Bobby Flay Everyday!: Spicy Quesadillas

Welcome to Bobby Flay Everyday!

I am not an expert. I have never even taken a class. I have no formal training - but I love to grill. I love the food off the grill and I just like the idea, the fun and the relaxation of grilling. So naturally Bobby Flay is a hero. I have his books, I watch his shows and I try out his recipes. So my idea is to grill one of Bobby's grilling recommendations everyday and see how it goes. Bobby Flay Everyday!

The idea to grill and blog is not original. Julie Powell wrote a blog that became a book and then a movie when she cooked all 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But this is not French Cooking - this is backyard, after work, tailgate, American male grilling. I grill outside in a man-cave in every kind of weather. There is no "grilling season" for me - its everyday, year-round. We will skip around through Bobby's books and TV shows and grill what we like. But grilling is more than food, its an experience - so we will also report on what music we listened to or what ball game was on while we were grilling. We will keep track of what we were drinking during the grilling and later with the food. I'll try to figure what went wrong when we fall short of Bobby's perfection and pass on any tips I know about or discover along the way. Maybe it will give others some ideas as well.

The photo is of me and two of my brother-in-laws roasting the Thanksgiving turkey on the grill last year. That's me on the far right. In real life I am a college professor and pilot. I have written 12 books, but they were all about flying - here we write about grilling. We write about Bobby Flay Everyday!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Spicy Quesadillas

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook (page 82) brings us Spicy Chicken with Caramelized Onion Quesadillas with Mixed Tomato Salsa. This was quick and easy. Great for a weeknight after work. The chicken was grilled over direct heat, but at a low setting. The onions, also over direct heat. The salsa was just chopped tomatoes, lime juice, garlic, chopped jalapeno chilies, cilantro, salt and pepper. When the chicken was done I sliced both the chicken and onions into strips. With everything ready, I assembled everything together in a whole wheat tortilla and added shredded Monterey Jack cheese. It was not too spicy, but the quesadillas did have a kick. The whole meal took less that 20 minutes to prepare - so like I said a great, fast weeknight grill.

Weather Report. Pollen. Where we are the tree pollen is everywhere. I heard that the especially cold and wet winter we had has made the kick-off of allergy season worse. Thunderstorms rolled through the other night and cleared the air some - but that yellow pollen didn't wash all away completely - instead it piled up between the bricks in the courtyard. The storms did bring cooler weather - great grilling weather! Paul