Ancho Chile Shrimp Quesadillas

I've always found that quesadillas are either hit or miss.  I've had good quesadillas and I've had really crappy - like, watery quesadillas.

And this is actually one thing that I don't make very often - even though I really like quesadillas.  But, for whatever reason - I just never seem to get around to having them.

And then, one night, on a whim I just decided that I couldn't go another second without trying these quesadillas from the Homesick Texan.

Sometimes that happens.

Now - Lisa's original recipe calls for an actual ancho chile - buuuuuut....  They aren't that readily available in the city where I live.

Isn't there some kind of quote about improvisation?  Along the lines of mother of invention?  I can't remember.

Never mind.  Let's get on to these quesadillas.

First - you're going to start with the shrimp and make a marinade.

Now - because I didn't have an actual ancho chile I substituted 1 Tablespoons anch chile powder.

I combined everything into the blender and whirled it all together so that it would emulsify.

Then I poured it into a Ziploc bag.

You guys.  The smell in there.  I could make a vat of this and just - swim around.

Then add the shrimp and squoosh it around so that it's coated with the marinade.

Now - these DO take some planning because the shrimp need to languish in this marinade for between 2 and 8 hours.  Believe me - it's worth it.

Then get the filling bits ready.

That just means shredding some cheese and chopping some cilantro.

Then, when the shrimp has languished for as long as you can possibly wait, melt some butter in a pan.

Confession - Lisa's recipe wasn't really clear about this.  It's says to "toss with the pan sauce" - but I didn't have any "pan sauce".  So I threw in the shrimp when the pan was hot and added in the marinade at the same time.

I'm still here so it's probably fine to do that.  I honestly have no idea if that's strictly food safe or if I have guts like a hyena.

Once the shrimp was cooked, I removed it from the pan and cut each shrimp in half.

Then I returned it to the pan to keep it warm.  I split the shrimp as much as I could for each quesadilla.

So, at this point, you could just put a small tortilla on a pan over medium heat to start heating it over, add the shrimp, cheese, and cilantro, put the second tortilla on top and flip it to melt the cheese......  OR.  You could do this.

And I kind of INSIST that you do this.  Arteries be damned.

Melt some butter in a pan over medium heat.  When it's hot, add the first tortilla and cook it for about 30 seconds.

Then add the cheese.  One ounce of each kind.

Add 1/4 of the chopped shrimp.

And some cilantro.  There's a lot on that shrimp and it was totally fine.

While this is happening, I recommend heating more butter in a separate pan over medium heat, cook the second tortilla on one side for 30 seconds, flip and cook for another 30 - 45 seconds.

Take the second tortilla, place it over top of the shrimp.

And serve.

Oh. my. GAWD.  I can barely tell you how much I loved these quesadillas.

Wanna know WHY I insisted that you make these MY WAY?

The tortillas kind of get flakey and fluffy and wonderful.  They literally go from being discs of flour tortilla to these leavened morsels of heaven.

Nevermind that they're slathered in butter.

I loved, LOVED, these..  They're simple and straightforward, but you could dress them up with jalapeno and bacon (these were actually noted on Lisa's original recipe) - but with the flavour from the marinade and the cilantro, you don't really need it.  At least I didn't.  I didn't even bother with sour cream or salsa!

And the cheese.  You could use whatever cheese you want to - but Monterey Jack is beautiful for melting and the Muenster cheese offsets the Monterey's sweetness with is salty tart flavour.

I could go on and on.

Also - I'm completely obsessed with ancho chile seasoning.  I love the smoky sweetness of it.  I've used it in other recipes and I am totally enraptured.

I hope you fall as deeply in love with ancho chile powder as I have.  And that you love these cheesy, smoky, sweet quesadillas as much as me.  

I've probably had them 10 times.

xoxo - Heather

Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole

Oh my HECK we have been through some amazing Winter weather and then some NOT SO NICE weather which deserves language that I will not use here.  I shouldn't complain - I don't think it was below -15 degrees C until late December.

And if you follow this blog, you know that I love heavy, hearty comfort food when the weather turns eVIL.

(Name that movie)

And this recipe fits that bill.

Now - the title either drew you in because you thought "Ew.  Heather." or because you were legitimately intrigued.

And the list of ingredients - well.  If you have a food/nutrition coach you may want to look away.  They will lower ALL your macros just for LOOKING at this.

Okay - it might not be THAT bad.  

Cook the beef until ALMOST fully browned and then add the onion, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Cook until the beef is cooked through and the onions are translucent. 

The original recipe didn't call for onion - but I thought it would be a fantastic addition. 

Drain off the fat.

Stir in the soups.  The recipe I used called for cream of mushroom, but I.....  am somewhat particular about mushrooms.  So I used cream of celery instead.

Then spread the beef mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  

Then spread the fries over top of the beef mixture and bake until the fries are crispy.

Remove the casserole from the oven and cover with cheese.  (I always recommend a little extra!).  Bake some more until the cheese is melted.

You can't tell - but I'm doing a smile and nod every time I get to this part.  This casserole was so GOOD!  It was cheesy and kind of creamy and stuck to my ribs and was everything that I expected from cold weather comfort food.

And - not to be a Debbie Downer - but when my grandmother passed away this summer, one of my Auntie and Uncle's friends dropped a pan of this off for them.  I only got leftovers, but I have to say that it was EXCELLENT as leftovers.  In addition to calling this comfort food, I would also now consider it soul food.

I also think that the recipe is fairly versatile.  You could change this up with different kinds of soup.  I used a Mexican blend cheese because that's what I happened to have in the fridge - but you could use any cheese blend.  You could also shred up some carrots so that you can sneak in some veggies for the kiddos.  Or use curly fries instead of regular fries.  The possibilities are endless..

I like it plain jane just the way it is.

I hope it finds its way into your cold weather recipe rotation.

You could serve it with a salad or other veggies so that you don't send your nutrition coach into a complete meltdown event.

xoxo - Heather