Quesadilla

Quesadillas are quick and easy to make, but I've seen many people mess up the process. Too much cheese, folding too early, using a tortilla for both top and bottom... these are just some of the more common mistakes. Quesadillas were the most popular appetizer at the restaurant I worked at, so making the perfect one had to be a seamless series of steps, executed at just the right times. The following steps are quite verbose, but for no extra charge you get my memory's step-by-step process of making a great quesadilla.

With that said, the process of making a quesadilla fantástica is as follows:

Ingredients
1 flour tortilla
Soft or melted butter, enough to lightly coat one side of the tortilla
Colby-Jack cheese, shredded
Seasoned chicken (optional)

Method

• Preheat a skillet on the range at medium setting.
  
• Lightly butter one side of a tortilla.
• Place tortilla, butter-side down on skillet.
  
• Sprinkle shredded Colby-Jack cheese on half the tortilla, but make sure you can still see some white tortilla through the cheese. If you cannot see any tortilla, you've over-cheesed.
• Optional -- add seasoned chicken on top of the cheese. Make sure you use much less chicken than cheese.
• Cook for about 1 minute, then lift the tortilla slightly to check if it is at a nice toasty, light, golden-brown color.
• When tortilla reaches a light-golden color, fold empty half over cheesy half, press down lightly so it stays put.
  
• Allow quesadilla to cook for another 30-45 seconds, the cheese should be melted by now.
• If the cheese is not completely melted, flip tortilla and allow it to cook for another 30-45 seconds. Flipping will assure even toastyness of the outer shell.
• Remove cooked quesadilla and place on a cutting board.

Cutting technique
Quesadillas could be cut any way using any knife, but here's my preferred way with my preferred knife.

Place the tip of your favorite sharp Chef's Knife on the cutting board at the center of the flat side of the quesadilla, so the blade and handle are above the rest of the quesadilla at a 45 degree angle. One hand is holding the handle, and the other is resting on the top, dull side of the blade. In a rocking motion (keeping the front of the blade touching the cutting board), smoothly cut through the center, creating two equal triangles. Reverse the motion you just made until the blade is back at the 45 degree angle position. Push your handle hand forward to cut the far triangle in half, cut, then pull back to cut the final triangle, resulting in 4 total triangles. Four is the ideal count for a 10-inch tortilla, 6- to 8-inch tortillas may only require 3 triangles.

Serving Suggestions
Serve with a side of one or more of the following:

• Sour cream
• Guacamole
• Salsa (keep in mind that it is difficult to scoop chunky salsa with a quesadilla triangle)
• Pico de Gallo (may be difficult to scoop)
  
• A zesty ranch-based sauce

If you're looking to make a full circle tortilla, it is highly recommended that you make two half-circles, independently. Flipping a quesadilla that uses two tortillas at once (so no folding would be required) can result in cheese falling out the sides and is generally difficult to manage.

Craig Sandwich (veggie)

Only Jessie could enlighten us as to why this is named as such, but don't let the name fool you... this is one of my favorite things. The idea behind this is to get the most flavor out of healthy vegetables as possible. There are countless possible variations, just adapt it to your personal taste.

There is just one basic rule to assembling your own masterpiece: alternate layers of slippery veggies with layers of veggies that have more friction. If you fail, and you will know if you did, you end up with a huge mess during the devouring process. I've failed more than once! Remember, avocado is a slippery mistress, so use extra caution near it (it never hurts to put a few sprouts on that layer for non-slip insurance).

This does not have to be a triple-bread-slice sandwich, but that's Craig's preference. Jessie is more of a double-slice (traditional) girl.



Note on the ingredients: size does matter. It all depends on the size of your bread slice. The list here is for a rather large slice of bread, so adjust accordingly.

Ingredients (per sandwich)
2 leaves Romaine lettuce, patted dry
1 mushroom, fresh, sliced
1/2 medium avocado, sliced
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
9 slices cucumber
4 slices tomato
1 slice American or Cheddar cheese
1 thin section of a yellow or white onion
salt (recommended)
pepper (recommended)
mayo

Method

• Toast bread lightly, if you desire or if you have pathetic, weak bread on hand.
• Layer the following
• 1 slice bread
• 1 leaf lettuce
• 1 slice cheese
• mushroom slices
• avocado slices
• 1 slice bread
• cucumber slices
• pepper
• tomato slices
• salt
• sprouts
• onion slices
• 1 leaf lettuce
• layer the bottom of the top bread layer with mayo
• last slice bread
• Holding the sandwich firmly, use a bread knife or other sharp serrated knife to slice in half.

My guess is that this sandwich would be awesome on rye, but we never have rye around. Just food for thought.

Frenchy Cake (Pudding Chomeur)

Jessie went on a French-Canadian cooking spree and this is one of the delights that came of it. Probably one of the most unhealthy thing's you'll ever eat, but very satisfying to say the least. We used some pure northeastern maple syrup and suggest you do the same.



the recipe has been misplaced.. i'll add it once i find it!

Panini

Before traveling to Italy, I never created a panini at home, and that's probably for the best. I'm sure I would have winged it and it wouldn't be nearly as good as this one that my brother introduced to me. These are very rich in taste and salty, which often irritates the top of my mouth, but it is so worth it! We've tried variations using local, inexpensive cured meats (even Carl Buddig's 50 cent packages) and have never been disappointed.




Ingredients (for each Panini)
1 Ciabatta roll
1 tsp pesto sauce
1 tsp mayo or olive oil
1 slice pancetta
1 slice prosciutto
2-3 slices of tomato
2 oz. fresh Mozarella, peeled (FRESH)

Method

1. Preheat panini griddle to medium heat.
   
2. Slice Ciabatta bread in half
3. Spread pesto on bottom half
4. Lay cheese on the pesto layer
5. Order the meats on the cheese layer
6. Add optional tomato slices above the meat layer
   
7. Spread mayo or olive oil on top half
8. Place uncooked sandwich on griddle, lower griddle top, and press firmly on sandwich for 10 seconds.
9. Allow to cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until desired consistency.

Serve with Panini sliced in half to allow center to cool. Other meats we have tried with success include Armour Dried Beef Slices, cooked bacon, Carl Buddig Meats (Pastrami, Beef).

Chipotle Chicken Breast

I'm a huge fan of the smoked jalapeño flavor, chipotle, and put together this recipe to make some slightly-spicy, seriously flavorful chicken. Locating chipotle seasoning at the grocery can be difficult... We found it at World Market.




Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts, trimmed
1 tsp. chipotle seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced/pressed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl
   
2. Add olive oil and lime juice to dry ingredients to create a marinade
3. Marinate chicken in a sealed container/bag and refrigerate for at least 30 min. (or overnight)
4. Prepare chicken using your preferred method (grilled, oven baked, broiled, griddled)

Grand Biscuit Open-faced Egg Sandwich

After watching countless infomercials and ultimately picking up a new GTXpress101 cooking unit at the Salvation Army, we went to town making food in it every day. It heats up in


Ingredients
1 fridge "grand biscuit" (from the pop-open container)
2 egg whites
1 strip of microwave bacon, cut into pieces
1/2 slice American cheese

Method

1. Preheat GTXpress101
2. Flatten/stretch one biscuit to fit one Xpress well
3. Spray well and top with Pam
4. Place biscuit in well
5. Place cheese on top of biscuit
6. Place egg on top of cheese
7. Place bacon pieces on top of egg
8. Cook 8-9 minutes