Well the corn pasta dish i mentioned in an earlier post still needs more work, but we were having an party at our place in PA and Micheal asked me to make all Mexican themed dishes, i had all this fresh corn and figure that instead of make a corn Pico del Gallo I would make quesadilla with roasted chicken.
Now you can make these ahead and just reheat the day of the party. Now I bake my quesadillas then finish them off in the skillet, it is easier, less messy and the fillings do not fall out when you turn them over - Enjoy
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs. Chicken breast, boned and skinned
4 ears of sweet fresh corn
2 cups of freshly shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of fresh oregano, minced
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Hand-full of cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil
Red wine vinegar
2 limes, juiced and zested
8, 8-inch corn tortillas
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Line three baking sheet with parchment paper, plus two additional sheets of parchment paper the size of the backing sheet, two additional backing sheets and two bricks.
In a large bowl place chicken, the lime juice and zest, drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat, set aside.
Remove the husks from the corn, place on one of the baking sheet and bake about 20 minutes, turn every so often to get an even char on the corn, remove, let cool, then remove the kernels for cob.
In a small bowl whisk together the cumin, tomato paste, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Now add the jalapeno, tomatoes, onions, garlic, season and toss to combine and set aside. You just made Pico de Gallo.
Place a medium skillet over medium heat, and chicken and brown on each side until chicken is cooked through. Remove and let cool. Then either shred or cube the chicken.
Now add the oregano and ½ the cilantro to the tomato mixture, toss.
Now time to assemble, place tortillas on baking sheets, 4 on one and 2 on the other. Sprinkle a layer of cheese on half of the tortillas, followed by the chicken, the roasted corn, the Pico de Gallo, then more cheese, fold the tortillas on top of the ingredients (you may need to do two at a time but 4 folded tortillas will fit on one baking sheet). Place parchment paper on top, then another baking sheet and then a brick. Place in the oven for 10 minutes so that the cheese melts and binds the tortillas together. Now you can either remove the top baking sheet and return to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes to brown or what I do is remove them from the oven, let cool and just before I am ready to serve. I heat up a dry skillet and warm and brown each quesadilla then cut and serve. I make these ahead, sometimes a day ahead, then just reheat the day of the event.
Enjoy Cooking