Thursday, December 9, 2010

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadilla

Chicken and Bean Quesadilla

If you don't know by know quesadillas are one of the best appetizers you can get when you go to a Mexican restaurant. The crispy shell, the gooey cheese and whatever else comes in them make them the premier finger foods of the genre. Now you can put whatever you want in these and I really do mean everything. Also you can use whatever cheese you want as well. The only thing I recommend is using 8 inch max size for your tortillas. The bigger they are the harder they are to flip so in this case don't go too big. Hope you like them please let me know if you have any questions.

Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder (optional)
- 10, 8 inch flour tortillas
- 4 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- any sort of dipping sauce mine can be found here

The Process
1. Take the chicken thighs, chicken stock, bay leaves salt and cilantro and add to a medium sized sauce pot, cover and bring to a boil. Then boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Then remove the chicken from the pot and set on a plate to cool. Also reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid that the chicken was boiled in. When the chicken is cool enough to touch, shred it using your hands and set aside.
2. In a medium saute pan, add the chicken, reserved cooking liquid and the rest of the dry seasonings and cook on medium high for 5 - 8 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated. Now you are ready to assemble some quesadillas.
3. In a large cast iron skillet turn the heat onto medium low and add a liberal spritz of Pam or other kind of oil to prevent it from sticking. When the pan is hot, add a tortilla, then some cheese, chicken, beans then some more cheese and then cover with the other tortilla. Spray the top tortilla with the Pam and when the bottom half is done, it will be golden brown, very carefully flip it and cook the other side. The the bottom side is done set on a plate to allow to rest for 1 minute. Repeat until you have as many as you want.
4. Slice into triangles using a pizza slicer and enjoy!

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