Bring on the Food!

Tags

Casseroles, Quesadillas, recipe, salsa

Oh it was a good Sunday past for me. Hope it was for you as well. A couple of things made it special for me. First of all, I was a chalice bearer for the first time. I had a fifteen minute training in all the issues that come up with serving the cup. I had no idea so many things could go wrong, but thankfully nothing did on my first time around.

I had a veteran server kind of lead me around. I sure made a few mistakes, but on the whole, it went well. I think I was not prepared for how emotional it would make me, and I nearly choked on the first, “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.” It is a solemn and awesome experience and I look forward to serving my parish in this way.

The one thing I learned, was to pick up the cossack going up the stairs to the altar. I stepped on it the first time, and remembered always to hike it up. I already knew to pull it up off my heels when kneeling.

Okay, enough of that, which was interesting to three people in the world who read this and have done chalice serving! The second great part of the day, was that we had our church picnic after services.

That was just a nice time. We women bet against the men in accumulating funds that would be going to various missions, I think half  went to our sister parish in Swaziland. One of our younger members was having to get his hair cut for a play I believe, and so his haircut was auctioned. We left before the deed, but I think they had raised a fair amount. I think the Contrarian enjoyed himself and he met a couple we are going to visit on Friday at a gallery where they are having drinks and hors d’oeuvres to celebrate an anniversary.  We had a very nice time. But then, it’s quite easy since my parish is just filled with wonderful people!

Anyway, I decided, that since this is my blog, I’d go off on a tangent today and give you another of my recipes. Since no one has sent a threatening e-mail telling me to knock it off, I hope that you enjoy them here and there and even try one or two on occasion.

Since I love Mexican food, this is another. This is my creation, but I am positive I’ve seen recipes like this, and to some extent I’m recalling some parts from various ones. It’s called: (trumpets and flourishes please)> > > >

Quesadillas la Torre al la Sherry

1 lb. ground round

1 jalapeno pepper finally diced

   Add your favorite Mexican spices and fry it up. I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin. I’d use about 1/2 tsp of each.

Prepare the following fillings in sufficient amounts for about 4 traditional quesadillas:

chopped tomatoes (I used Romas because they have few seeds, about 3)

chopped green onions, white and green, about 5 

shredded monterey jack cheese, about a lb.

1 pkg of flour tortillas, corn if you prefer

I used a spring form pan that the 8 inch tortillas fit in. I lined the pan with foil so that I could fold it over the tower and keep things tight.

I have an electric stove, so I heated the large burner and dropped a tortilla on and left for about 6 sec. As it starts to smoke, turn over with tongs, and do the other side. This makes a nice charred flavor. Place in the foiled pan.

Add some meat, tomatoes, onions and cheese. Top with another charred tortilla. Continue building until you run out of meat. I used, I believe, eight tortillas in all, ending with a tortilla on top. Cover with foil. (NOTE: I didn’t use a lot of filling between each tortilla, probably at best a cup total of all the ingredients.)

Bake in the over  at 350 for a minimum of 30 min. 45 might be better. If 30, be sure to preheat the oven. You basically just want to melt the cheese and get everything nice and warm.

Cut into wedges, and serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce. You can find my salsa recipe under “Condiments” in recipes on the sidebar. (It’s the first entry) Oh and serve with some lime quarters too.

You of course can vary this recipe according to your particular likes and dislikes. Chicken would be fine, as would shredded pork or roast beef. Corn might be a fun addition. Cheddar cheese or some of the Mexican cheeses would work as well. Be creative. If you use corn tortillas I think I might bake them to the crunchy stage, but that will change the texture of the entire tower quite a bit. You don’t need to do that of course. There are lots of alternatives. I used the iceburg lettuce as a crunchy cold foil to the hot spicy effect of the quesadillas. Depending on how much jalepeno or other pepper you decide to use, you could eliminate this. I thought it did look nice though as well on the plating.

Here’s to Yummy!