Bajio's Green Chile Chicken Quesadilla

When Jeff and I lived in Rexbizzle, we loved going to Bajio's. Our favorite dish was the green chile chicken quasadilla, with sweet rice and borachho beans. On our last trip there, he was heart broken to discover the restaurant was closed. He requested that I make this for for dinner yesterday, and let me tell you... it kept me busy.

And Tristan kept me busy. I need more kitchen tools to entertain him, he kept climbing out of the bumbo and harassing me! Anyway, if you find yourself in need of something to do for a few hours, not including clean up, here you go!!!!

The Quesadillas:

You Will Need:

2 Grilled Chicken Breasts

1 cup Green Chile Chutney

1 cup of Caramelized Onions

1 cup Shredded Cheese (a mix of cheddar and jack cheese)

4 large Flour Tortillas

DIRECTIONS Marinate Chicken Breasts in 1 cup of lime juice and 1 cup oil, let stand for at least two hours in the refrigerator. On a hot grill, grill the chicken until done and set aside to rest. Once the chicken has had time to rest and cool, shred into small pieces.* Slice 1 whole white onion into slices. In a medium saute pan, add 2 TBL spoons of oil and saute the onions until they are translucent. * Once the onions are done, add the shredded chicken and cup of Green Chile Chutney, and saute all together until well heated. Warm up each tortilla and add shredded cheese to each tortilla. Spoon in warm chicken mixture and fold the tortilla over. Cut into 4 wedges and serve.

The Chutney Sauce

You Will Need

3 large annaheim peppers, halved, seeds removed

1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, halved, seeds removed4 oz. can diced green chiles

5-7 tomatillos, husks removed

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

dash of chili powder

dash of cumin

dash of salt

1 large sweet onion, halved

Directions: Place peppers, tomatillos, and onion on baking sheet/rack. Roast in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, or until nicely browned. Place tomatillos and about 1/4 cup onion in blender and process until mostly smooth. Dice peppers. Add all ingredients except the remaining onion into a large pot. Cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until thickened and reduced. Add more sugar/peppers to adjust the spiciness/sweetness to taste. For Carmelized Onions: Slice the remaining onion and saute with a little bit of the green chile sauce over medium-low heat until carmelized.

BAJIO SWEET RICE

You Will Need:

1/2-1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 of a white onion, chopped

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

1 1/3 cups white rice

3 cups chicken broth

1/4-1/2 cup white sugar

Directions:

Put a little oil in bottom of pan (maybe about 1/2-1 tablespoon). Saute chopped onion until translucent. Add the chopped cilantro (no big stems) and saute a minute more. Add the rice, cooking until it is light brown (being careful not to burn). Combine the chicken broth and sugar, letting sugar dissolve. Then stir into rice until combined. Bring to a boil. Cover and let cook on low, med-low until rice is done, about 25-30 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Kiki's Borracho Beans

You Will Need:

1 pound dried pinto beans, washed

2 quarts chicken stock

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle dark beer

2 (14.5 ounce) cans chopped stewed tomatoes

1 white onion, diced

1/4 cup pickled jalapeno peppers

6 cloves garlic, chopped

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro

Directions: Soak beans in a large pot of water overnight (Or start early in the morning and let them hang out in a crock pot ALL day). Drain beans, and refill the pot with chicken stock and enough water to cover the beans with 2 inches of liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Stir the beans occasionally through out the entire cooking process to make sure they do not burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. Stir beer, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno peppers, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, and cilantro into the beans. Continue to cook uncovered for 1 hour, or until beans are tender. With a potato masher, crush the beans slightly to thicken the bean liquid. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.

Can I just tell you that you should be easy with the beer? Actually, next time I'm going to leave it completely out. These beans were so, so so delicious. Until I was like, "Oh, right. Gotta add the beer." Without even looking I dumped in about 3 times too much. We had to toss them, they were awful. I can't even think about how much got wasted when those went down the drain, I'm still sick about it. ... Also, here's a hint. I think next time I'll go with semi-homemade with Sarah Lee's recipe for boraccho beans, although these were so delicious.

I think I had all four burners on cooking something at about any given time, and once the oven. It definetly took some skill to have everything ready at the same time. Next time there are a few things I think I could make ahead and would taste even better marinated overnight. And of course, the kitchen was totally trashed. I swear I used almost every single pot and pan we have.

The end result was totally worth it though. We had them again the next night, and then the following night we had chicken tacos since I'd made extra chicken. Now, go try this!