Chicken Quesadillas

You can find the recipe Here  This was so fast because I used a rotisserie chicken. I only used part of the white meat. Kathryn's picture is much better, but I bet mine tastes just as good.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

4 (8-inch) flour tortillas

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers

1 cup chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1 cup thinly sliced peeled firm ripe peaches

4 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Combine honey and lime juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir sour cream into honey mixture; cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Place tortillas flat on a work surface. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cheese over half of each tortilla; top each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken, 1/4 cup peaches, and 1 teaspoon cilantro. Fold tortillas in half.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in the pan, and top quesadillas with a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. Cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are crisp and lightly browned (leave cast-iron skillet on quesadillas as they cook). Remove quesadillas from pan; set aside, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into wedges. Serve with sauce.

Kathryn Conrad

JULY 2010

Sandwich Ring

Sometimes recipes do not turn out how you planned. This was one of those times.  The recipe I got said to use 2 packages of french bread. I decided to one up the recipe and make my own french bread.  The recipe will follow, but next time I would 1/2 the recipe. It was way too much bread. I took out the bread on one side, but it was still too much.



Ingredients for french bread (cut in 1/2)
1 cup warm water
1/2 Tablespoon yeast
1/2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
Allow the dough to rise 30-45 minutes.  Roll into two rings and pinch the two pieces of dough to form a ring. Place on stone or in a spring-form pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dough seam side down on Large Round Stone or spring/form pan.. Make diagonal cuts 1/2 inch deep, on top of dough.  Combine egg white, minced garlic, and seasonings. Brush over top of bread dough.Bake 26-30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
2. Slice vegetables of choice Example (tomatoes, bell pepper, olives, cucumber)
3. To assemble sandwich, cut bread in half horizontally. Place bottom half on a serving plate. You may want to spread the bottom with mayonnaise or ranch dressing. Then arrange meat of choice and cheese evenly over bottom half of bread. Top with lettuce. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of Italian dressing evenly over lettuce. Top with vegetables and place top half of the bread to make a sandwich.  Cut into wedges and enjoy.

Pretzel Dogs

I found this recipe Here . I just copied and pasted it from her website. I made them for my grandson who is a really picky eater.  He said he liked them, but he only took one bite and declared that he wanted a pbbh (peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich)  Jud and I did liked the pretzel dogs. Maybe I will try them again with other grandchildren.

Pretzel Dogs

Yield: 8 pretzel dogs
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:20 minutes
Total Time:1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt
8 hot dogs

Directions:

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and mix on low speed using the dough hook until well combined. Increase to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and brush with the vegetable oil.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large, deep pan.
In the meantime, separate the dough into 8 equal pieces. Use your hands to roll and stretch the pieces of dough into ropes, about 12 inches long. Wrap one piece of dough around each hot dog, leaving just a bit of the dog peeking out at the ends. Press the ends of the dough together to hold in place.
Place the pretzels, one at a time, into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a slotted spoon. Return to the prepared cookie sheet, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
If you're freezing the pretzels, do not brush the tops with the egg wash or add the pretzel salt. Bake them until just lightly browned and cool completely. Place them into the freezer on the cookie sheet for 1 hour to harden. Remove from the cookie sheet and place in a freezer safe bag and freeze until ready to use. To prepare, brush the frozen pretzels with egg wash and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until warmed through and golden brown.

Four-Cheese Quiche

I found this in A little recipe book called Casseroles, Soups and Stews. I made the Apricot Chicken, Baked Chicken in Creamy Tomato Sauce and this Quiche yesterday. We will have this quiche tomorrow night.  I love taking a day to do enough cooking for several days.  We still have some hamburger patties that Jud grilled earlier this week.  I shouldn't have to cook for at least 3 more days.





Ingredients:
1 (15oz.) package Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts
1 (3oz.) package cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon freeze dried chives
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4oz. (1 cup) shredded Swiss cheese
4 oz. (1cup) shredded Gruyere cheese
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare pie crust according to package directions for one-crust baked shell using 9 -inch pie pan. (Refrigerate remaining crust for a later use. DO NOT PRICK CRUST.  Bake at 450 degrees for 6-8 minutes or just until crust is very light golden brown. If crust puffs up during baking, gently press crust down with the back of a wooden spoon. Cool.
Reduce heat to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk, Parmesan cheese, chives, oregano, salt and pepper.  Mix well. Sprinkle Swiss and Gruyere cheese evenly in bottom of partially baked crust. Pour egg mixture over cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees for 23- 28 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.