Recipe Theme of the Month: Quesadillas- Spinach and Ricotta

This is the last of the quesadilla recipes. Not that there aren't dozens more...but this one is from Taste of Home, slightly modified.

Ingredients

4 cups fresh baby spinach

4 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozarella

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

6 flour tortillas (6 inches)

1/4 cup sour cream

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Directions

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the spinach, onions, lime juice, cumin and garlic powder over medium heat until spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat; stir in cheeses and cilantro. Divide spinach mixture evenly among three tortillas. Top with remaining tortillas. Cook in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over low heat for 1-2 minutes on each side or until heated through. Cut each quesadilla into four wedges. Serve with sour cream. 

And voila! Enjoy!

The Park at Sunrise 

by Lee Brazil

Contemporary M/M

Buy at Amazon Kindle

First they were three, now there are two. Can Jason and Morgan make a relationship work without Paul?

What are readers saying about The Park at Sunrise? 

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, May 17, 2013 (Amazon reviewer) This is such a beautiful story. Gut wrenching sorrow. My heart clenched at what these young men lost. How long it took them to grieve . . . 9 years. They are such richly written characters, it is as if they are alive and I know them. I felt their hurt.

Red Wine Mushroom Quesadillas

Tasty Mushroom Quesadillas

Ingredients 

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tablespoon flour

1 button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup dry red wine

3/4 cup broth

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

 Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

Whisk in flour until smooth

Whisk in wine, broth, Worcestershire sauce until smooth

Add in mushrooms and onions.

Cook over medium heat until mushrooms and onions are tender, stirring occasionally.

We serve this over rice, or as a side dish to beef at times.

When there's leftovers, I do this:

Heat griddle. Grease lightly. Place on tortilla flat in the pan. Using a slotted spoon so the juices will drain, spoon a layer of mushrooms on the tortilla. Add a sprinkling of Monterrey jack or mozzarella cheese. Top with another tortilla.

Flip when bottom is crisped.

Remove from heat when cheese is melted. Let cool for a minute, then slice and serve with the warmed sauce form the mushrooms, sour cream, or a salsa.

Add in mushrooms, wine, broth, onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce; cook until the mushrooms are tender and the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally (about 40 minutes).

Recipe Theme of the Month : Quesadillas - Zucchini

This is a mingling of recipes found on the web, from Martha Stewart and All Recipes. We just monkeyed around with them until we got the taste we wanted.

Ingredients

·         4 T olive oil

·         1 small onion, diced

·         Salt

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         2 medium zucchini, thin sliced

·         1 cup frozen corn kernels

·         1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

·         4  flour tortillas

·         2 cups grated Monterrey  jack cheese

·         1 t lime juice

·         ½ t ground cumin

·         ½ t paprika

·         ¼ t cayenne

Preparation

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 3 T oil over medium heat. Add onion and spices; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute more.

2.      Add zucchini and frozen corn kernels; cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro, if using.

3.      Brush one side of all tortillas with remaining tablespoon oil. Put 2 tortillas, oiled side down, on a baking sheet. Place half of the filling on each, and sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with remaining tortillas.

4.      Bake until cheese has melted and tortillas are golden brown, turning once, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. To serve, slice each quesadilla into wedges.

Serve with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

Recipe Theme of the Month: Quesadillas

When I was a kid, Taco Bell was new. Let that soak in for a minute. Yes, I am that old. My mom made tacos for dinner every once in awhile, and we loved it. But all that other cool Mexican food ? Burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas? Yeah. We didn't have those until we moved back to Texas when I was a pre-teen.

Tex-Mex quickly became a favorite staple of our family meals, and still is. Today we use our imaginations and go beyond where we started of course. A quesadilla isn't just a grilled cheese sandwich on a tortilla instead of white bread. 

This month I'll be sharing a few of our favorite quesadilla recipes.  

This first is adapted from an Emeril Lagasse recipe. 

BLACK BEAN & CORN QUESADILLAS

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for cooking quesadilla

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup minced onion

1 tablespoon diced green chiles

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 lime, juiced

10 flour tortillas

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

3/4 cup grated Monterey jack cheese   

Directions

Heat 1 olive oil over medium heat. Add vegetables and seasonings. Cook until heated through.

