Cinco de Quesadilla

It’s Cinco de Mayo time in the food blogosphere so I figured why not throw my contribution in the hat too? I am Hispanic after all, and it would give me a good opportunity to show off my latin flare.

….

Haha, Ok, that was funny.

Yes, I am Puerto Rican, no, I am not Mexican. Although, some people who work for my wife might not understand those differences: “So what made you marry a Mexican?” Haha, I lol’d hard.

Anyway, just because I’m Puerto Rican doesn’t mean I’m loaded with latin flavor and suave. I’m sorry to burst your piñata but I’m probably the whitest, most Americanized Puerto Rican you’ll ever meet. I love Southern comfort food, I listen to rock music, I could make some salsa but I can’t dance it without tripping over my feet – matter of fact, I wouldn’t know rhythm if it kneed me in my maracas. Not to mention that I voluntarily moved from the Hispanic melting pot that is Central Florida, to a small, Where-The-Eff-Are-We-This-Place-Isn’t-Even-On-The-Map! town in North Carolina. Which I’m sure you’d be surprised to know, isn’t exactly known for its Hispanic population. I mean, do you know how flipping excited I get when I see a car with a Puerto Rican flag dangling on the rear view mirror?! You’d think I just saw a cat in a shark costume chasing a duck while riding a roomba.

But I’m going way off track. Point is, don’t expect the upper hand here because I’m Latin and this is a Hispanic holiday. Yeah, I have a few tricks up my sleeve and may know how to make one mean Pernil (Roasted Pork Shoulder), and I even have a success rate of 85% when it comes to making rice (85%!!), but don’t let it fool you, I’m no master chef of Latin cuisine.

With all that said, I’m fairly novice at making quesadillas, but I have my years in the hotel to thank for that. This is a chicken quesadilla that we always served, spiced up with my secret ingredient – The Sauce!

Remember The Sauce? You may have heard about it a few posts ago. Whenever I make The Sauce I look forward to making quesadillas because the flavor that it adds is simply spectacular. You have the chicken, together with the spicy kick of the cheese, balanced out with the sweetness of the onions and the addictive sweet kick from The Sauce… It’s really everything you ever wanted in a flour tortilla.

Chicken Quesadillas

6 each ~ 10 inch Flour Tortillas
18 slices ~ Pepperjack Cheese
1 pound ~ Deli Chicken, Sliced

Caramelized Onions

The Sauce

Notes:

I used sliced chicken from the deli. It’s easier to lay it down and cover the tortilla evenly, not to mention it makes putting everything together even simpler.
I’ve also made this with grilled chicken breasts cut thinly. Chicken is chicken no matter how it’s sliced so go whichever way you like.
Originally, we put chopped roasted red and green peppers in these bad boys. I would’ve done that now since I like the flavor, but I guess I don’t like the flavor that much since I didn’t remember to buy the dumb peppers at the store.
Yup, The Sauce again! If you haven’t noticed, I really want you to make this stuff.
The caramelized onions are basically the only work that has to be done in this meal. Everything else is just constructing. Like I said in the post that I conveniently made a few days ago, they also keep really well in the fridge so you can make them days before meaning the only thing you really have to do to make quesadillas is get up off your ass and go to the kitchen.

Alright, let’s dive deep into the complicated process that is making quesadillas:

The way I suggest constructing them is to lay out as many flour tortillas as you can and make an assembly line. Put down 2 slices of cheese on one half of the tortilla, and then lay a nice blanket of sliced chicken on top of the cheese. After that, take some of the caramelized onions and spread them around over the chicken, then top it off with another slice of cheese cut in half. Next, using a spoon, drizzle some of The Sauce on to your pile of goodness.

And seriously, that’s it. If you did it right, which I really hope you are able to process the loads of information that I just threw at you, then you should have a round tortilla half full (or half empty depending on how you’re feeling that day). So just fold over the empty half and the hard part is over.

Now to cook them.

Get something big. Something you could fit at least one of them on. If you have a flattop griddle, turn that sucker on. Turn on the heat, add a little oil, and once the surface gets hot add the quesadillas and cook until it gets GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious if you’re not paying attention). Once the desired color is achieved, flip it over until the other side matches and everything is melted and heated through.

And that be that. Cut them however you want or don’t cut them at all, up to you. Like I said, the flavor is so everywhere with the spicy cheese and the sweet onions and sauce. Once you start, you won’t want to stop eating.