Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas

THIS made a delicious little meal.  I was surprised by how filling it was.  Neither Ben nor I could eat a whole quesadilla.  We both liked the meal, but all that cheese is kind of $$ so we aren't rushing to make it again.  When we do -- I'ld like to add some garlic to the spinach.  And I'd also start by caramelizing half a medium onion.  We just think that'd give a bigger crunch to each bite.  Also, we made cowboy clavier (recipe coming soon) instead of buying a salsa to go with it.  Mistake.  It would have been nice to have a chunky tomato salsa to dip the quesadilla triangles in to. 
  •  3 Tablespoons Butter
  • 16 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced
  • ⅓ cups Sherry Or Wine (we used chicken broth)
  • 3 Tablespoons (additional) Sherry Or Wine (chicken broth)
  • Kosher Salt And Pepper To Taste
  • 1 bag Baby Spinach
  • 12 whole Flour Tortillas (Soft Taco Size)
  • 8 ounces, weight Fontina (or Monterey Jack) Cheese, Grated
  • 3 ounces, weight Goat Cheese (chevre)
  • Extra Butter, For Tortillas
  • Salsa, For Serving
1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet and add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then saute over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, then pour in sherry. Add salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 6 to 8 minutes, or until all liquid is evaporated. Remove mushrooms from skillet and set aside.
2. Return skillet to stovetop and reduce heat to medium-low. Melt additional 1 tablespoons of butter and add a couple of tablespooons of sherry. Add spinach to skillet and stir gently as it wilts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cook for 2 minutes, max. Remove from skillet.
3.To assemble the quesadillas, arrange grated Fontina, spinach, and mushrooms on top of one flour tortilla. Dot with goat cheese. Top with a little more Fontina, then top with second tortilla. Smear softened butter lightly on both sides of the quesadilla, then grill until golden brown and until cheese is totally melted. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
4. Slice quesadillas into four wedges and serve immediately.

Reading over this I realize we made a lot of changes to the recipe.  We used chicken broth instead of wine (which I'm not opposed to cooking with, but we just don't happen to have any).  We used Feta cheese instead of goat, as Ben's stint in France made him dislike goat cheese very much.  I used Ina's inspiration and made a cilantro butter to spread on the tortilla shells, also our shells were bigger than suggested.  Also, we added a little marble cheese just to stretch out the other, more pricey, cheeses.  Anyway, it was delicious and  a bit different than our usual run of the mill meals.  Thank you pioneer woman!  And another thanks to Alton Brown for teaching me the many uses of a pizza cutter.  

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