Barbecue Chicken, Caramelized Onions, and Gouda Quesadilla

Barbecue Chicken, Caramelized Onions, and Gouda Quesadilla

Backstory

For those of you who don’t personally know me, I can be a bit of a smart-ass. That side of me showed when I chose this blog’s subtitle: A little corny with a hint of  cheese. However, it occurred to me one day a few weeks ago that I haven’t yet profiled a recipe that contained corn AND cheese. I didn’t want to be accused of false advertising so I went looking for a recipe that had both ingredients.

Initially, I thought a good candidate might be a side dish. The thought appealed to me because I hadn’t profiled one here yet however, I didn’t like what I found. Most of the recipes didn’t sound very appetizing or didn’t feature my two ingredients. I had to brainstorm dishes that contained both before I settled upon quesadillas.

Recipe

http://thecookmobile.com/chicken-caramelized-onions-and-gouda-quesadilla/

Notes

1. Ingredients. So my quesadillas would have corn and cheese, I used corn tortillas instead of flour ones. Also, I used a Mexican blend of medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Asadero and Queso Quesadilla cheeses because I couldn’t find shredded Gouda when I went shopping for this dish. One ingredient I used that is not in the recipe (and not in the picture below) is the barbecue sauce I brushed on the chicken breasts when I grilled the breast meat. Speaking of the chicken, I cooked two breasts to get 2 cups of shredded meat. I also used 2 tablespoons margarine, and about 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for caramelizing the onions. (The recipe on the website does not specify the amounts of these two ingredients.) I had to drizzle additional olive oil in between placing the assembled the quesadillas into the pan. I also chopped both onions instead of simply slicing them, as I didn’t want a long onion strand destroying the quesadilla when eating them. (Think of an onion ring. Ever bitten into one and not completely sever the onion so you eat it leaving just the fried batter in your hand?)

Ingredients

Chicken Breasts On the Grill

2. Finishing up. I had to cook each quesadilla separately because the skillet I was using couldn’t fit more than one at a time. The recipe doesn’t specify this, but I cooked them about five minutes per side. Also, I had to change the way the quesadillas were layered because the top tortilla on the first one wouldn’t set and the chicken and onion filling kept falling out of the tortilla. Instead of onions, chicken and cheese as the recipe instructs, I used a layer of cheese before the onions. This way, both tortillas are held in place by each layer of cheese.

Layering the Quesadilla

Final Thoughts

This would be a great weeknight recipe to make with leftover chicken. As I was cooking the onions, it occurred to me that the acidity of the onions might drown out the taste of the chicken. Instead, the onions became the star of the dish! My wife and my in-laws loved them, so much that I will probably add this recipe to my regular rotation of dishes, as I have done with my baby back ribs recipe.

Enjoy!