Chicken Pesto Quesadilla

Chicken breast was on special, and we had half a block of Cracker Barrel cheese leftover.. it's too hot to turn on the oven, so quesadilla with salad seemed like a brilliant idea.


Ingredients:
2-3 sprigs basil
2 cloves garlic
sea salt
olive oil
2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tortillas
1 cup grated cheese


Method:
Butterfly cut the chicken and fry in a bit of olive oil. Let cool.
Wash the basil, pat dry. Roughly chop the leaves. Set aside.
Smash the garlic, remove the skin and roughly chop.
Pound the garlic with some salt in a mortar and pestle.
Add about a third of the basil, a bit of oil, and pound. The oil helps to prevent discolouration.
Repeat until all the basil is done, and the flavours have come out.
Dice the chicken into cubes about 1-2cm.
Over medium-high heat, put a tortilla into a large non-stick pan. Sprinkle cheese, chicken and pesto on half the tortilla and fold the tortilla over the stuffing. I heated two quesidillas at a time.
When one side is golden, flip the pocket over to brown the other side. The cheese should melt by the time you're done.

Enjoy!


Comments:
Pesto is super easy. I've always loved basil, and this is about as fresh as you can get.

You could use a food processor, but considering the miniscule amount, it might not be worth the clean up.

I had meant to us craisins as well, like at Cactus Club, but forgot to add them in.

Will used a mango-chili sauce to add taste. I didn't even try it, since garlic-basil-cheese was enough for me.


Verdict!
Yum!

sad...

So after dinner, Will wanted a cold drink, and I offered to make a red bean ice. The ice pucks for the shaver weren't frozen solid yet, I pulled out the blender, put in the ice, added a little water, pushed the button to crush ice... and it gets stuck after a few seconds, unable to do its job.

Okaaay... onto plan B (really C at this point, since the shaver was A)... the Bamix hand blender. As I'm pouring out the ice from the blender into a suitable container, I noticed the grayish hue. The pitcher doesn't have a perfect seal anymore, and was leaking grease. Oi.

So then I get out the other tray of ice (thank goodness we have 2) and get it ready for the Bamix. Plug in, turn on... and nothing. Dead. Now, that is truly sad, because I quite liked the functionality.. I've made soup, bread crumbs, ground nuts, ice cream.. it could go on. It's lived a good life.

So now it was time for the good old fashioned hammer and bag method. The chunks of ice were a bit big, but serviceable.

Into the glass went the red bean, ice, topped with syrup and coconut milk. YUM!

Blenders: -2, soto: 1


The dollop on top was an after thought, because I'd already mixed everything together before I thought to take a picture.

.

Anko (Red Bean Paste)

Before I get into this, I just have to say that I LOVE teaching an academically-inclined, eastside school. I actually feel like there's hope for the future!


So one of my absolute favourite desserts is the red bean-matcha-condensed milk combination. It was everywhere in Japan during the summer and there's even a drink like that here, at Flo Tea, called Shrek. Way better, in my opinion, than the "3 colours" iced drink from Vietnamese restaurants (I'm not a big fan of the green jelly).


Anyhoo. Last summer, I had matcha syrup, anko and condensed milk over shaved ice. YUM! This year, I didn't have ice ready to put into the shaver, so I used green tea ice cream. Will was also saying that he'd like red bean ice, so I used coconut milk instead of condensed. I quite like it.


Anko can be purchased by the can, though it does get a bit pricey, and you can't control how much texture you want.

Ingredients (I actually didn't measure anything):
~ 3/4 cup Azuki beans (large dried red beans) to get about 2 cups paste
sugar
salt (optional; I didn't use it this time, but apparently did last time)


Method:
In a pot, soak beans overnight in lots of water.
Bring beans to a boil.
Turn down heat to medium and let bubble for 10 minutes.
Drain.
Add about 3 cups of water and bring to boil.
Turn heat to low and simmer 1 hour, until softened and breaks apart when stirred.
Drain some liquid. Add sugar and salt to taste.
Stir and simmer until thickened.
Cool and serve.


Comments:
The beans must cook at a high temperature for a few minutes to denature a toxin that's found in many dried beans.
Add sugar only at the end, as the beans will not break apart if you add it too early (or so I've read).
I used a 3L pot, I think. It helps to prevent the beans from boiling over.
If the main purpose is to make red bean ice, then don't cook for so long, and leave a little more liquid in the pot, to facilitate drinking.

Verdict:

LOVE, love, love! (But that's just me =P)