Peggy Lampman's Saturday dinnerFeed: Mango quesadillas
This recipe (stuffing store-bought flour tortillas, then frying, sandwich-style) is technically a sincronizada. I am fully aware that calling this sincronizda a quesadilla could be opening up a tequila bottle full of worms. Nevertheless, I defer to Americanized menu nomenclature and proceed.
The two techniques required with this recipe are turning the quesadilla over without splattering grease and slicing the fried tortilla without it crumbling. I use tongs (and my other hand) to safely turn the tortilla over when it is nicely browned on one side. You may find a long spatula works best. (It may be easier if you remove the tortilla from the heat so it doesn’t burn when performing the quesadilla flip.) Likewise, it is important to use a very sharp knife when slicing the quesidilla into wedges. A dull knife could cause the cheese mixture to "splooge" out and quesidilla to crumble.Whole Foods is selling fresh mangos through the weekend for $.75 each. That’s where I purchased my fig-enhanced spreadable goat cheese, though it was not on sale. Substituting jalapeno jack cheese for the goat cheese and chopped jalapeno is a fine, less costly idea, as would be adding chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice to the cheese mixture. If I had boiled shrimp on hand, I would slice them horizontally and press into the cheese, alternating with mango wedges. Maybe next week.
Yield: 10-12 wedges Time: 30 minutes Cost: apx. $9.00
Ingredients
4 (8 -inch) flour tortillas,white or wheat 5 tablespoons spreadable goat cheese* (fruit-enhanced goat cheese, if available) 3 tablespoons cream cheese 2 tablespoons diced red pepper, divided 1 tablespoon poblano or jalapeno pepper, divided 1 tablespoon diced red onion, divided 2 mangos, peeled and thinly sliced; reserve one small chunk and dice for garnish Canola oil, as needed
Directions
1. With a fork, mash together goat cheese and cream cheese. Stir in 1 tablespoon diced red pepper, 1/2 tablespoon diced poblano or jalapeno and half a tablespoon of diced red onion. 2. Make a fresh salsa garnish with remaining diced red pepper, diced poblano or jalapeno, diced red onion and diced mango. 3. Evenly spread cheese mixture on two tortillas. Fan mango slices over cheese mixture. and top with remaining tortillas. 4. In a large sauté pan, heat 1-2 tablespoon oil to medium-high heat. Fry quesadillas 1-2 minutes each side, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly, then with your sharpest knife, slice into wedges. Garnish with fresh salsa and serve warm.
Comments
Peggy Lampman
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 6:53 a.m.
thanks dawn-i'll keep my eye out for the peppers-i'm thinking i'll stuff them with goat cheese and bake them--i think goat cheese would complement the flavor of those peppers well. peggy
Foodie01
Sun, Aug 16, 2009 : 12:33 p.m.
Peggy, I got my peppers from my yard but I'm sure serranos and Anaheims are at the market -- GardenWorks usually has them, but they're pretty common. You could sub jalapenos for the serranos and hungarians or hot or mild bananas for the Anaheims -- whatever pepper pops up, basically. I sauteed the peppers and corn to give them more of a roasty taste.
Peggy Lampman
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 7:57 a.m.
Thanks for your comments. It's really one of my favorite hot night vegetarian recipes. Susan--where did you get your sprouted grain tortillas? Great tip about the local goat cheese sold at Whole Foods! Dawn--are the anaheims and serranos available at the Farmers Market? Peggy
susan
Mon, Aug 10, 2009 : 7:32 a.m.
I made this on Sunday night. OMG! The only thing I did differently was to use sprouted grain tortillas and everyone in my family loved them. A great way to include vegetarian meals in our diets. They sell Zingermans fresh goat cheese at Whole Foods too!
Foodie01
Sun, Aug 9, 2009 : 5:42 p.m.
As good as this recipe looks, I hate to suggest using mangoes at this time of year: I want to focus on what's fresh, in season and local. Last weekend, I made quesadillas with corn (from the farmers market) and peppers (Anaheims and serranos from our back yard) and they were outstanding. This recipe I'll save for Cinco de Mayo when I can't get such good local produce.
Jennifer Shikes Haines
Sat, Aug 8, 2009 : 6:14 p.m.
This looks like like a lovely summer dinner. I've sometimes found that using a pizza cutter can work nicely with this treatment of quesadillas.
susan
Sat, Aug 8, 2009 : 7:43 a.m.
This looks delicious and super easy! I know what we're having tonight for dinner.!!! I have been getting mangos from Whole Foods for some time as they have been on sale for a 1.00. Thanks for letting us know that they are now selling for $.75!!! AND, thank you for your wonderful, easy, and delicious recipes. I have been telling all my friends and clients to check you out on A2news.com! The grilled chicken with plum salsa was a huge hit at my house the other night and also no time to prepare!
susan
Sat, Aug 8, 2009 : 7:30 a.m.
This looks delicious and super easy! I know what we're having tonight for dinner.!!! I have been getting mangos from Whole Foods for some time as they have been on sale for a 1.00. Thanks for letting us know that they are now selling for $.75!!! AND, thank you for your wonderful, easy, and delicious recipes. I have been telling all my friends and clients to check you out on A2news.com! The grilled chicken with plum salsa was a huge hit at my house the other night and also no time to prepare!