Breakfast Base

The green peppers were becoming too overpowering in my previously posted skillet mix, so I did some refactoring ("mixed it up," if you will), and have come up with what I believe to be a tasty, easy, 3-part breakfast base.



1/2 cup diced onions (from frozen section)
3 veggie sausage patties (Morning Star), cubed
4-5 small white potatoes, baked w/ skin, cubed

That's it. This mix lends itself to omelet filling, scrambled egg stir-in and a side (basically home-fries with sausage). It keeps in large freezer bag very well for months.

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.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I have had more people ask me for my Stuffed Mushrooms recipe than any other, so I decided to cook it up as a dinner side. Here's the recipe so you can impress your friends with your culinary expertise.



Ingredients
12 open cap mushrooms
4 spring onions - minced
2 tsp. olive oil
3.5 oz. bread crumbs
1 tsp. fresh oregano
3.5 oz. feta cheese

Method

1. Sautee chopped mushroom stalks + onions in oil until browned.
   
2. Mix stalks, onions, bread crumbs, cheese and oregano in a bowl and set aside.
   
3. Pack the stuffing mix in the open caps and bake @ 350deg. F 8-10 minutes.

Notes (important!)

• The mixture should be dry. If it is too dry, and I mean too dry, you may add a small addition of oil.
  
• Resist any temptations to use salt+pepper.. they will not bring anything to this dish.
• Substitutions for this recipe are numerous, for example last time I omitted the oregano by simply using Italian bread crumbs.
• Another idea is replacing feta cheese with Italian sausage.

Beer Bread

This recipe is around for one reason... It is one of the easiest things to prepare, and all of the ingredients are on-hand (except maybe the beer). If you aren't much of a beer drinker, some local shops sell 12oz. bottles as singles for around a buck. Also try mixing up which beer you use, it impacts the taste of the bread.

Ingredients
3 C. flour
3 t. powder
1 1/2 t. salt
3 T sugar
1 can/bottle (12oz.) beer at room temp.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 deg. Fahrenheit.
   
2. Mix dry ingredients in a steel bowl.
   
3. Add beer, mix.
4. Coat bread pan with non-stick spray.
5. Pour mix in bread pan, bake 1 hour.

Preference is for microbrews over domestics.

Garlic-Parsley Creamed Potatoes

I used to get parsley at the local farmer's market in Missoula, but they'd give you a freakin huge handful of it for a buck. I never could find anything aside from the dish I was preparing to use it in, so I found this side-dish to help use some more of the parsley. It always took a lot longer to cook than I expected, but I like thicker sauces than most.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. un-peeled new potatoes, quartered.
1/2 stick butter
3 T minced garlic
3 T fresh, chopped parsley
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan.
2. Add quartered potatoes and saute over medium heat until slightly browned on outside but not cooked through.
3. Add garlic and parsley and saute for about a minute more.
4. Add milk, water, salt and pepper.
5. If liquid does not cover the potatoes, add more water and milk until potatoes are covered.
6. Bring to a full boil, then reduce heat and simmer lightly until potatoes are tender and sauce is thickened.
7. When finished, sauce should not be at all 'soupy', but just thick enough to cling to potatoes when served. (I like it a bit thicker than that)
   

Bread Stuffing

When I was younger, at least once a year we ventured to Berlin, New Hampshire and the food was always delicious and plentiful. This stuffing side dish is superb if you're looking for a homemade alternative to Stove Top. Also, it's a little crunchy in the end :)

Ingredients
1 loaf white bread, toasted and put through a grinder
Salt & pepper
Bell's seasoning
A little bit of melted butter
A little bit of water
Chopped onion

Method

1. Mix all ingredients and add to a glass baking dish
2. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes