Quesadilla with Grilled Chicken and Jack Cheese

The Best Chicken Quesadilla

This Chicken Jack Quesadilla makes all the difference between what you’d get served at your favorite fast food joint or a dine in restaurant. Whether you choose to use an extra large burrito sized flour tortilla, like I do, or a small to medium, these quesadilla’s are packed with flavor. I use marinated grilled chicken, Monterrey and Colby Jack Cheese and, of course, my secret sauce; made from the Fire Roasted Salsa that I showed you how to make, last post. I’m talking about a thick creamy quesadilla that any good restaurant would dream of having on the menu.

Quesadilla Grilled Chicken

It’s very important to make the chicken as tender and as flavorful as possible, when making a restaurant style quesadilla. You can make it lean, if you want to, by using breast meat, if you prefer, but I highly recommend using chicken thighs, instead. In my experience, it makes tastier quesadilla’s. Just chicken thighs isn’t going to be enough, however. Adding a spicy marinade will take it to the next level, infuse the meat with flavor and insure tenderness. 30 minutes of soaking is all it’s going to take before you take it to the grill. Then an additional 20 minutes of cooking will add the smokey taste everyone loves from great barbecue. Just be sure the meat is cooked all of the way through and hits a core temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Quesadilla Secret Sauce

The difference between a fast food quesadilla and a restaurant style quesadilla is huge. Fast food quesadillas just consist of cheese, meat (if you’re lucky),possibly some onions and/or green chili’s. There usually isn’t much bulk and generally made thin and small. A good restaurant, however, will serve up a large to extra large sized tortilla, packed with more ingredients than it can usually hold; grilled marinated chicken, 2 cheese’s and a secret sauce that makes it extra creamy when the cheese melts into it. My secret sauce consists of 3 ingredients: Sour Cream, Mayonnaise and my Fire Roasted Salsa.

Quesadilla Cheese

The cheese you choose will completely change the flavor of your Quesadilla and there are several winners. Cheddar, medium or sharp, and Jack Cheese are generally among my favorites. Queso asadero is the original cheese used to make Quesadillas but these are great alternatives. In this recipe, I like to use Monterey and Colby Jack Cheese together because it’s very crowd pleasing and not to spicy for my kids. If I’m making them for my wife and I, I’ll change out the Monterey and use Pepper Jack, instead, for a little kick. Some folks even spread cream cheese inside the tortilla but you use what you like.

Chicken Jack Quesadilla Ingredients:

6 Boneless Chicken Thighs
1 pkg Extra Large Tortilla’s
1 lbs Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
1 lbs Colby Jack Cheese, grated
1 Cube Butter, salted

Chicken Marinade
1/2 cup Water
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Tumeric
1 tsp Mexican Oregano
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Fish Sauce
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Secret Sauce
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Fire Roasted Salsa

Follow the instructions in the video recipe to make this Chicken Jack Quesadilla.

Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken Wings with Tequila and Lime

The Best Chicken Wings Ever

These Honey Chipotle chicken Wings are, by far, the best wings I have ever had. They are sweet and savory, they are crispy and spicy yet incredibly tender and juicy on the inside. They have best flavor of just about any barbecue sauce and we’ll talk about the secret to that in just a minute. But I definitely think that the grilling definitely takes this recipe to a whole new level. But don’t let that scare you if you don’t have a grill. I think these spicy buffalo style wings would still be absolutely fantastic fried in oil or baked in the oven.

Honey Chipotle Chicken Wings Sauce

This Chicken Wing Sauce is phenomenal. I mean it. I’t fantastic. My secret for this recipe is definitely in the sauce. I use Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce to start, then I add a couple of Chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce and a fresh clove of Garlic but it doesn’t end there. Since it’s got that pepper spice I balance it out with Tequila and Lime. Now, of course, the Tequila is optional but the lime is definitely essential because it adds that Mexican style flavor everyone loves in their Mexican food. But if you’re not shy, I highly recommend following this recipe to a “T” and add that Tequila. It takes this Honey Chipotle Chicken Wing Sauce to whole new level.

Be sure to check out my Wasabi Chicken Wings and my Ranch Chicken Wings!

Honey Chipotle Chicken Wings Ingredients:

3 to 4 lbs Chicken Wings

Chicken Wing Brine
4 cups Water
1/4 cup Salt
2 cups Ice

Honey Chipotle Sauce
1 cup BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Rays)
2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, blended
1 Garlic Clove, chopped
1/3 cup Honey
2 oz Tequila
1 Lime, freshly squeezed

Grill Chicken Wings over medium heat for 20 minutes, turning every 5.

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

The Best Chicken Alfredo

I love Chicken Alfredo and this particular recipe is a favorite of mine because it holds everything that I love and hold dear to my heart, when it comes to Italian food. I’m talking about pasta tossed in Alfredo, topped with marinated and grilled Chicken(Blackened), and fresh chopped Tomato and Parsley. So it’s a hearty dish with plenty of Carbs, Fat and protein. What more could you possible want on your plate?

Chicken Alfredo in Restaurants

There’s no doubt that Chicken Alfredo is very common and popular, these days, among most Italian restaurants. You can even order it on a pie from your favorite pizza delivery service. But every where I go it’s always made a little different. Seems like everyone has got their own way to of making white sauce. And there are some really good recipes out there, however, there are some that are just plain awful. So you really have to be careful with who you trust to make your sauce. This particular recipe is a copy cat of local restaurant here in town called, “Wingers” and it’s fashioned around the idea of an old “50’s” style diner. They serve popcorn, wings and the best Vanilla Coke in town. They also have a recipe called Blackened Chicken Alfredo on their menu and I order every time I’m there.

Blackened Chicken Alfredo Ingredients:

2 to 4 boneless Chicken Thighs (one for each plate)
1 pkg Lemon & Herb Marinade (or your favorite marinade)

Pasta
2 cups Penne Rigate Pasta (or your favorite)
1 tsp Salt (for boiling water)
4 tbsp Olive oil (2 for Boiling water and 2 after pasta is cooked)

Alfredo Sauce
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 chopped Garlic Clove
1 chopped Green Onion
3 tbsp chopped Red/Green Bell Pepper
1 cup Whipping Cream
1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 tbsp Creme cheese

Topping
1 chopped Roma Tomato
2 tbsp fresh chopped Parsley
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Marinate the Chicken and start Grilling First, then start boiling the water and season with salt and olive oil. Cut all the veggies. In a hot skillet on High, add butter, Garlic, Scallions and Bell Pepper. Saute for 1 minute then add creme 1/4 cup at a time. Stir, boil then add until it’s gone. Add Parmesan Cheese and Cream Cheese, then take off the heat. Be sure to watch the chicken and turn once after chicken has Blackened with Grill marks (not Burned). Strain Pasta, add remaining olive oil, then stir into Alfredo Sauce. Lay each serving of pasta down first, on a plate, then cut each Grilled Chicken Thigh into 1/4 inch slices and lay over the pasta, and garnish the Chicken Alfredo with some chopped Tomato and Parsley, then serve.