Fancy Quesadillas

I'll start off by saying I ran into a potato crisis, and had to bail on the Pulled Pork Potato Skins. My normal roasting pan wasn't clean in time for me to bake my potatoes quick enough. Yes, I put all of my pots and pans into the dishwasher. Some people say it's a big "no-no", but bottom line I'm still a single guy who cooks. Dishes are beyond me.

That said, I still had all of the food ready to go for the potato skins, and opted to make two different kinds of quesadillas instead of just one like I'd originally intended. Considering everything was eaten within five minutes of pulling them out of the oven, I'd say they were a success.

Also, we didn't get to watch Heroes this week. Someone hit erase on the DVR. Looks like a double feature next week! At least the UFC Fight Night was on, so we still had plenty of great television to watch.

If anyone makes these, let me know how it goes, ok?

Chicken Pesto Quesadillas
Chicken breasts
Chicken broth
Pesto sauce (jar)
Sun-dried tomatoes (I found thinly sliced ones in the salad area of the store)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Big flour tortillas
Butter

I cooked the chicken breasts the simplest way I know how, which is using the crock pot. This is the exact shredded chicken recipe I mentioned in the last post. Throw your chicken into the crock pot, add the chicken broth until the breasts are covered, set it on low and go to work.

10 hours later...

My house smelled amazing, as I'd planned. Drain the liquid from the chicken, leaving just a little bit in. Using two forks, shred the chicken. It should fall apart very easily.

Place a tortilla on a plate. Sprinkle a little cheese onto one half. Spoon some of the pesto sauce on top of that. Cover the pesto sauce with a few spoonfuls of the shredded chicken, just enough that it's covering the pesto. Add a few pieces of the sun-dried tomatoes, just enough that there's some color in the chicken. Cover this layer with a decent helping of cheese. Fold the clean half of the tortilla over, and press tightly. Move the quesadilla to a baking dish, and assemble any other quesadillas the same way.

Set your broiler on high. While it's heating up, put a few globs of butter on top of each quesadilla. Place the baking pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes, until the butter has melted and the tortilla is slightly brown. Remove from the oven, and using a spatula flip each quesadilla over. Add a little more butter to the new top side of each quesadilla, and put back into the broiler for another 3-4 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Cut each quesadilla into 4 wedges, and serve!

Pulled Pork Quesadillas
Pork shoulder
Bbq seasoning (dry rub)
Hot sauce
Liquid smoke
Minced garlic (I love garlic)
Beef broth
Gouda cheese, sliced
Bbq Sauce (your favorite kind...I like Sweet Baby Ray's)
Big flour tortillas
Butter

Before work, place the prok shoulder, bbq seasoning, liquid smoke, minced garlic and beef broth in the crock pot. Make sure the liquid covers the majority of the meat. Add a few drops of hot sauce, depending how hot you like food. Set on low and go to work.

10 hours later...

Remove the liquid from the crock pot, and shred the meat with two forks. It should fall apart very easily. Do your best not to eat all of it right now, because trust me, it's delicious.

On a plate, lay out a tortilla. On one half of the tortilla, place two slices of gouda cheese. Put a few spoonfuls of the pork on top of the cheese, and cover with a layer of bbq sauce. I like to draw zigzags with the sauce, which is as close to measuring as I'm going to be able to tell you. Don't overdo it on the sauce, because you can always add more as a dip later. Cover the sauce layer with 2-3 more slices of cheese. Fold the clean side of the tortilla over, and transfer the quesadilla to your baking dish.

Set your broiler on high. While it's heating up, put a few globs of butter on top of each quesadilla. Place the baking pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes, until the butter has melted and the tortilla is slightly brown. Remove from the oven, and using a spatula flip each quesadilla over. Add a little more butter to the new top side of each quesadilla, and put back into the broiler for another 3-4 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Cut each quesadilla into 4 wedges, and serve!