Sunday Night Cookout, pt i: Cheese and Mushroom Quesadillas

I haven't quite got around to cleaning off the grill yet this spring, but that didn't stop me from the 1st installment of Sunday Night Cookouts.  Recipe is below the fold.

Salsa Verde:

• 10 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 2 serrano peppers (seeded or not depending on taste)
• 2 T freshly chopped cilantro
• 1/4 heaping cup of very finely chopped white onion
• salt to taste (I usually use about 1/2 tsp)

Turn your broiler on to hi.  Cover your tomatillos and peppers with 1-2 T of veggie oil and roast for 5 minutes on each side in a 8 x 8 glass dish.  Pull out of the oven, let cool, and do not discard the juice.  Once cool, transfer contents into a blender and pulse on a low setting with 1/4 cup water until you have a chunky puree.  Pour contents into a serving bowl and gently stir in onion, salt, and cilantro.  Season with more salt to taste.  Set aside.  When you are finished, your mixture should look like this:

Cheese and Mushroom Quesadillas:

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into small cubes (you can also used pulled chicken from a store-bought rotisserie)
• 1 cup roughly chopped mushrooms
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• garlic salt to taste
• onion powder to taste
• s&p
• 2 cups Mexican melting cheese (I like quesillo)
  

Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add 2 T lard.  Add chicken and cook 3/4 of the way through before adding the mushrooms.  Cook for one minute and then add garlic salt, onion powder, and s&p.  Cook for 3-5 minutes and add the cilantro.  Stir for 1 minute, remove from heat, and drain any excess liquid. 

Preparing the final meal:

Heat 4-6 large tortillas in between 2 wet paper towels in the microwave for 1 minute.  Spoon 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture onto 1/2 of each tortilla.  Next, take 1 cup of sour cream and gradually stir in 1 T of salsa verde in at a time until you reach a desired level of hotness.  Spoon 1-2 T of salsa cream mixture over the chicken before sprinkling a pinch or two of melting cheese over the top of the chicken and cream.  Fold over the tortilla and immediately place on the grill.  In this case, I had to use a cast iron skillet in the oven at 400 degrees.  I grilled each side for 5-6 minutes.  Upon taking the quesadilla out of the oven, I sprinkled a few drops of cream over the top and served it with homemade refried beans and the world's greatest iced tea, South Indian Iyerpadi OP from the Tea Source.  It is also good with a lite Mexican beer with a twist of lime. 

Enjoy.  Next week we're talking about having a Korean BBQ.  I'll also have a full run down of the Stop-n-Pop family's yearly Red, White, and Blues BBQ on Memorial Day.  Smoked meat, blues, Memphis soul, and Bocce Ball.  This year I'm bringing a dish made of chopped smoked pork on a bed of Fritos, baked beans, and chopped onion served with coleslaw and creamy greens. 

I forgot....since you always need to have good music with your good food, here's a little Guillermo Klein for your grilled cheese and mushroom quesadillas:

I couldn't find a YouTube of La Ultima (off of Una Nave), but you get the picture.  We also listened to a bit of Omara Portuondo:

Until later.