Sunday, November 15, 2009

Chuck's Grilled Chicken Quesedilla

Chuck's Grilled Chicken Quesedilla


This recipe began as a means for turning leftovers into a decent sandwich, for the obvious reason of


a) getting rid of your leftovers
b) putting a spin on them so it doesn’t feel like you’re eating the same thing twice
c) who doesn’t love a good sandwich?!?


This has been tried with steak, chicken, different cheeses, vegetables, etc. But out of all of the trials, evolved one particular combination that works so well it deserves its own billing, and deserves to be made specifically rather than waiting for the right leftovers.

Because of the evolution, they never really had a name, but I guess it’s closest to a Grilled Chicken Quesedilla. I’ve brought these to several parties and they’re always a hit! As such, I’m asked for the name and the recipe and rather than continuing to explain that there isn’t one because of the evolution, I’ll try to put it down on paper, or electrons, as closely as I can.

INGREDIENTS
Grilled chicken strips
Your favorite flavored wrap
Swiss cheese, thinly sliced thin from your deli, a quality sharp swiss like Finlandia or Boar’s Head
Caramelized Onions (add peppers, mushrooms if you’d like)
Bleu cheese dressing, “Marie’s” if you have to ask
Crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Olive oil ("EVOO")
Butter/margarine
Spices

PREPARATION
Grilled Chicken – very basic here, this is simply boneless chicken breast cooked outside on the grill (those that know me know that I use my Weber grill year-round!), light brush of EVOO and however you normally spice them (Adobo spice for me with a little extra fresh ground black pepper and an extra pinch of salt on each breast, the chicken breast that is). Oh and don’t over-grill them – watch a Bobbie Flay grilling episode if you have to. Slice the chicken into 3/16” strips

Caramelized Onions – These are a staple in my kitchen; I’ll use them on/in almost anything: omelets, steak, cheeseburgers, sandwiches, etc. as such I generally keep a batch in the fridge and just pull from it as needed.
2-3 Onions, chopped coarsely or sliced and quartered
Olive Oil (“EVOO”)
Karo Syrup (1/4 cup maybe?)
Spices to taste
Optional Green or red bell pepper, cut similar consistency as the onions
Optional sliced mushrooms

Coat the bottom of the skillet or flat grill with the EVOO at medium heat. Sautee the onions and optional bell pepper along with the Karo syrup and your favorite spices. Sautee these right down, not quite to mush because remember you’ll probably be reheating these in/for something else, so still leave some firmness but little/no crunch; plus it’s at about this point that you’ll get the brown syrupy result of the caramelizing process.

For spice, you can use salt/black pepper/garlic, crush in some fresh garlic, whatever you prefer. Recently I’ve been using Adobo spice since it’s essentially salt/pepper/garlic all in one shaker, well pourer I mean. Actually I prefer in this mixture “Monterey” spice which is a roasted garlic and bell pepper spice by McCormick, but I have had difficulty finding it any more in the retail grocery stores. If anyone knows where I can find this spice any more, let me know.

If you’re using the optional mushrooms, you know they cook much quicker than the onions/peppers, so just throw them in for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking and toss them all around.

COOKING
For the wraps, these are 8”-10” diameter wraps you’ll find in or near the deli section generally – they come in several flavors, plain, wheat, veg, spinach, sun-dried tomato, etc. Get a couple of different varieties to vary the color. If you’re cooking several of these, lay out all of your ingredients because they cook fairly quickly and you can just work them like an assembly line. Now let’s get jiggy wid it:

Butter/margarine one side of the wrap and lay butter side down in the large medium-heat skillet or flat grill. 2 slices of the swiss cheese should cover the entire wrap.

On one half of the wrap, space out about 4 chicken strips, and spread the Marie’s bleu cheese dressing over the chicken strips. You don’t want the half covered with the chicken, space them out; you don’t need to use a lot of any one ingredient in this as it’s the combination of them that makes it work.

On the other half, cover with an even layer of the caramelized onion mixture, and then sprinkle the Gorgonzola over same

Let grill until the bottom is golden brown (or approximate if using colored wraps), fold in half and put aside on a cutting board while you start the next one. Let stand for a couple minutes and then slice into wedges.