Add the lime juice, stir to combine, and remove from heat.

To assemble: Lay one tortilla in a hot skillet. Add 1/4 cup filling and then top with 2 tablespoon grated cheese. Top with another tortilla and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom tortilla. Flip and cook on the other side until slightly browned and the cheese has melted.

Cut each quesadilla into six triangles and serve warm with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.

Pick up the Sequel to Trapping Drake today! 

"I"m not the type of guy who lets someone else control my life, Jesse."

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-settingthetrap-1152571-145.html

Recipe Theme of the Month Appetizers - Devil's on Horseback

This recipe is fairly simple and classic, but you can't beat the taste!

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Ingredients

Bacons strips

Whole dates, pitted

Directions

Cut bacon strips into 4-in. lengths. Wrap each pitted date tightly with a piece of bacon, overlapping ends. Set dates, seam side down, in a. nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Turn dates occasionally until bacon is browned and crisp on all sides.

Drain on paper towels and serve warm or cool.

Variations: You can stuff the dates with a variety of fillings before wrapping and cooking. Suggestions include cheeses, minced fruits, etc. Use your imagination and have fun with it.

Recipe Theme of the Month: Appetizers - Crab Salad

Recipe Theme of the Month: Appetizers

Crab Salad

This is a great recipe, not just for appetizers, but for meals. This month I'm using it as a stuffing for tomatoes and cucumbers, nice little bite size treats.

Ingredients

8 ounces lump crabmeat

¼ cup mayonnaise

Photo from Taste of Home
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/crab-stuffed-cherry-tomatoes

1 tablespoon sour cream

1 tablespoon cream cheese

Salt & pepper

Cayenne pepper to taste (if you like it spicy )

1 stalk celery, finely diced

¼ cup finely diced purple onion

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions: Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Spoon into hollowed cherry tomatoes, or cucumbers, or crackers, or wrap in lettuce leaves. Serve chilled.

While this photo is from Taste of Home, The recipe they use is significantly different, but the photo gets the idea of how to assemble these across. There recipe is for baked stuffed tomatoes, which I am definitely going to try one of these days as well. 

Recipe Theme of the Month: Bite Size Nibbles : Crab Filled Crescents

This month I'm doing recipes that are fun, finger sized, and delicious. Appetizers and snack bites form elegant to whimsical, but always tasty treats to fuel the creative writing process. 

A friend once pointed out that there's a lot of food in my books, and I have to admit that is very true. It's hard to separate people from the food they eat, and the meals a couple shares can define their relationship. 

What happens when the junk food junkie falls for the chef de cuisine? 

hmm... that might be an idea for a future project. 

Today's recipe is so simple, it will probably find a spot in a future book, (last week's recipe will make an appearance in 50/50 Chances Are in May!) 

Crab Filled Crescents 

(This recipe appears many places on the web, but I've used the Pillsbury site recipe as a base) 

Ingredients

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls 1

3 oz softened cream cheese

1 cup chopped crab meat (I use the fake stuff…I like the texture better)

1 green onion, minced

2 T mayo or yogurt

Season with salt and pepper, or cayenne if you like it spicy ( I don't)

Directions

1.      Heat oven to 375°F. Line baking pan with parchment paper. Unroll dough on work surface (if using crescent rolls, pinch seams to seal); cut into 6 rows by 4 rows to make 24 squares.

2.      In small bowl, mix cream cheese, crabmeat, onion and mayo with seasonings. Spoon about 1 teaspoon crab mixture in the center of each square. Starting with same corner, fold dough over filling, and tuck end tightly underneath filling; continue rolling to within 1/2 inch of opposite corner. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining squares and filling. (The Pillsbury site recommended using an egg wash to seal the crescents. I forgot, and guess what? They stayed sealed just fine. So add that step in if you want, but I found it unnecessary.)

3.      Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Possible Variations:

I'm going to try this with smoked salmon and dill instead of the crab next time.

Can you think of any fun varieties we could try with this simple recipe?

Well, it's a good month for sales! I nearly forgot, but ALL GLBT titles are 20% off this month at the Breathless Press publishing site! That includes pre-orders on titles like Setting the Trap! 

Breathless Press