Chicken Quesadillas--A Taste of Home

Max and I have been missing our frequent visits to Rincon Mexican Restaurant in Lexington, KY where we used to live. There is nothing in the Dutch cuisine which comes close to Mexican fare, so I decided to make it myself...now that I am a cook...of sorts.

This recipe is from AllRecipes.com which Carrie has a link for in the lefthand column. Some guy named Tony Cortez is to thank for this recipe. I made some minor adjustments, but he gets the credit.



Serves: 2-4 (depending on your appetite)

The Ingredients:

2 Tomatoes diced (4 if you are using the tiny Dutch variety)
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (I used closer to 3 because I LOVE it!)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (I couldn't find one in my grocery store--still good without it)

salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into strips
1/2 onion (additional), thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced (I like red and yellow bell too for added color and taste)

2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mozzarella +40 in the Netherlands)
1/4 cup sour cream, for topping

The Directions:

1. In small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapenos, salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon olive oil, add chicken until cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.

3. Return skillet to heat and add the second tablespoon olive oil. Saute the sliced onion and green pepper until tender. Add garlic and sautee for an additional couple of minutes. Add half of the pico de gallo and all of the chicken to the skillet. Stir in for a minute or so, then remove from heat and cover pan to keep it warm.

4. In another skillet (if you have 2), heat a tortilla. sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese on the tortilla as it warms, then 1/2 of chicken and pico de gallo, then top with another 1/4 of the cheese, put a second tortilla on top, and wait for the bottom tortilla to become lightly browned. When browned and the cheese is melted, flip the quesadilla (don't worry--it's not going to fall apart). Brown the other tortilla. When top and bottom are finally slightly crisp and brown, remove from the pan, cut into quarters, and dress it up with a dollop of sour cream and guacamole if you like, a sprig or two of the cilantro, and some of the extra pico de gallo.

We served this with refried beans from a can (sorry cooks), which were incidentally the only beans we could find in our local store. Years from now they will talk about the great Dutch bean shortage. The extra pico de gallo made the refried beans look prettier, and the leftover pico de gallo will be better the next day, I just know it! We only ate one for dinner, so this can easily stretch into two meals. The first one (pictured) was not as crisp as I think it should be. If I were in the US, I would probably add corn as a side! Until we get more daylight in the evenings, I can't take decent "During" shots of the cooking process. The space is too small and the flash makes a shadow. My apologies!

We watched the last 3 episodes of Scrubs: Season 4 to go with the nostalgia theme.