SERVING
You can serve them right after slicing into wedges, or you can plate a bunch of these together separated by wax paper. They’re very forgiving to sitting because they’re good hot out of the pan or at room temp or anywhere in between. If bringing to a party, I’ll prep all the ingredients way in advance, then will assembly-line cook them just before leaving, on a platter separating the layers with wax paper, drive to the event, slap them on the table with no re-heating, and watch the peeps enjoy.

Although I’ve never had anything but an empty plate come back from a party, for the sake of argument they reheat well too – reheat them in the pan or flat grill, or in the mic in a sealed container on Med-High power for 30 seconds or so.

Enjoy!

VARIATION
Leftover steak? Substitute thin strips of steak for the chicken, and use a creamy horseradish sauce in place of the bleu cheese dressing!
--C

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Cleansing Your PC of Malware for Free

9/15/2009 (cnh/DA)

Malware, often ignored by anti-virus software, has become as big of a threat to PC’s in the business environment and in the home due to the expenses related to loss of Productivity and the cost of repair/cleansing. To cleanse an infected system may take an experienced technician 2 hours or more, at a typical shop labor rate ranging from $65 - $125 per hour, not to mention the loss of productivity due to the down PC and user.
Several free utilities have emerged that do a real good job of cleansing; they can be downloaded for free, and are fairly comprehensive to install and run. If your PC is starting to get sluggish, starting to get “pop-ups,” starting to get warnings from your own anti-virus software, or if you’ve clicked on a “warning” while surfing websites that “your PC is infected” and you had a moment of belief and you clicked to download the “personal antivirus” that offered to save the day, with some time and a little bit if patience, you can rid your own PC of its maladies.

Download the following free software:
Malwarebytes –
http://www.malwarebytes.org
Spybot – http://www.safer-networking.org
Ccleaner – http://www.ccleaner.com

Certain infections may stop the infected PC from accessing many known anti-virus and anti-malware sites, including the above, so it may be necessary to download the required setup files from a clean PC and transport the files to the infected PC via network or Flash Drive. Download or copy all three setup files to a location and note the location (to the desktop for example).

Many infections will be easier to remove with Windows in Safe Mode, so it is advisable to restart Windows in safe mode. To start a PC in safe mode, restart Windows; during the restart, when you see the PC Manufacturer logo / startup screen, start tapping the F8 key. In a few seconds, you should see a Windows Startup Menu, and the top of which you should see “Safe Mode,” “Safe Mode with Networking,” “Safe Mode with Command Prompt.” Preferably, select “Safe Mode with Networking.” When Windows starts in the mode you selected, log in if necessary; if there’s an option about “System Restore” do not select System Restore, rather continue in Safe Mode.

Malwarebytes
Browse to the location you stored the setup files and launch the setup for Malwarebytes “mbam-setup.exe” and follow all default prompts. At the Finish screen, leave the default options selected, i.e. Update Malwarebytes and Launch Malwarebytes. When Malwarebytes’ main screen appears, select “Perform Quick Scan” from the first tab. You may continue below while Malwarebytes is still running; your system may be a little sluggish, but there’s no problem continuing and overall will take less of your own time.

Spybot
Browse to the location you stored the setup files and launch the setup for Spybot “spybotsd162.exe” and follow all default prompts. At the Finish screen, leave the default options checked to Run SpybotSD.exe and TeaTimer.exe. When Spybot launches for the first time, it will suggest letting it create a registry backup, and then update its definition files prior to the first scan. Once these are complete, Spybot may restart and then you may start the scan by pressing “Check for problems.”

Once the PC is scanned and cleaned with Malwarebytes, Spybot, and whichever anti-virus is installed, I will reboot the computer. Remember it’s been running in Safe Mode for the scanning/cleaning in order to minimize the number of items installed and running in memory. Restart the computer and allow it to restart normally.

Ccleaner
Ccleaner has several different handy tools, two of which I use specifically after a malware cleansing – Cleaner (file delete) and the Registry tool.
The cleaner tool is a file delete tool. It deletes files from several common repositories on the PC, where some malware may leave remnants, including Temporary Internet Files, Temp file space, Deleted items bin, and many others.

The registry cleaner tool scans the PC registry for several types of anomalies and corrects them. Oftentimes a PC will run somewhat faster after the registry cleaner has been run.
--C