Mexican Quesadillas

I did not make this recipe, but rather watched a friend from Mexico make it last night.

3 lb masa dough (lime treated corn meal mixed with water)

1 cup white flour

water

Knead ingredients together until you get a soft pliable dough.

Use a cast iron tortilla press (which is lined with plastic from a cut apart zip lock bag) to press dough into rounds. Then put a small amount of filling into the center of the pressed dough (but to the side of the place where you will fold) and fold the dough over (which is still sticking to the zip lock bag). Through the plastic, seal the edges of the dough together. Then peel off the plastic and drop quesadilla into boiling hot oil. Deep fry until medium brown and crispy on both sides.

"Picadillo" Filling:

ground beef

chopped carrot

peas

white onion, chopped,

tomatoes, chopped

She sauteed the vegetables with raw ground beef for at least 30 minutes until everything was cooked.

Chicken Filling:

Shred the chicken from four chicken breasts. She boiled the chicken breasts (still on the bone) in water that was salted and had a large clove of garlic in the water as well as half an onion. After it is cooked, remove from water and let cool enough to touch. Shred the chicken. Mix chicken with chopped white onion and chopped tomato. Sauté mixture until onions are cooked.

While putting filling in the quesadillas, she would use either filling. Sometimes when she used the chicken filling she would also add some mozzarella cheese.

The amount of dough made about 16 quesadillas. (They looked like empanadas.)

To eat, cut open the quesadillas and put sour cream, grated fresh cheese (queso fresco), avocado, and salsa.