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full recipe as shared here==>bbq chicken and pineapple quesadilla

insert your own favorite tortilla recipe ==>bbq quesadillas

tortilla recipe alone==>flour tortillas #2

 

 

Time to jazz things up with a little something different!  There’s not much to say about the quesadillas themselves outside of “they’re good” (you got that, right?), but as for the new flour tortilla recipe I feel like I need to confess to someone.  I’ve been pulled to the dark side of ingredients… thanks to Pioneer Woman’s tortilla recipe.

These tortillas turned out really good.  They were easy to roll out (a lot easier than my last flour tortillas) and they’re soft, just like the fresh ones found at the grocery store.  Well, okay…maybe not where you live but here in Texas we have this awesome grocery store called HEB, they have the best fresh flour tortillas; miles and miles better than the packaged ones on the shelves. Those are what I’m talking about (which, most likely, are made with the very same ingredients).  So back to my confession.  The tortillas turned out great but the secret is the fat they’re made with.  We’ll call it “the fat that shall not be named”.  What to do, what to do…now that my family has tasted these tortillas I find myself in a “wanna-be-a-healthy-mom” vs. “it really tastes good” quandary.

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serves 6

Ingredients:

3/4 cup freeze dried onion flakes (rehydrated with 1/3 cup water)

2 (12.5 oz) cans chicken, drained and chopped

2 (20 oz) cans pineapple tidbits, drained

3 TBS Shirley J BBQ Sauce mix, or bottled BBQ sauce

1 tsp Emeril’s Essence (or other cajun spice)

1 cup freeze dried cheddar cheese (with 1/2 cup cold water for rehydrating)

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Flour Tortillas #2

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup + 2 TBS lard (or vegetable shortening, although the recipe makes a point that lard tastes better)

1 cup hot water

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Instructions:

Making the tortillas

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir together.  Add spoonfuls of lard or shortening, then use a pastry cutter to combine the ingredients.  Cut mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Slowly pour in the hot water, stirring to bring mixture together.  Lightly knead the dough inside the bowl (it will be sticky at first), about 30-40 times, until it becomes a cohesive ball of dough and less sticky.  Cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for one hour.

Roll into ping pong sized balls, place on tray, cover with a tea towel, and allow to rest for another 20-30 minutes.

When you’re ready to make the tortillas, heat a dark or cast iron griddle to medium/medium high heat.  One by one, roll out the balls of dough until thin, about 6-8 inches in diameter.  Put the tortillas on the griddle and cook each side for 20-30 seconds, removing while the tortillas are still soft but slightly brown in spots.  Remove and stack tortillas, cover with a towel to keep warm.

Continuing the Recipe

Rehydrate the onion with water.  Rehydrate the cheese and set aside.  In a skillet, cook the chicken with the onions and add the BBQ sauce mix (mixed with a little water) or BBQ sauce.  Sautee until chicken is somewhat browned and transfer to a plate.  Cook pineapple, until juices are evaporated.  Assemble the quesadillas by spooning four of the tortillas with BBQ chicken mixture topped with pineapple and cheese.  Top with another tortilla and place on the skillet to crisp, until cheese is melted.  To turn, use two “pancake flipper” type utensils, sandwiching one quesadilla at a time between them both.   Cut quesadillas into four wedges and serve.

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Making the flour tortillas…

Next, you won’t think this dough will come together but it will.  Just knead it with your hand in the bowl about a minute or so and you’ll notice it coming together into a cohesive ball.

Cover and allow to rest for one hour.

Once the hour is up, roll into ping pong sized balls and cover (on a tray) again for 20 minutes.

It’s going to feel like bread dough (maybe even a little looser) but at this point it’s ready to roll out.  Heat your griddle up and roll each dough ball out about 6-8 inches.  Don’t worry about making a perfect circle.

The dough is really stretchy, picking it up off the counter you can see how it stretches.

Lay it, as carefully as you can, down onto the hot griddle.  It’ll bubble and balloon up a little.  Count to 25 (you should see dark brown spots).  Flip it and cook the other side in the same way.

Set the stack of tortillas aside until you’re ready to assemble everything.

*btw, (to save time) this next part of the recipe could be done ahead of time while you’re waiting for the tortillas to rest, etc.

Rehydrate the onion, chop the (drained) chicken, and rehydrate the cheese

Sautee the onion with the chicken, adding the cajun spice.   Add the BBQ sauce mix (mixed with a little water) and cook until lightly browned.  Salt and pepper to taste.  If you want to spice it up with a little hot sauce, go for it!

Now, cook the pineapple.  You’re wanting to cook away as much of the juice as you can.

Assemble the quesadillas.  (Some green chilies would be pretty great added in here too!)

Top with another tortilla and cook until crisped.  Flip carefully (sandwiching) between two pancake flipping utensils.

Cut and serve!