Chicken and Mushroom Quesadillas with home made tortillas

I've always wanted to make my own whole wheat flour tortillas but was never able to find the right recipe - they always seemed to be lacking something - well not anymore, because I have found the recipe for the perfect (If there exists such a thing) whole wheat flour tortillas!

Also the above quesadilla's where a big hit with my family specially my brothers who tend to be very picky eaters and don't do foreign. I mean even if its something simple like rosemary scented oven grilled fries they will refuse to look at them (if they found out that they are rosemary scented oven grilled potatoes), unless I tell them its plain ol' french fries then they will gobble them down - you get me , right? 

  Chicken and mushroom Quesailla's

• Ingredients:

1. 2 Tablespoon olive oil
2. 1 teaspoons chili powder
3. 1 garlic cloves, minced
4. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
5. 2 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
6. 2 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
7. 1 cups shredded cooked chicken
8. 1 small finely chopped onion
9. 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
10. 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar and masadam Cheese (masadam is one of my all time favourite cheeses - along with parmesan, gorgonzola, goat, cheddar, mozzarella, feta... the list will go on for several pages but I hope you get the picture!)
11. Olive oil (to brush)
12. 4 (around 8 inch diameter) home made tortillas (recipe follows)

• Directions:

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chili powder, garlic and oregano. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add shiitake and button mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes then add onions and saute for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in chicken and cilantro. Cool 10 minutes. Mix in cheese. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Heat a dry iron skillet.Lightly brush oil on 1 side of tortillas. Place tortillas, oil side down on skillet (one by one). Put the chicken mixture on the tortilla, spreading to even thickness. Let it sit on the skillet until slightly colored, fold the tortilla in half and cook both sides until golden brown. Do the same for the remaining tortillas. Cut into wedges. serve and enjoy.

note: I put jalapenoes in mine! You may do the same!

Whole Wheat flour tortillas

Adapted from homesick texans blog, you will need half this recipe for the quesadillas

§ Ingredients:

1) 2 cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)

2) 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

3) 1 teaspoon of salt

4) 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

5) 3/4 cups of warm milk

§ Directions:

1) Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.

2) Slowly add the warm milk.

3) Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.

4) Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

5) After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

6) After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

If not making Quesadillas then:
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.