a simmering heat as I prepared the quesadillas. It was important to keep this moving so the sugary tomatoes and sauce didn't stick to the pan and burn. I also moved the meat to the side from time to time and used very high heat so the sauce could boil down more. I did that for about a minute at a time, then reduced the heat again.
Before finally making the quesadillas, though, I decided to add garlic butter to the sauce at Michelle's suggestion. We didn't agree whether this was a good idea in the end-- it was very garlicky, but also very tasty. It might have been a bit better with less garlic. I made it by melting the butter at low heat in a small pan, then adding the garlic and turning up the heat until it bubbled and fried the flavor out of the garlic for a few minutes, without burning the butter. Then I added the mixture to the chicken and sauce.
Finally, we decided to make a simple guacamole garnish. Michelle mashed one ripe avocado with a fork in a small bowl, and I added green salsa as an afterthought. It made for a delicious cooling addition to this great dish!
 |
| The finished product! (Pardon the quality of the lighting -- I used a cellphone camera) |
