CHICKEN QUESADILLAS

Cheese. And Mexican tortillas.
Maybe Mexicans will say that these Quesadillas are not Mexican. Maybe they are Tex-Mex. I think that is not important. What it is important is the food, and the influence. I have never been to Mexico, unfortunately. I will definitely go in the future. And then I will taste real Mexican food. But by now, I will keep on enjoying recipes like this. I will show you how I make my Chicken Quesadillas. They are tasty and easy to make. I am sure you will enjoy them.

Ingredients:

Some vegetable oil
Some salt
½ small chopped onion
½ cup cubed squash
¼ cup chopped green pepper
¼ cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
½ chopped tomato
1 chopped Arbol Chili
1 chicken breast
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon cilantro
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Juice of ½ lime
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 flour wheat tortillas
Some guacamole
Some sour cream

We will prepare all the ingredients first. Cut the chicken in little pieces, the way you like it. Prepare the vegetables too. And then, heat some oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, squash and green pepper first. Then we will add the chicken and the salt. Let it cook for a couple of minutes and then add the corn, the garlic and the chilli. Keep on cooking for a while. When the chicken is a bit done, we can add the tomato, the cumin and the black pepper. Once this is ready, we will add some cilantro and some lime juice. The next step will be to grill the tortillas. For this, I like to use a grill pan. The way I make it, you can cook two Quesadillas at the same time. First I put a tortilla on the grill pan. Then I fill it with the mixture we have cooked. We add some cheese, some guacamole and some sour cream. We fold the tortilla and repeat the same thing with the other tortilla. Then we will have two folded tortillas on the grill pan. We will heat them on one side and with the help of a wooden spatula we will turn them over so that both sides turn a bit brown. And they are ready. You can make your own Quesadillas very easily. You can choose your favourite ingredients. Now enjoy them.

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PINEAPPLE CAKE

Let’s make some dessert. Do you like pineapple? And Graham Crackers? This recipe is very good for the summer. It is very easy to make and I hope you will like it. You can make it with fresh or canned pineapple. Dessert time!

Ingredients:

A 20 oz pineapple can (or fresh pineapple)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavour
Some Graham Crackers

This is a cold cake. You will not have to heat anything. You will only need a blender and a container to prepare this cake.
First we will blend the pineapple, adding the sugar and the vanilla. If you use a pineapple can, you can add some of the liquid in the can, but do not add too much. Once we have the pineapple blended, we will start layering the cake.The first thing will be to start with a layer of Graham Crackers in the container. Then a layer of the pineapple mixture. And finally we will add another layer of Graham Crackers. We will cover the container and we will cool it in the fridge for a couple of hours. And then it will be ready. Good.

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SUMMER SAUSAGE PIZZA

Today is pizza day! Do you like pizza? Maybe you don’t like those mushy pizzas. But there is nothing like a homemade crispy pizza! I will show you the way I make my own pizza. You can even make your own dough. It’s not difficult. I will show you how you can do it.
I will make a Summer Sausage Pizza. Of course, you can choose your own ingredients. That is one of the good things of making a pizza. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

Dough,

1 cup and 1 tablespoon water
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon salt
3 ¼ cups flour
½ tablespoon yeast

Toppings,

Some flour
Some olive oil
½ cup tomato sauce
Summer sausage slices
1 chopped mushroom
¼ cup cubed squash
¼ cup cubed dill pickle
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
¼ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup chopped green olives
1 tablespoon roasted chopped red pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
Salt to taste
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup grated romano cheese

