Author Notes
There’s a story, possibly apocryphal, that St. Patrick himself was fond of feasting on these quesadillas at his favorite bodega in Bundoran. Historically, and history is vague on this, but March 17 in the Julian calendar was a celebration of the Celtic diety Quetzalcoatl. The following day is the Feast of Our Lady of the Lahinch Tamale who appeared in a pub to a bunch of homies in that town with a bag of corn husks, some masa flour and a sack of oranges from the yet undiscovered New World.
We recommend that you serve these quesadillas with fresh sliced avocado or your favorite guacamole on the side. Wearin’ the green like. Lend me ten Euro and I’ll buy you a drink.
—pierino
Ingredients
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2
medium white potatoes
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1/2
of one head of savoy cabbage
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8
medium sized flour tortillas
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6
ounces Irish cheddar, grated
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4
ounces cotija cheese, crumbled
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1 cup
Mexican or Salvadoran crema
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Hot sauce of your choosing (we like California Pepper Plant “Original California Style”), optional
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Grapeseed oil for frying
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Sea salt to taste
Directions
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Thinly slice the potatoes. Rinse in cold water and wrap in a towel until ready to use.
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Slice the cabbage into two wedges, cutting through the core to the top.
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Steam the cabbage just until tender but not squishy. When cool enough to handle slice crosswise into ribbons aka chiffonade.
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Grate your cheeses and set aside for you mise en place.
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In a hot skillet heat the grapeseed oil and cook your potatoes in batches until brown and slightly crispy (don’t over crowd). Allow these to rest on paper towel to lose some of the oil.
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Take one tortilla and add a generous amount of cheddar. Top with potatoes and cabbage. Add cabbage followed by crumbled cotija. Add a dash of hot sauce if you like. Maybe a little more cheddar to help seal. Dip your finger in a bowl of water and run it around the edge of the bottom tortilla. Place another tortilla on top and press down the edges.
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Heat a large, dry skillet to medium high flame. Add your quesadilla. Allow time for the cheese to begin to melt. Turn it once (and only once---I hate “flippers”). When finished plate it, quarter it with a pizza wheel and add one tablespoon of crema to serve. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
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Garnish and hoist a pint.
Standup commis flâneur, and food historian. Pierino's background is in Italian and Spanish cooking but of late he's focused on frozen desserts. He is now finishing his cookbook, MALAVIDA! Can it get worse? Yes, it can. Visit the Malavida Brass Knuckle cooking page at Facebook and your posts are welcome there.
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