Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

These can be eaten hot or cold. Make a bunch. 

Ingredients:

• Cooked boneless breast chicken - cubed. 
• Large flour Tortillas 
• Cooked crispy Bacon
• Green Bell pepper, chopped
• Red Onion, chopped
• Shredded Cheddar (or Mozzarella)
• Black Olives, sliced.
• Creamy Ranch dressing (or tasty dressing of your choice) 

First of all, yes, every other recipe here is wrapped in a Tortilla. Those things are amazing. I love them. I didn't put a quantity on my ingredients because you can adjust them according to your needs. I usually make 8 at a time, since you can snack on them all week long.  (And you will!)

So for starters, we're going to fry up a strip of bacon, one for each wrap. Here's a picture of the bacon frying because bacon is awesome. (By the way...if you don't have a griddle, you totally should buy one! I wish I had gotten mine twenty years ago. They make your life sooo much easier, and I swear they are easier to clean than a pan.)

While the bacon is frying, you can chop up your veggies and chicken. Put your entire stack of Tortillas on a paper towel and stick them in the microwave for one minute. You want them to be soft and pliable. Tortillas like to be soft and pliable. Gather all your ingredients together and be ready to make like an assembly line.

 

Draw a line of dressing across the middle of the Tortilla and top with a handful of chicken. Then pile on the rest of the ingredients according to taste. Obviously, if you don't like olives or onions, etc, you can omit those things, and add things you do like, because no one is going to question you. There is no wrap police. Yet. They are equally good with cheddar and mozzarella and they are equally good with Creamy Ranch, Caesar and Italian dressings, etc. You may be the master of your own culinary destiny!

For show purposes, I lined everything up for the photo, but normally, I just dump it all in one big row.

To fold a Tortilla for a wrap, you're going to fold the sides in first (barely an inch..just enough to keep stuff from falling out the sides. Then you fold the bottom half up and over your filling and you just scrunch it all inwards. The warm Tortilla will be malleable. If you hold it there a second, you can feel it conform. Fold the sides in again and roll it forward all the way. Again, hold it there a second and squeeze it gently. It's almost like playing with play dough. (I probably should have done these on something other than a white background as it's hard to see. Sorry!)

As you make each one, pop it in the microwave for 45 seconds while you make the next one. (Assuming you are going to eat it now. Otherwise, you can pile them into a big zip lock bag and refrigerate them just like this until you are ready to eat them.)

To be a true Killer Gourmet, slice them at a diagonal and serve with one half leaning against the other. Like so:

 Yay! It's yummy noms!

(For a healthier low fat version of these wraps, omit the bacon and choose a low fat cheese and dressing. They're almost as good. But of course, nothing is as awesome without bacon.)

Chicken Quesadillas

While working as a (line cook) chef in a (dive) fine dining establishment, I made these Chicken Quesadillas on a daily basis, so these are restaurant quality goods. Quesadillas cook fast so the key is having all your ingredients in front of you and ready to go when you start. The 'busy kitchen unit of measurement' is one handful of each item, so adjust your needs accordingly.

To make ONE Chicken Quesadilla, you will need: 

Ingredients: 

• Two Large (10 inch) Flour Tortillas
• Cooked Boneless Chicken Breast - diced
• Green Bell Pepper - chopped
• Onion - chopped
• Tomato - diced (I used the canned kind)
• Shredded Cheddar cheese
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Grated Parmesian Cheese
• 1 tb Butter (appx)

For my own convenience, I mix my cheddar and mozzarella cheese together in a plastic bag but you don't have to do that. If you are making your Quesadillas in a pan, you'll need two pans going at the same time, set to medium high. If you're using a griddle, set to 400. Cluster your ingredients up next to your pan or griddle, and you're ready to go.

Lay down a full circular spot of butter for each tortilla and lay the tortilla on top of that. (I give it a quick rub around to make sure it's fully covered.) On the left tortilla, place a handful each of Cheddar and Mozzerella, spread as evenly as possible to the ends. On the right tortilla, cover evenly with a handful each of onion, pepper, tomato and chicken. (You can adjust your distribution to taste. It's your Quesadilla...make it however you like!) 

By the time you're done with all that distribution, the cheese side will probably look melted, like above. Slip a spatula underneath the cheese side and carefully flip it on top of the meat side. I use my fingertips to help line it up, but of course, it's very hot, so do that at your own risk.

Rub a little butter across the top of your Quesadilla and dust with the grated Parmesian cheese. Give it maybe another 20 seconds after that to really fuse together nice, and then using a spatula, slide it onto a plate. Cut your Quesadilla in 8ths and fan out for show. Serve with Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole or any fun topping of your choice.

The nice thing about Quesadillas is you can refrigerate left overs and eat them cold. They make absolutely delicious snacks.

Chicken Francaise

This recipe doesn't take very long to make and it produces gourmet results. 

Chicken Francaise

8 thin slices Boneless Chicken Breast (Just slice 4 breasts in half)

Batter:

• 1 c Eggs -- beaten
• 2 tb Lemon Juice
• 1/4 c Parsley -- chopped
• 1/4 ts Salt
• 1/4 c White cooking wine  (I use Holland House. No need for real wine here.)
• 2 tb Garlic -- pureed  (Go ahead and heep it, depending on taste.)
• 2 ds Hot Sauce 
• 1/4 c Parmesan Cheese -- grated (Kraft version is fine)
• Butter or Olive Oil for coating pan

Wine Sauce:

• 1 Margarine or Butter stick
• 1/2 c White cooking wine
• 1/4 c Lemon Juice

Dust the chicken in the flour and set aside. Make the batter by beating eggs, then beating in the lemon juice, parsley, salt, wine, garlic, hot pepper sauce and Parmesan. Coat a heavy skillet with butter or olive oil and place over high heat. Dip the floured chicken pieces generously in the batter and place in the heated skillet. Cook until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and drain excess oil. Make the win sauce by melting the butter in the pan, then stirring in the wine and lemon juice. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, spooning the wine sauce over all and cook 1 minute longer. Serve immediately. (I serve it with white rice.) You'll be amazed at how positively succulent this comes out!