First we will make the pizza base. I use a bread machine to make my pizza but, of course, you can knead your dough by hand. Doing it by hand is hard, so, as I have a bread machine, I use it to knead my dough. You can use a stand mixer as well.
Using my bread machine, I put the ingredients in this order: water, oil, sugar, salt, flour and yeast. I select the program just to knead the dough and turn the bread machine on. The machine will do its job and then it will let the dough grow. If you want to make your dough by hand, you can do it placing the flour on a table making a well with the water inside. Add the rest of the ingredients and make the dough. And then you will have to knead the dough properly. Knead and knead till the dough is elastic. Let it rise in a bowl covered by a wet cloth.
Once we have kneaded the dough, either by hand or with a machine, we will shape the pizza with a rolling pin. Remember that a floured work surface is always important. With that amount of ingredients you can make two pizzas. What I do is dividing the dough into two parts. I make a pizza with one portion and I use the other one to make bread rolls. You can make two pizzas if you want, of course.
Using a pizza stone will make your pizza crispier because these stones distribute the heat evenly. Nonetheless you will have to preheat the oven earlier and maybe use a pizza peel to transfer your pizza to and from the oven. I haven’t tried the pizza stone yet but I am planning to get one. I think the results must be good. Anyway, if your oven is powerful, your pizza will be good.
Let’s go to the oven. Preheat it to 450ºF. I hope you will have your toppings ready because now you will have to add them to your pizza base. If you use a pizza stone, put some semolina on the stone. If you use a regular oven tray, make sure it is greased.
First we will paint the pizza with a little olive oil. Then spread the tomato sauce. On top of that put the summer sausage, the mushroom, the squash, the pickle, the garlic, the green onions, the green olives and the red pepper. Do this evenly. Now we will add the spices: black pepper, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Add some salt if you want. I do not add any salt as the dough and some other ingredients already have some. Then I finish the pizza with cheese. You should always use mozzarella cheese in your pizzas. I add parmesan and romano cheese as well, as I like the combination of these three cheeses. And your pizza is almost ready. You will only have to put it in your oven. Let it cook for about 15 minutes. Wonderful pizza!

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JAMBALAYA

I love New Orleans. This city is a melting pot. And melting pots produce wonderful food. New Orleans has the influence of France, Spain, Italy… All those influences combined make all those delicious dishes: Gumbo, Muffaletta, Beignets, Po’ Boys… and, of course, Jambalaya. Today we will cook Jambalaya, New Orleans Paella. I call it like this because, although the way Jambalaya is cooked is different from the way paella is prepared, it has many similarities to the Spanish dish. Of course there are as many jambalayas as paellas, but in essence, both are rice dishes with meat and seafood. I will cook a typical Jambalaya with prawns and chicken.

Ingredients:

Some vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup sliced okra
1 chicken breast
1 Andouille Sausage, cut in half slices
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon hot paprika
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
½ cup crushed tomato
2 cups seafood and/or chicken stock
2 peeled and chopped tomatoes
Some salt
1 green onion (only the green stalks)
1 cup rice
10 prawns

The first thing we will do is to put some oil in a pan. I like using a big pan. It is important that the heat is well distributed. We will sauté the celery, the onion and the green pepper. I like okra in my Jambalaya so I will add it now too. Five minutes later we will add the chicken cut in little pieces and the Andouille sausage. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, and then add the bay leaf, the thyme, the oregano, the paprika and the black pepper. Stir well and then add the garlic and the crushed tomato. Let it cook for a while and when the tomato is reduced a bit, add the chopped tomato and the stock. Add some salt if needed and bring it to a boil, but the heat must be low.
Let’s say something about the stock. You can use either seafood or chicken stock. You can use both too. If you want, make your own stock using some chicken bones and the shell of the prawns, along with some vegetables.
Coming back to our recipe, we have to add the rice and the green onion stalks after 10-15 minutes of low heat. As for the rice, you can use regular long rice or parboiled rice. I prefer the regular one but if you use it, you take the risk of getting a sticky jambalaya. Parboiled rice is safer. When you add the rice, increase the heat and stir the bottom of the pan. We do this because we do not want the rice to stick on the pan. When you see that the rice starts absorbing the liquid, turn the heat off, cover the pan and let it sit there for 20-25 minutes. You can add the prawns now too if they are uncooked, but if they are cooked, you should add them at the last moment.

And then you will have your Jambalaya. You can serve it alone or as an accompaniment to other dishes. Really good.

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