Quesadillas...(and a porkchop)...and Wine

I think it's safe to say that today was one of the most gorgeous summer days. Low 60's, High mid 80's + cool breeze. It was a perfect "sit outside and study on the laptop" kind of day. No?!

After spending hours reading on the back patio, it was time to get supper cooking. Have you ever had one of those nights where you just don't know what to cook? It was sorta like that. Mom & I wanted something light. Dad wanted porkchops & potatoes...so we kinda had a hodgepodge meal.

THE MENU

The girls (Mom n' Me) were having grilled chicken & veggie quesadillas with 1/2 a baked sweet potato each.

Dad was getting his porkchops & sweet potato.

THE PROCESS

-First we seasoned 2 chicken breasts & 2 porkchops

(The chicken was seasoned with S&P, olive oil, and a sprinkle of fajita seasoning; The pork chops with S&P, olive oil, lemon juice, and lots of oregano)

-Next we chopped 3 large button mushrooms, 1/2 a vidalia onion, 1 cup fresh spinach and 1 red bell pepper and sauteed them for about 5-6 minutes in quality olive oil...on that note, I am really anxious to introduce to you my FAVORITE olive oil in the world which comes freshly cold pressed from Greece. It deserves a post of it's own so stay tuned in the near future.

(For the veggies we used S&P and a sprinkle of taco seasoning)

-While these were sauteeing, we heated up the indoor griddle for the chicken & pork. First, we cooked the chicken since it takes longest. Then the pork. REMEMBER-pink is bad (this is the ONLY time those words will come out of this mouth, btw).

-When the vegetables are done sauteeing, I removed them from heat and added in this lovely bowl of chopped avocado & cherry tomatoes. - Now, we assemble...these are the fabulous wraps I used. They are not only super soft, but they are also whole wheat & healthy!! Under 200 cals for the whole thing PLUS there are only abot 5 ingredients in them. YES!!
-Cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces...
-Put one of these wraps on the FLAT side of the hot griddle and add veggies, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado to one side of the wrap...
-Sprinkle on whatever cheese you prefer (this time I used full-fat Taco cheese, mmmm)

-Flip the empty side of the wrap over and press. Let this grill until it becomes golden brown underneath, then flip and repeat. -Take quesadillas off the grill and cut into four slices...I was so hungry after being sick for 2 days & not eating that I refused to give up even a crumb from my wrap. Those 4 slices were going into my belly if I had to stuff them in there personally. Just LOOK at the result...

I can't forget about Dad's dinner!! Once the porkchops were done cooking, I plated it with his favorites- a sweet potato + cinnamon and applesauce! Look & drool...btw, the sweet potatoes were baking at 400 for about an hourish+...they do take awhile so you could instead microwave them for 5 minutes and get the same result. Go ahead, I won't tell.

This dinner was so perfect for a summer night. It was light, homemade, and full of really wonderful vegetables. I hope you try it soon!!!

WINE TIME

As promised, I have a few wines to review!! I took a few sips of each of these because I knew I wouldn't be functional if I had an entire glass. (Lightweight?!)

Not too long ago I had tried the El Molino Malbec and really liked it, so I gave this white one a try. This Argentinian white is very light, smells like flowers, and tastes ever so slightly of fruit, no hints of oak. It really is lovely on it's own or with a nice light dinner. If you can't splurge on your favorite expensive wine, this one is not only cheap but nice!

Root:1 Cabernet Sauvignon

Very nice Chilean wine!! Much lighter than a Merlot. Smelled like blackberries, but upon tasting it, I noticed a little coffee/chocolate hint. Good stuff!! This is probably much better accompanying a good pasta dish or juicy steak!

Three Fox Vineyards -Il Volpe Sangiovese 2008

This comes from a local winery here in the metropolitan area. BFdeLuxe brought it to me as a surprise! He said it's one of their award winners.Here is the description posted by the vineyard:

"...has the typical Sangiovese nose (yeasty, leathery) and palate (lots of cherry, toast, coffee, and spice notes). This is a wine to savor on its own. It's also big and bold to go with meats and cheeses..." (www.threefoxvineyards.com)

It reminded me a bit of Kombucha (for those of you who know what I'm talking about). I say give it a try yourself as my wine palate is still in the early stages of developing. My Dad really enjoyed it, so it depends on each persons preferences. Bf liked this winery so I'm excited to go there myself and taste the rest of their wines!!

Simply Sunday

I love Sundays. I always have. It's the one day a week, even as a little girl, I remember my entire family being together for the whole day. What could be better? In our house, the women (my two sisters, MamaDeLuxe, and myself) are the ones in the kitchen-cooking, baking, pouring the wine & chatting...and the men are usually doing other things...like watching tv or napping until the food is done. European men have it made. Enough said. Besides that, the house is filled with the sounds of childhood innocence. While sometimes I do enjoy a nice quiet afternoon (ie. last Saturday), majority of the time I love hearing the voices of my neices & nephews and the pitter patter of their little feet running through the house. Yes, today was perfect.

It started off with my Mom's amazing homemade egg salad sandwiches.
We started by boiling the eggs.

In the meantime, we chopped up red and orange bell peppers, a few green onions, and half of a regular white onion. Along with that we also zested about half a lemon.

To top the egg salad, we baked several slices of Pancetta in the oven. Pancetta is like a much healthier, less fattier Italian substitute for bacon.

Once the eggs were finished boiling, we peeled them (stiiiinky!), and cut them into halves, then smaller pieces.

Combine the eggs in a large bowl with all other ingredients & add a good amount of S&P, a few shakes of Cayenne, 2 small spoonfulls of Dijon mustard, and 2 small spoonfulls of Mayo (any kind will do).

Gently mix & set in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. Once done, start assembling on your favorite bread (we used Arnold's rye today).


I topped the sandwiches off with Kraft's new Bacon&Chedder cheese slices. Lord have mercy. That's all I'm saying.


The day only got better from there. I started on my pie adventure (as previously posted) while the other gals got dinner started. On the menu...

Happy Hour & Appetizers:
I mixed 2 of my newest wines together for a milder, sweeter afternoon beverage. You may recognize lastnight's Malbec purchase. The other wine is Canyon Oaks moscato. Moscato wines are made from the muscate grapes which are much sweeter in taste. This wine has wonderful fruity hints to it.

Along with the wine we baked up some of Wegmans' Wine & Cheese flavored pork sausage. I don't usually gravitate towards sausage but this was very good. It had the perfect amount of cheese flavor with a slight kick at the end.

We also baked up some Brie cheese & topped it with Wegmans' mouth-watering caramel pecan cranberry topping. You can find it in their cheese section.I prefer Carr's brand crackers with my brie. A little more expensive but very delicious. I'm not kidding you, this was HEA-VEN-LY! I actually saw the skies part & could hear the angels singing, "ahhhhhhhh". Just like that.

Main Menu:
Sweet corn on the cob, which we coated with Olive Oil & cilantro

Beer,Bourbon,and BBQ'd ribs (literally melted off the bone!! )

Grilled chicken & Greek-style Ratatouille (called Briami)

And a nice, fresh salad topped with black olives, Parmesano Reggiano shavings, and dijon dressing

Finally, at the table...Happy Sunday, everyone. Hope you have a wonderful week.