Chicken Quesadilla Pie

 

I *just* made this chicken quesadilla pie yesterday afternoon, and it was so delicious that my planned cookie post for today is being postponed until later this week. The cookies are amazing too, but Mexican food beats cookies any day, at least in my world. I wanted to share this as quickly as possible, so that every single one of you can add it to your dinner plans this week. Seriously. Do it.

Not only is this pie delicious, it's quick and incredibly easy. All you do is fashion a makeshift crust out of a tortilla, dump in a bunch of shredded rotisserie chicken, cheese, jalapenos, and cilantro, whisk together a quick batter that gets poured on top, and bake it for about 20 minutes. It's kind of like a quesadilla crossed with a quiche.

Blammo. You just made yourself an awesome dinner. 

This isn't very spicy with the specified amount of jalapenos, so feel free to toss in more if you like your food with a kick. I think that pepper-jack cheese would be a great sub for cheddar if you feel like mixing things up!

Also, a quick Public Service Announcement: I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Best Simple Recipes. I've been using this thing like crazy over the past couple months, and every single thing I've tried from it has turned out perfectly. If you're in the market for quick dinner ideas I could not recommend it more.

Okay. Time to go get my weekly dose of secondhand embarrassment and watch Girls. Have a happy Monday, friends!

Croque Monsieur + Baby Arugula Salad with Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette

Cooking inspiration can come from the most random places.

Several weeks ago, I was watching Girls. Specifically, the episode "One Man's Trash", where Hannah has an affair with a rich, hot, brownstone-owning doctor. While she's sitting in his gorgeous kitchen, she looks around and remarks, "I feel like I'm in a Nancy Meyers movie."

I thought to myself, "Man, I love Nancy Meyers movies. I don't have places to go or things to do. I should watch It's Complicated, then Something's Gotta Give, and then It's Complicated again, all in one evening." So I did. For those of you who aren't familiar with her films, Nancy Meyers is known for her impeccable attention to detail in every tiny aspect of each scene. Every home in her films is stunning and beautifully decorated, but the particular detail that always sticks out to me is - what else? The food.

It's Complicated is definitely the food-porniest of all Meyers' movies. Meryl Streep's character, Jane, plays a chef/bakery owner, and several scenes heavily feature food preparation. From the scene where a slightly stoned Jane makes pain au chocolat from scratch, to her preparation of her ex-husband's favorite meal of roasted chicken, sauteed string beans, mashed potatoes, and double fudge cake in anticipation of their evening rendezvous, to her admission that she makes ice cream (of the lavender-honey variety) when she can't sleep, food is ALL over this movie.

My favorite food-related scene in the movie occurs when Jane prepares Croque Monsieur and a salad for her architect and love interest, played by Steve Martin. She tells him that Croque Monsieur was the first thing she learned to cook for herself when she lived in France. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure that one of the first things I learned to cook for myself was grilled cheese. Croque Monsieur is basically grilled cheese on crack. Gruyere, ham, and dijon mustard get sandwiched between slices of white bread, topped with a Mornay sauce and more gruyere, then broiled.

The day I made this, I mentioned over on Facebook that it's really not fair to all the other sandwiches how good this is. This takes about 30 minutes to make. Any quicker, and I'd be in BIG trouble since I pretty much want to eat this every day, while imagining that I'm cooking it in a kitchen painstakingly designed by Ms. Meyers herself. Until I can live inside a Nancy Meyer's movie, I'll settle for just cooking like her characters. Trust me...the rest of that food is coming. Roasting a chicken has been on my culinary to-do list for far too long!

Snicker-Chip-Doodle Cookies

You may be wondering, what the heck is a Snicker-Chip-Doodle?

Allow me to explain.

When a Snickerdoodle and a Chocolate Chip Cookie love one another very much, they hug, and they kiss, and they fool around a little, and in 9 months 8 - 10 minutes they give birth to a Snicker-Chip-Doodle.

That's right. Cookies can get pregnant. Yay science!

Now, these cookies may not look like anything super special. However, they're addictive, and chewy, and chock full of flavor. Plus, they stay soft for eons, which is always a plus when you don't want to house 16 cookies in one day.

Not that I'll judge you if you do that. A Bitchin' Kitchen is a judgment-free zone, at least when it comes to cookie binges.