Corned Beef and Cabbage Quesadillas

Ingredients:
1/2 lb leftover corned beef, cut into batons
1/2 cup leftover cabbage, sliced into 1/4 inch wide strips
1/2 cup leftover potatoes, sliced thinly
deli style mustard
shredded Irish cheddar
2 flour tortillas


Directions:
Heat a pan large enough for a large tortilla to lay flat. Place one tortilla in the pan and heat until warmed through and slightly browned, flipping once. Repeat. Remove from heat. Sprinkle the cheese on one half of the tortilla. Top with a sprinkle of cheddar, the corned beef, then the potatoes, a few dollops of mustard, top with a sprinkle of cheese. Fold the plain half over to form a half moon. Cook until the cheese has melted, flipping it once, and the both sides are slightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Remove to a plate and cut in half. Repeat for the second torillas. Serve immediately.



Note: If the leftover meat, potato and cabbage are very cold from the refrigerator, microwave them for one minute before assembling the quesadilla. This will help ensure that the food is heated through during the brief cooking time.

My thoughts:

I know what you are thinking. Corned beef and cabbage (and potato!) quesadillas? Really? I made this so I would finally have an answer to the deluge of "what to do with leftover corned beef and cabbage" questions I get each year on the day after St. Patrick's Day. I figured if you get a "German taco" (think: sausage wrapped in a tortilla) at festivals in Texas, I can totally make something Irish-American meets Tex-Mex. And you know what? They are actually really good. The mustard gives it a good kick, and the rest of the ingredients melded well together. Sort of like a toasty grilled cheese with a lot of extras.

Shrimp & Chorizo Quesadilla

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 lb medium shrimp, steamed and peeled
1/2 lb Spanish style chorizo, sliced thinly
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 avocado, sliced
flour tortillas
salsa (optional)


Directions:
Heat a pan large enough for a large tortilla to lay flat. Place one tortilla in the pan and heat until warmed through and slightly browned, flipping once. Repeat. Remove from heat. Sprinkle one tortilla with a thin layer of cheese. Top with a thin layer of spinach. Add the shrimp, avocado and chorizo in a single layer on top of the spinach. Dot with salsa if desired. Sprinkle the whole mixture with more Monterey Jack. Make sure that you get a good sprinkling of cheese on both sides of the filling, this will keep your quesadilla from falling apart. Place the second tortilla on the top of all of this and return it to the pan. Cook until the cheese has melted, spinning it occasionally around the pan with your finger tips, and the bottom is slightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Carefully flip it and cook it on that side for an additional 1 minute. Remove to a large plate and slice (a pizza cutter works well) into wedges and serve with sour cream to dip.



Yield: about 2 quesadillas

My thoughts:

My husband is normally the quesadilla maker in our house but we had some shrimp and chorizo on hand and I remembered a quesadilla I had out years ago that used just those ingredients. Now when Matt makes a quesadilla, he always, always uses homemade refried beans. He was skeptical when I told them I was making a quesadilla sans beans, but I swear, it works. The cheese is all you need for the whole thing to stick together. While I love refried beans on chicken or steak 'dillas. I think they are a little overpowering when you are using shrimp. He also was skeptical about my refusal to saute the chorizo before layering it in, but I really think that is an unnecessary step. Chorizo is already cured and if you slice it thinly, it will cook through while it is sandwiched between the tortilla. Anyway, this is a quick, easy (if somewhat nontraditional) dinner recipe.

I also want to point out that I used Spanish style chorizo, not Mexican chorizo. They are two very different products. Do not substitute one for the other.

Breakfast Quesadillas

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 hot chile pepper*, diced
1 small potato, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
sharp cheddar
flour tortillas**
salsa***




Directions:
Whisk together the eggs and the hot pepper. Scramble in a small pan, leaving large curds. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a small heavy pan, saute the onions, potato and zucchini together in the olive oil. Cover for a few minutes if needed to soften the potatoes and zucchini, then uncover and continue to saute until the potatoes are soft enough to eat. Heat a pan large enough for a large tortilla to lay flat. Place one tortilla in the pan and heat until warmed through and slightly browned, flipping once. Repeat. Remove from heat. Sprinkle the cheese on one half of the tortilla. Top with eggs, then a bit of salsa, then the potato mixture, then a sprinkle of cheese. Fold the plain half over to form a half moon. Cook until the cheese has melted, flipping it once, and the both sides are slightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Remove to a plate and cut in half. Serve immediately.

