Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Roasted Garlic Quesadillas

I've made tortillas a couple of times, about 5 years ago. So, I thought I'd try making tortillas again. Maybe I'll try it again in 5 more years. I'd roll 'em out so thin, but when I put it on the griddle, they'd shrink up and be thick. They weren't really too thick, but I wanted them perfect, you know? And round. They definitely were not round. I also had some uncooked tortillas (you buy them raw and cook them yourself, and they are soooo good!), so I used them too. Then I made roasted garlic. I didn't actually roast a whole chicken, though. I cheated and bought a rotisserie chicken.

I remember making something similar to this a couple of years ago. Whenever I think of adding roasted garlic to a quesadilla, I get excited and imagine my family eating it and falling to their knees, overwhelmed with the beauty of the experience, praising my name forevermore. Somehow, that didn't happen last time, and it didn't happen this time. They liked it ok. Just ok! What in the H E double hockeysticks did I make homemade tortillas for??!!! Its a good recipe, but I guess it isn't spectacular. I liked it, though!

I used Cabot Extra Sharp Vermont White Cheddar (our everyday cheese, its so good!), but I imagine that this recipe would be better with Tillamook brand Pepper Jack.

Ok, guess which picture is of my homemade tortilla, and which is raw storebought, but cooked by me. I'll tell you at the end of the post.
Quesadilla #1

Quesadilla #2


Ok, the recipe: Its pretty simple to make, and definitely nothing too fancy.

Roasted Garlic Quesadillas
1 1/2 cups chicken, shredded or chopped (I used a deboned rotisserie chicken)
juice of one lime
1 teaspoon cumin
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 heads roasted garlic
shredded cheese (cheddar or pepper jack)
tortillas

Combine the chicken, lime, cumin, green onioin, and cilantro in a skillet and heat through (with a little olive oil if you want or need it). Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a small bowl, squeeze out the garlic from the cloves and mash to make a paste.

Heat a skillet and add a little olive oil.

Assemble the quesadillas:

Spread the paste thinly on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and top with chicken. I only put the chicken on 1/2 the tortilla, but put the cheese and garlic thinly on the whole tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half and toast in the skillet, about a minute or two on each side, til cheese is melted.

I served this with a mixture of chopped tomato, green onion and cilantro. If I were to do it again, I'd chop the tomatoes finer, more like a salsa. I think avocado and/or sour cream would be excellent also.

Ok, I made the tortilla in picture #1. I only cooked the tortilla in picture #2.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

yummy. I will have to try and roast some garlic soon.

Anonymous said...

Oooh... looks absolutely tasty! Lovely photo!... so tempting :)