The rain has started in Seattle, Dallas Cowboys games are well under way, and I am now craving the flavors of home in Texas --- I recently cooked up an Ashmore family treat...
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From http://www.mickeyashmore.blogspot.com/ (my other blog),
Gathering the Ingredients:
Yesterday (Christmas Eve) we drove down into the Mexican part of Dallas to La Hacienda super market - a Mexican market that sells hard-to-find Mexican products to Dallas' Latino community. Shopping at La Hacienda is a great experience - and compared to Whole Foods, a bargain. Speaking Spanish is a major plus and if you go around lunchtime, sample some dishes at in-store Taqueria. We went to purchase several of the the dish's main ingredients:
- freshly-made corn tortillas
- panela and queso fresco (two white mexican cheeses that come in large blocks or circles. They are soft, moist and very mild with a crumbly texture. Neither melt very well, which provides a unique texture to quesadilla although not traditional. That is why we love it! We use La Vaquita brand Queso Fresco.
- a bunch of cilantro
- roasted raspberry chipotle sauce
--> We use Fischer & Wieser's "The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce" (read more about it below)
- apple smoked bacon (fried crispy)
- chopped seranno peppers
1. Tear apart cilantro but keep leaves intact
2. finely chop seranno peppers
3. Fry bacon very crispy (save a bit of the grease for quesadilla griddle and to make really good eggs on the side) and set aside
4. Use cheese slicer to cut slice panela and/or queso fresco
To Make Quesadilla (before grilling):
1. Set one corn tortilla on a plate
2. Cover with single later of queso fresco or panela
3. Drizzle on rasperberry chipotle sauce (don't go too crazy)
4. Tear one piece of crisp bacon into three or four pieces and lay across sauce and cheese
5. Add a few leaves of cilanto and three of four pieces of Seranno pepper(beware of heat)
6. Drizzle on a touch more raspberry chipotle sauce and a squeeze of lime
7. Top with another corn tortilla
Cooking Recipe:
2. Once it is very hot, place the quesadilla on the griddle
3. Let it sit until crispy on one side and flip (wait)
4. Once both sides are crispy, remove from the griddle and enjoy... (we always cut the quesadilla into quarters and serve)
Get 'Em While Their Hot
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Fischer & Wieser's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
This specialty, gourmet sauce was created by two German families from Fredericksburg, Texas (in the Hill Country). The sauce won them widespread recognition and can be found in gourmet grocery stores all across the country and also on their website, http://www.jelly.com/., for $8.95 per bottle. Here is a description from the site:
The sweetness of the fresh raspberries is the perfect contrast to the spicy smoke of the chipotle pepper. This award winning sauce is delicious with any meat, fish or fowl. Also great right out of the jar and poured over a soft cheese and served with crackers.
F&W sells a variety of other gourmet products - all of which are made from the highest quality ingredients and often come directly from their farms.
Queso Fresco and Panela Cheese
To make queso fresco, milk is curdled, salted, and lightly pressed. The aging process for the cheese is very brief, usually no more than a few days, and then the cheese is sent to market. It is very similar to cheeses known as pot, basket or famers cheese and reminds me a lot of the Indian paneer or a very mild feta cheese. It is almost always made from cow's milk.
We also bought and use fresh Panela cheese - similar to queso fresco, Panela reminds me of greek feta cheese that reminds me of a high-moisture mozarella that does not necessarily melt under high heat.
Due to their crumbly nature, both of these cheeses are typicaly used to crumble over black beans, soups, and salads.
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