Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2010

SPOTLIGHT RECIPE: Tex-Mex Chicken Quesadillas w/Habichuelas Rosadas

Have a craving for something salty, cheesy and crunchy but don't want to reach for a bag of chips? These Tex-Mex style Chicken Quesadillas make a delicious and satisfying meal. Served with salsa, sliced avocado and pink beans—they're full of tangy flavor. Spice them up with hot salsa, or keep it on the mild side. It's up to you.






YOU'LL NEED...
Quesadillas

   3 chicken breasts
   salt, pepper,
   1 teas. Mexican chili powder 
      (garlic powder, paprika, cayenne or ancho chili, oregano, cumin)
   1/4 cup lime juice
   8-10 flour tortillas
   10 oz. CABOT cheddar or monterey jack cheese
   sealable plastic bag or container
   cast iron skillet or grill


Habichuelas Rosadas (Mexican Pink Beans)
   1 can GOYA Pink Beans
   1 onion, chopped
   Mexican chili powder (to taste)
   salt
   vegetable oil or chicken fat


Sides (Optional)
   1 avocado, sliced
   LA MEXICANA fresh Mexican salsa: mild, medium or hot.
   chopped cilantro (green coriander)
   sour cream, or Greek-style plain yoghurt


DIRECTIONS
   1. WASH chicken breasts in warm water. Remove visible fat and membranes.
   2. MIX chili powder, salt, lime juice and vegetable oil in a sealable bag or container. Add chicken breasts, coating all sides. Set aside.
   3. HEAT pot over medium-low.
   4. FRY chopped onion in oil until translucent.
   5. ADD Pink Beans with water from can, Mexican chili powder, and salt to onions. COVER, cooking on low.
   6. HEAT skillet or grill on medium-low.
   7. When grill is HOT, place chicken breasts and grill both sides until meat just cooked through.
   8. REMOVE chicken breasts and set aside to cool.
   9. CHECK beans. Add water as needed to keep from burning.
 10. SLICE chicken and cheese thinly.
 11. PLACE flour tortillas on ungreased heated skillet (medium-low heat). Place cheese, then chicken slices over half the tortilla.
 12. FLIP tortilla in half once edges of cheese begins to melt.
 13. TORTILLA will be golden brown and crispy on the bottom.
 14. REPEAT until all quesadillas are cooked.
 15. SERVE with Pink Beans, salsa, avocado and/or sour cream.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Quran & Hadith: Halal


HALAL in the Quran
اليوم احل لكم الطيبات وطعام الذين اوتوا الكتاب حل لكم وطعامكم حل لهم والمحصنات من المؤمنات والمحصنات من الذين اوتوا الكتاب من قبلكم اذا اتيتموهن اجورهن محصنين غير مسافحين ولامتخذي اخدان ومن يكفر بالايمان فقد حبط عمله وهو في الاخرة من الخاسرين

“Today the good things are permitted you, and the food of those who were given the Book is permitted to you, and permitted to them is your food; Likewise believing women in wedlock, and in wedlock women of them who were given the Book before you if you give them their wages, in wedlock and not in licence, or as taking lovers. Whoso disbelieves in the faith, his work has failed, and in the world to come he shall be among the losers."
— Quran. Surat al-Ma'idah 5:5

ياايها الذين امنوا كلوا من طيبات مارزقناكم واشكروا لله ان كنتم اياه تعبدون

"O ye who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you, and be grateful to Allah, if it is Him ye worship."
— Quran. Surat al-Baqarah 2:172

والانعام خلقها لكم فيها دفء ومنافع ومنها تاكلو ٥ ولكم فيها جمال حين تريحون وحين تسرحون ٦

"And cattle He has created for you (men): from them you derive warmth, and numerous benefits, and of their (meat) you eat. And you have a sense of pride and beauty in them as you drive them home in the evening, and as you lead them forth to pasture in the morning."
— Quran. Surah an-Nahl 16:5-6

Hadith referencing HALAL

“Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.”
— Collected by At-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa’I and ad-Darimi; authenticated by Sheikh al-Albaani in Sahih al-Jami as-Saghir, Vol. 1, p. 637, Number 3378

Food of the People of the Book (Christians & Jews)

Narrated Abu Tha'laba Al-Khushani: "I said, 'O Allah's Prophet! We are living in a land ruled by the people of the Scripture; Can we take our meals in their utensils? In that land there is plenty of game and I hunt the game with my bow and with my hound that is not trained and with my trained hound. Then what is lawful for me to eat?' He said, 'As for what you have mentioned about the people of the Scripture, if you can get utensils other than theirs, do not eat out of theirs, but if you cannot get other than theirs, wash their utensils and eat out of it. If you hunt an animal with your bow after mentioning Allah's Name, eat of it. and if you hunt something with your trained hound after mentioning Allah's Name, eat of it, and if you hunt something with your untrained hound (and get it before it dies) and slaughter it, eat of it.'"
— Sahih Bukhari. 67: 387

CHICKEN
Narrated Abu Musa al-Ashari (r.a.a.):

"I saw the Messenger of Allah (r.a.a.) consuming (the meat of) chicken."
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Number 5198

CHEESE
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

"The Prophet (s.a.s.) was brought a piece of cheese in Tabuk. He called for a knife, mentioned Allah's Name and cut it."
— Abu Dawoud. Book 27, Number 3810

Jallalah of halal animals 
Narrated by Ibn 'Umar and 'Amr Ibn Shu'ayb:

"The Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) forbade the eating (of) jallalah or (drinking) its milk."
— Imam Ahmad. Abu Dawud.

[AMNA Note:] The jallalah of otherwise halal animals (chicken, cows, camel, etc.) are excluded from being lawful food. Jallalah are those otherwise halal animals which eat impurities, such as animal feed 'enriched' with animal protein, (sometimes from the same species, making them cannibalistic) or with bone meal [pig-derived].)

In this regard, Ibnul-Qayyim says:

"Muslim scholars have unanimously agreed that if the animal is fed on imure fodder (animal feed), then detained and fed on pure food, its meat and milk became lawful. Likewise, if plants and fruits are watered with impure water, ten watered with pure water, they are deemed lawful. Thus, they are no longer deemed impure food because they have been converted to good and lawful food by means of pure water."
— I'lam Al-Muwaqqi'in 1:40

HALAL: Animals

What are the halal animals?

The following animals are halal for eating. This list is not inclusive.

Non-Predatory Birds:
Capon; Chicken; Dove; Duck; Francolin (a partridge); Goose; Heron; Hoopoe (hudhud); Lark; Nightingale; Ostrich; Parrot; Partridge; Peacock; Pigeon; Squab; Quail; Rooster; Sparrow; Starling; Stork

Herbivorous Land Animals:
Antelope; Buffalo; Camel; Caribou; Cow; Deer; Gazelle; Goat; Rabbit; Sheep (lamb); Stag; Wild-Ass such as Zebra (domesticated donkeys are haram according to hadith)

Fish and Seafood*
*Shi'a (Jafari mathhab) limit to fish with scales. Sunni mathahib permit all food from the sea.

The Arabian Locust (hadith on the locust)


Related Topics:
A comparative list of kosher and halal animals
A list of haram animals
Supermarket Meat
Zabihah, the Islamic method of slaughter
The jallalah (impure) of halal animals