May

Quesadillas

There are many different interpretations of what a quesadilla is; to me, a quesadilla is simply cheese melted in a tortilla, with all kinds of variations depending on what’s on hand, and how ambitious I am.

According to Wikipedia, “the word comes from Spanish, and literally means “little cheesy thing” or “cheesy” (from queso, or “cheese”, + ada, an adjectival suffix, + illa, a diminutive suffix).”

In restaurants in Chicago, quesadillas are usually served in flour tortillas, but I prefer corn, and most restaurants will honor that request. One of my children prefers corn, the other flour, so when I make them at home, I use both.

We have a great selection of tortillas in Chicago, and my favorite brand is El Milagro, especially the corn ones in the paper bag. They are amazingly good and fresh — often the packages are still warm when I buy them at my local grocery store. Yum! If I had a Website of awesome things, getting tortillas that are still warm in their paper package would be one of them.

Quesadillas are a quick and easy meal for kids, and you can use any kind of melting cheese. I usually use Monterey Jack, but Cheddar cheese is good, and there are many Mexican cheeses I’ve tried that are excellent.

Here is my basic recipe.

Corn or other vegetable oil - 1/2 Tblsp for cooking 2-4 tortillas
Tortillas - corn or flour, taco-sized
Cheese - Monterey Jack or any kind of melting cheese, shredded or sliced, enough to cover half of the tortilla as thickly as you prefer

Pour oil into frying pan and heat over medium heat for 1-2 minutes
Place cheese in half of the tortilla to form a semicircle of cheese
Place the cheese-filled tortilla in the pan. There are several ways to do this:

I usually cook a few at a time, and lay the cheese-filled half of the tortilla on the pan, with the top (cheeseless) half of the tortilla leaning against the side of the fry pan. I can cook 3 at a time in a large fry pan this way (good when kids are all hungry at once and need to eat NOW!) Then, when the cheese is mostly melted, fold the top part over it and flip it and cook for a few more minutes.
Another way (cooking one at a time) is to simply lay the tortilla flat in the pan and put cheese in the middle; fold in half when all the cheese is melted.
You can also simply place the cheese-stuffed tortilla in a microwave and cook until the cheese melts. This is best done with a flour tortilla, as they are more plyable.

Serving Tips:

You can add other fillings to the cheese, such as sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms or peppers, fresh cilantro, black beans, refried pinto or black beans, cooked chorizo… use your imagination!
Serve with salsa and/or guacamole