Entertaining...

It is a love hate relationship, entertaining... I love it.... I mean WE love it. We love to cook togeher. I love to sit down with Eric and come up with a menu. What genre of food, a theme, etc. etc. I love to have people over and eat great food. BUT.... I hate the stress... why do have to do this?? Why can't I just enjoy every step of it...??... the stress of the countdown until that day... the number of grocery stores I have to go to, to get all the ingredients. And I'm discovering that Abilene is very limited in it's speciality items. The stress of not only cleaning the house, trying not to ignore my kids too much, prepping the food, trying to get most of the food done so that the timing is all right and then making sure I'm ready. The stress of having it mostly all put together before Eric gets home to help me with the last remaining finishing touches... without resenting him too much. It's hard to do it together on a work day.. I mean why can't he just take the day off and cook with me all day. Is that too much to ask... I mean really is work that important? ;) One of these days I will figure it all out and be better at entertaining. For now I will still love to do it... well maybe next week I'll love to do it again. ...for now I'm a little burnt out..

So last week we had some of Eric's associates over for dinner. We went all out and did a Southwest Cuisine Menu. (Eric loves Bobby Flay...southwest food is his thing) This was our menu:

Appetizer: Cotija Crusted Quesadillas with Basil, Red Chilies, and Charred Corn Relish

Entree: Lime Zested and Ancho Chili Pepper Rubbed Rib eyes over Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes served with a Southwest Chopped Salad. Accompanied by homemade mini loafs of bread.

Dessert: Creme Brulee with a Ancho Chili chocolate Sauce

Ok, sounds kind of fancy huh... I know... I think it does... and things that sound fancy are alot of work. I'm not going to sugar-coat it, it was a lot of work. Eric is lucky that I don't charge by the hour for my labor. :) After all the work was said and done, it was a lot of fun and Eric's co-workers really enjoyed the dinner and it was a really fun evening. Everything turned out great for the most part. You would have thought I would have taken a picture, but too much was going on. I need to be better about that. It's nice to have a picture of all your hard work. So this picture will have to do from Bobby's Book: Bobby Flay's MESA Grill Cookbook. Mesa Grill is Bobby Flay's Restaurant in Vegas and NYC. It is one of our favorite restaurants, so we love to cook out of this cookbook. I don't have the time or patience to write down all the recipes from our meal, so I'll include the amazing quesidillas... they are so great! The goat cheese gives them this really unique flavor and the cotija cheese on top compliments it so nicely. You have to try them.

Cotija Crusted Quesadillas with Basil, Red Chilies, and Charred Corn Relish:

12 (6-inch) flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (6 ounces)

8 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

2 large red jalapeno chilies, finely diced (We just used green ones)

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 T. canola oil

1/4 cup grated Cotija or Parmesan Cheese

2 Teaspoons ancho chile powder

Charred Corn Relish for Garnish (recipe, see below)

(in the picture there is a Smoked Red Pepper Sauce) (I did a cilantro oil to drizzle on the plate.)

1. Preheat over to 425

2. Place tortillas out and divide in order the monterey jack, goat cheese, jalapenos, and basil among the tortillas. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stack the other tortillas on top to make your quesadilla. Brush the tops with canola oil and sprinkle with cotija cheese and chilie powder.

3. Transfer the tortillas to a baking sheet, you probably need 2. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the tortillas are lightly golden brown and the cheese has melted. Cut into quarters and top with the Corn Relish

Charred Corn Relish

4 Fresh Ears of Corn (Roasted on the grill) (I brush mine with olive oil, and S&P and grill them until they are slightly charred. ... a few brown spots. Then remove from the cob. I just put them vertical on the cutting board and slice off the kernels.

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 T. Balsamic vinegar

1 T. Honey

2 T Canola Oil

2 T. Chopped Fresh Basil

Kosher Salt and Freshly ground black pepper

Combine Corn, onion, vinegar, honey, oil, basil, and salt and pepper to taste in the bowl. Let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and up to one hour before serving.

Make this for your next little get together and all your friends will love it, needless to say be impressed too. :)

Funny thing... as I was checking out the night before with some of my ingredients. The cashier (here in my little Texas town of Abilene) says in her Texas draw accent, "So whatcha makin..?" I said, a big dinner... and I told her a little bit about what we were cooking.. And she said, "Craaam Brew Laaayyy... I just love Craaam Brew Laaaayyy, There's here only one place that has that here in town and it's a whole $8..."

I told her for $8, she could easily make it for 8 people... she just needed a kitchen torch.

I know by typing it, I'm not doing the story any justice... Her accent and they way she said Creme Brulee, it was halarious. Abilene is just really funny sometimes. We have a lot of country folk, some might call them hicks... and they are fuuunnnyy! I've just gotta laugh!