Quesadillas de Papa y Chorizo

Potato and Chorizo Quesadillas.


Melbourne has had its first round of glorious spring weather this week, and the buffalo has emerged sluggishly from its self induced hibernation (buffalo's do that sort of thing, right?), bringing with it untold mysteries from another world. I guess you could say this is just the recipe for the Mexican version of a snag in bread, but unfortunately for weekend Bunnings enthusiasts there shall not be a sausage sizzle in sight.

Quesadillas are just essentially sandwiches that can be filled with any assortment of fillings. They can be an elegant entrée or a quick lunch on the go. This particular recipe is somewhere inbetween, perfect party food to go down great with a cold beer.

POTATO AND CHORIZO QUESADILLAS

makes 4

2 large desiree potatoes, cubed
1 L chicken stock
1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
2 large, fresh (uncooked) chorizo, skins removed
200 g can of chillies in adobo
1 lime, juiced
300 g jack cheese, grated
8 large soft corn torillas
100 g queso fresco

place potato in stock and parsley stalks (reserving the leaves) in a large saucepan. bring to the boil and let simmer until soft. remove potato and let cool slightly.

whiz chillies, adobo, and lime juice in a blender until smooth, adding up to 2 tbs of water if it becomes too think. set aside.

meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat and cook the chorizo until golden, breaking up with a wooden spoon.

divide half of the jack cheese among 4 tortillas. crumble potato over, top with chorizo, the remaining jack cheese and remaining tortillas.

heat a frypan over medium heat and pan-fry quesadillas in batches for three minutes, or until each side is golden.

cut into wedges, drizzle with chipotle salsa and top with queso fresco and parsley.

Guacamole

Holy Guacamole.

A great guacamole is so simple to make, it's a real shame that people don't ever bother to make it in their own home. Instead, it's pretty common in Australia to find people replacing this rich, chunky and fresh mole with some kind of bland, dull green paste. Nothing could infuriate me more. The intent of this post is to inspire people to never ever again buy guacamole out of a tube, but instead use fresh and readily available ingredients and take some time to make it at home. After making it a couple of times, a recipe wont be needed because you should have a good feel for the flavours you're trying to evoke, and it only takes about less than five minutes to whip together; great for unexpected company. 

Meet Napoleon.

Fresh ingredients is of the utmost importance. Second is this super-awesome, lava-rock mortar and pestle that is traditionally used to make salsas and moles, called a molcajete. To top things off, mine is even in the shape of a pig. It even came partially seasoned, which means that the rock has been ground to a smoother consistency to prevent pieces of grit left in the food you're preparing. A quick google search on how to season a molcajete brings up about a hundred horror stories, all basically like this: X buys a cheap molcajete from Y, and hours of use later it's still shedding grit. Many homewares and department stores selling molcajetes make them out of cheap concrete, which is too soft to actually be used for grinding spices and herbs, so are essentially just a centre piece. The real thing is excessively heavy, made out of basalt and should sparkle a tiny bit in the sun.

Back to the guacamole. It can be used for pretty much anything; fillings for tacos, toppings for quesadillas or just served or its own with a fresh batch of warm tortilla chips, which is usually best because the molcajete is also a great way to serve food.

Action shot.

GUACAMOLE

chunky avocado dip

Serves 8

for the chile paste

1/2         brown onion, finely chopped

2     tbs   fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

2           jalapeno, finely chopped

1     tsp   rock salt

for the rest

3           hass avocado, halved + pitted

1           tomato, diced

2     tbs   fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

1/2         brown onion, finely chopped

1           lime (optional)

grind onion, cilantro, jalapeno and salt together in a molcajete until all ingredients are finely ground.

hold avocados in the palm of your hand and make 4 lengthwise cuts, followed by a few diagonal cuts, ensuring not to cut through the avocado skin. scoop out diced avocado into molcajete.

gently fold the avocado into the paste, trying to keep the chunks as large as possible. add tomato, cilantro and onion and fold in gently.

serve in the molcajete with toritilla chips, and a squeeze lime if desired

MOL-CA-HET-EY

Sweet Empanadas

Empanadas.

Bowl of Delicious.

