So last night we were out and about, and it got to be dinnertime. And we were starving. And there was a Chipotle's right there. And there were Really Good Smells wafting about.
However, we are trying to limit our eating out. Also, last time I ate Chipotle's and the baby (by extension) ate Chipotle's, we were all very unhappy for a couple days.
So we went home and had pretty much the awesomest quesadillas ever of all time. This was how we did it.
1. We fried up some bell pepper and onion strips in a bit of oil very high, so they got soft and pleasantly charred.
2. We grated a generous amount of cheddar.
3. We took our leftover whole chicken, and removed some of its good meat from the bones and cut it into smallish bits.
4. We layered tortilla, cheese, chicken, onions-and-bell-peppers, more cheese, and a tortilla on top.
Now came the tricky part. Jonathan got out our turkey-roasting pan with the little removable grill bars, sprayed bars and pan with nonstick spray, and stuck it in the oven under the broiler for five or ten minutes until it was smoking impressively. Then we took it out, turned the oven down to 350, dropped the quesadillas onto the bars, and poked it back in the oven until the tortillas were very slightly toasted and the cheese was all melted - about five minutes.
Served with salsa, they were amazing. Next time, we are going to make guacamole too, and then they'll be almost indescribable. :-)
Incidentally, I've cross-posted this over at Rational Pie.
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3 comments:
This sounds really good. Scotland does not understand Mexican food, by the way, either authentic or Americanized, so I've missed it, though I've been able to make some Mexican food myself. If you get something that claims to be Mexican here it is usually far too mild; for example, when I bought a packet of chili seasoning to make chili con carne I had to add about half a tablespoon of cayenne to make it halfway spicy.
There's a company called Discovery Foods that has started putting "Mexican" food into grocery stores in the last few months, but their products vary in ability to fill the gap--their medium salsa is, like most salsa here, milder than mild in the U.S. It might have something to do with using hardly any jalapenos in the recipe.
While I'm on the subject, do you have any awesome ideas for recipes involving refried beans and tortillas? Aldi is a grocery store here that brings in a load of products with a particular theme for one-day sales on Thursdays and Sundays, and the other week they had a Mexican theme; as it was the first time I had seen refried beans for sale in St. Andrews, I got some. I haven't made up my mind what to do with them yet, except that it will involve the tortillas I have sitting around.
I'm glad you can get tortillas and refried beans now! That would be something I'd really miss.
Hmm. You could make a good burrito, taco, quesadilla, or tostada with them, depending what kind of tortillas you've got (flour or corn?). I'd layer it with cheddar and either ground or shredded and spiced beef, and put it in whatever shape tortilla you like, and top it off with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and your best salsa. It's hard to go wrong that way.
For the spiced shredded beef, lately I've been crock-potting a roast with a chipotle dip mix. I just sprinkle the dip seasoning on it as it cooks in a little liquid, and then shred it with two forks when it's done. For ground beef I'd fry it up with onions, no special seasoning.
Refried beans are also good warmed by themselves, or with a bit of shredded cheese on top.
What kind of kitchen and cookingware do you have there?
Thanks for the suggestions. My family has been here visiting me, so I haven't had time to respond before this. I have part of a package of shredded cheese that they left with me, as well as a few other things, so I think I'll do some variant on the layered idea you suggested first.
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