Chicken Quesadillas

These are easy to make, but require some preparation time. If you want to save on the prep time, I would suggest buying some small corn tortillas from the supermarket.

Ingredients

• 1 T butter
• Cooked polenta (cornmeal)
• Flour
• Cheese (queso fresco and/or cheddar work well), shredded
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or finely chopped
• 1 medium onion (or 4 scallions), finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
• A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped
• Cayenne pepper powder (optional for additional heat)

Tortilla Directions

1. Melt the butter and add to the polenta
2. Add enough flour to the polenta to form a pliable dough
3. Using a floured surface, break off golf-ball sized pieces of the dough and mold them into small balls
4. Use a tortilla press to flatten dough
5. In a frying pan, add splash of olive oil and heat to medium
6. When oil is hot, add the raw tortilla shells one at a time, cooking until just done (~1 minute per side)
7. Place cooked tortilla shells on a paper towel covered plate to drain excess oil

Quesadilla Directions

1. Place some cheese on the tortilla first, followed by all other toppings, then top with cheese (the cheese acts as a “glue” to keep the tortilla together when cooking and eating)
2. Fold the quesadilla in half and cook in cast iron pan until cheese is melted
3. Serve finished quesadillas with home-made guacamole and salsa