*I used a green cayenne pepper fresh from our garden.
** Use 4 regular sized tortillas OR two large burrito sized
***Our favorite prepared salsa is Mrs. Renfro's Habenaro

My thoughts:

When my husband lived in Austin, TX (before he moved to the greatest city in America and met me, a period I like to think of as the dark ages) he often had something that is rather foreign to most breakfast sandwich eating East Coasters: the breakfast burrito. The idea of a breakfast burrito seemed a bit much to me and their close cousin, the breakfast taco, too unsubstantial. Then I was flipping though Isabel's Cantina: Bold Latin Flavors from the New California Kitchen by Isabel Cruz and came across a very simple recipe for breakfast quesadillas. Smaller than a burrito, but larger than a taco, it seemed perfect. Her recipe called for not much beyond salsa, eggs and a sprinkle of cheese, but it provided the inspiration I need to create my own more complex (and dare I say more tasty) breakfast quesadilla recipe. I created a quesadilla that that incorporated the potatoes Matt liked from his breakfast burrito days and homegrown zucchini and peppers. I think it would also be good with some spinach or sauteed mushrooms but I only used what is in season right now.

Speaking of my husband, he's on a quest to bring back the cocktail hour with his new blog, Five O'Clock Shakes.

Quesadilla Deliciosa

Ingredients:
For the marinade:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons mango juice
1 Tablespoon tequila
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
5 cloves of garlic
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper*
juice of a lime
juice of half a lemon
freshly ground pepper to taste


Everything else:
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 oz portobello mushroom caps, sliced
8 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
2 cloves garlic
juice form 1/4 lime
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
large flour tortillas
refried beans
shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salsa (optional)
sour cream (for dipping)



*Or for a less spicy marinade, substitute smoked paprika.



Directions:
Marinate the chicken at least one hour or up to one day before you want to make the quesadillas. Put all of the marinade ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Place the chicken in a resealable bag and add the marinade. Refrigerate until you are ready to make the quesadillas. Then, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Saute the chicken (reserving the marinade) until cooked almost cooked through, turning about half way through, about 5 minutes. Then add the marinade into the pan and cook an additional few minutes until it has reduced and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and cut into strips. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the garlic, lime juice and mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are tender.
Heat a pan large enough for a large tortilla to lay flat. Place one tortilla in the pan and heat until warmed through and slightly browned, flipping once. Repeat. Spread one tortilla with a thin layer of refried beans. Top with a thin layer of spinach. Add the sliced chicken, mushrooms in a single layer on top. Dot with salsa if desired. Sprinkle with the shredded cheddar-how much is up to you, but this is the "glue" that will hold the quesadilla together, so this is not the time to be stingy with the cheese. Place the second tortilla on the top of all of this and return it to the pan. Cook until the cheese has melted, spinning it occasionally around the pan with your finger tips, and the bottom is slightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Carefully flip it and cook it on that side for an additional 1 minute. Remove to a large plate and slice (a pizza cutter works well) into wedges and serve with sour cream to dip.

My thoughts:

I am not entirely sure why it has taken so long for me to post a quesadilla recipe. We eat them all the time! Sometimes we make them to use up odds and ends of leftover meat, but frequently we marinate chicken or steak just for quesadillas. It is sort of our fallback meal for those nights when we just can't think of anything to make but they are also good to make for guests, because a lot of the prep work can be done the night before. Matt marinated the chicken and I made the refried beans yesterday, so today, when we had a much anticipated guest for dinner, Matt only had to saute the meat and mushrooms and assemble the quesadillas. Dinner (and watermelon margaritas!) was on the table in minutes. I've noticed that most people do not make quesadillas (and probably not with our startling frequency or variety) at home which makes it a perfect casual dinner for guests; even though it is simple, no one is ever disappointed.