Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen, I want to share with
you a really quick, easy delicious snack, lunch, early dinner, for your kids because
pretty soon - well it's also delicious for you.
Pretty soon they'll be out of school and you're going to need easy recipes like this in your
back pocket to make a really quick something for them when they are running inside starving.
We're going to make Chicken Cordon Bleu Quesadillas, they are so fantastic and delicious, I don't
really have a kid that's home from school, I mean my daughter is only 2, but I'm not
stopping myself from making these, they are so good, so easy, you are going to love it
and you can prep and make the chicken ahead of time and then just assemble them last minute
when you need them and for the chicken you need a few very basic but delicious things
that make this so fantastic.
You;ll need chicken breast that's been finely diced, Parmesan cheese, couple cloves of garlic,
and this is some all purpose seasoning with come granulated garlic in it, you can use
any seasoning that you like, a little olive oil and a pinch of salt.
That's what you are going to need to make the chicken and that's what gives this so
much flavor and it's so delicious.
And you could totally go ahead and buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the chicken and use that
instead, but you'd be missing out on so much flavor so you've gotta trust me, it's an extra
step, you can do the whole thing with the chicken, put it in a container in the fridge
and whenever you want to make a quesadilla, take a few spoonfuls out and you're ready.
This to me is a must, sorry!
I've got a skillet with a little olive oil that's nice and hot over about medium, between
medium and medium-high.
Going to add the chicken, break this up as much as possible.
And you're just going to cook this until it develops really good flavor, really good color,
with your spices and a pinch of salt.
That's all you're going to add for now.
And you're just going to cook this until it develops good color and it cooks all the way
through, don't dry it out though, so keep an eye on it.
And since it is chicken breast, you might have to add a little extra drizzle of olive
oil, couple tablespoons will be the perfect amount depending on the size of your skillet,
the bigger the skillet, the more olive oil you'll need.
So I'm going to go ahead and let this cook and I'll show you the next step.
My chicken is just about fully cooked, I just lowered my heat a little bit to right below
medium.
I'm going to grate in my garlic, that way it can cook for a couple minutes and not burn.
And I also want to remind you that when you get to this step where the chicken is just
about cooked, make sure that you switch, uh-oh!
You switch to a clean wooden spoon or a spatula, or clean utensil because you don't want to
cross contaminate raw chicken with your cooked chicken, that wouldn't be fun.
Nobody needs to go to the emergency room today.
Not today!
Okay, get your garlic in, I'm going to give this a stir, cook it for two more minutes
because I have it right below medium and I want to cook out that raw garlic flavor.
I'm also going to grate some Parmeggiano Reggiano over the top and cook it all together and
get all salty and nibbly and delicious, and this is going to be the base for the most
delicious cordon bleu quesadillas that I cannot wait to have for lunch today.
And you're just going to cook all of this together, you're not going to taste the Parmesan
cheese, it's just going to be nutty and crispy and salty and delicious and so perfect.
So just a couple minutes and I'm going to put it in here and then we'll build ourselves
a better quesadilla.
Chicken is done!
I've got my sliced ham, I've got my shredded Swiss, I've got my Dijon mustard and I've
got my flour tortillas.
I'm going to build my quesadillas right in the same pan that I cooked the chicken in
because look at this, there's good flavor if there's anything left in the bottom of
it, and you just add a little tiny bit of oil as needed, but you know what, I don't
like to get any extra stuff dirty, that's what I was trying to say.
So.
Easy, I make half moon quesadillas, and I always start with a little bit of cheese because
that is essentially like glue, right?
Because I do two layers of it, and then your chicken that is boiling hot.
Okay then on this side, I put Dijon mustard because you've gotta have Dijon mustard with
your Cordon Bleu.
A little bit more chicken.
And then I do a couple slices of ham.
I don't really skimp on my quesadillas, I mean this is essentially, in my opinion - and
then another layer of cheese to kind of hold it all together - in my opinion, a quesadilla
should be just as delicious and filling as a sandwich.
Do you know what I'm saying?
Because how rude if you did it any other way.
So, going to pop that one in, I'm only going to make two because I'm only going to make
one for Joe one for me for lunch and then the rest, I'll have all my nibbly bits in
the fridge to make quesadillas whenever we feel like it, so that's exciting.
I'm just going to start with the mustard actually so I don't get my hands dirty.
I only do mustard on one side, simply because I go pretty heavy, but you can do mustard
on the entire thing, you know what, the world is your pickle, nobody is judging you, so
you make it good.
That's why I do double the layer of cheese because I make it good.
Ready for my quesadilla.
Actually leaving that one in the pan for now, this is going to be really hot, I'm going
to cut this into thirds.
Uh oh!
Hot!
Cheese is melted.
Yeah!
Mmm!
That is the only quesadilla that I want to eat.
It tastes like Chicken Cordon Bleu, but it's really easy, it's really fun and like I said
you can have everything on hand ready and then make it last minute.
Yeah, forget the kid, just make this for yourself.
Ha!
LauraintheKitchen.com will have the written recipe if you want it.
I hope you have enjoyed spending time with me, and I will see you next time.
Bye.