They're the black sheep of pastries, halfway between a calzone and a dirty milk-bar pastie. They're usually chock full of some sort of meat and veg mix and either baked or fried until golden. In this recipe I took the classic shape of an empanada and changed it into a sweet, delicate bite-sized snack using cream cheese for the pastry and fruit preserves and hazelnut chocolate for the filling.

The fun thing about this recipe is the variety of fillings you can put into the centre and reaching into a huge bowl of assorted flavours. It reminds me of biting into Clinkers at Christmas time, trying to guess which flavour you're going to discover next. For the filling you can use jam, marmalade, nutella, fruit, nuts and anything else that will fit, just make sure to seal them well, because when heated up most filling will trickle through the tiniest of gaps. When you make these empanadas you have to go all out and make a massive batch to share while they're still warm from the oven.

SWEET EMPANADAS

Makes about 50

1 cup butter, softened

175 g cream cheese

2 cup white flour, sifted

2 cup fillings

2/3 cup castor sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

cream butter + cream together, until smoothly blended. Beat in flour + shape dough into a smooth ball. Wrap in cling wrap + refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours.

remove dough from fridge 30 mins before baking + preheat oven to 190C.

roll dough thin + cut with 7-10cm circle cookie cutter. place small spoonful of filling in centre of each, moisten edges with water, fold + press edges together. bake for 15-20 mins, then roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Elotes Callejeros

Char-grilled Corn with Cheese and Lime.

Elotes Callejeros.

The first time I ever had Elotes Callejeros was from  Mamasita's on Collins Street. It was the first time I had ever tasted Mexican food that didn't come from a box and it really inspired me to start investigating and cooking beyond the sloppy Tex-Mex  clichés of Old El Paso and Taco Bill. Being the start of my Mexican journey, it's fitting that this simple corn starter is also my first blog post.

This recipe requires a bit of investigation and discovery when looking for ingredients such as the dried chillies and cheese, but every time I make these I have no doubt that all the hard work eventually pays off. Essentially, the spice mix and chipotle mayonnaise can be made days in advance and will usually keep for about a week, which means that with proper planning these could be easily put together for a party or just a quick snack.

The chillies and spices in this dish are essential, but if keflograveria is not available it is pretty easily substituted with a mild parmesan. 

Ingredients.

  

ELOTES CALLEJEROS

chargrilled corn with cheese and lime

Makes 8

4           corn cobs with husks

½     tsp   cayenne pepper

1     tsp   smoked paprika (pimenton)

½     tsp   cumin seeds, toasted

2     tsp   pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted

2           limes, zested + wedges to serve

2           dried pasilla chillies, seeds removed + toasted

1           dried guajillo chilli, seeds removed + toasted

½     cup   chipotle mayonnaise

100   g     kefalograviera cheese, finely grated

bring a large pan of salted boiling water to the boil. cook corn in husks for 20 mins until tender. Drain, remove husks + cool.

meanwhile, grind spices, pepitas, zest, chillies + 2 tbs salt in a mortar + pestle into a coarse powder.

heat a chargrill pan on medium-high heat. grill corn for 6-8 mins, turning until lightly charred. halve the cobs, insert a skewer into one end to hold, brush with mayonnaise, roll in cheese and sprinkle with spice mix.

serve with lime.

I've tried a few different recipes for chipotle mayonnaise, but the best one is definitely the simplest. The most important thing is for the mayonnaise to be a nice creamy consistency and keep the smoky flavors of the chipotle chillies. 

Mayonnaise ingredients.

  

CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE

makes 2 cups

6           dried chipotle chillies, torn into pieces

3           egg yolks

1           lime, juiced

1     tbs   cider vinegar

1     cup   sunflower oil

1     cup   olive oil

      soak chillies in 1 cup warm water for 20 mins, drain and whiz in a food processor until smooth. set aside.

      blend yolks, juice + vinegar, then, with motor running, add the oils in a thin stream until the mixture blends to a thicker consistency. add blended chipotle. If the mixtures seems too thick, add a tablespoon of water and whiz one last time.

The final product.

The fresh and exciting flavours of Mexican food can seem a world away, but all that's really required are some investigative skills and a bit of persistence. The dried chillies and pimenton found in this recipe can be bought from South American staple Casa Iberica, the kefalograviera cheese is available from gourmet delis and don't forget to check out Mamasita's on Collins Street.

casaibericadeli.com.au
www.mamasita.com.au