Fried Chicken & Pickled Green Tomato Relish Quesadillas
I don’t know if I would have survived my twenties without quesadillas. They were the first food I made for myself on a regular basis and the first meal I remember making with a friend. I’ve forgotten so much but all these years later I still remember those leek and red pepper quesadillas made in a white tiled kitchen on Capital Hill in Seattle.
This quesadilla is a lesson in balance- crisp tortilla, creamy melted cheese, the salty paprika bite of chicken, and the crunch of green tomato relish. An easy lunch or late late dinner. Remember this.
I realize that to recreate these quesadillas as I had them we would need to travel back in time, back to the end of summer, just when the rains came, when all the green tomatoes came in from the cold, and together we would make pickled green tomatoes and green tomato relish. And flush with knowledge brought back from the future I would make more than one jar of the relish so that there would be enough to share. But if I could travel through time there are other stops I would first make so even in the imagined you’re stuck using relish and grainy mustard.
(An aside: did you know you can buy pickles on etsy? I find this both charming and terrifying. Buying homemade goods seems like it should be a face to face transaction. )
This also supposes you have left over fried chicken. It doesn’t have to be homemade. But this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen is reliably delicious and considerably more detailed than the instructions every good southern cook has given me.
If you’ve made your own relish and fried your own chicken you probably don’t need a step by step on how to make a quesadilla but I’m giving it to you anyway.
Fried Chicken & Pickled Green Tomato Relish Quesadillas
Makes one quesadilla
ingredients
- 2 ounces boneless fried chicken, sliced (enough to cover half the tortilla)
- 1.5 ounces (about a cup) shredded medium or sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Pickled Green Tomato Relish (now that I’m out I’ll be substituting rough chopped dill pickles or pickled green tomatoes tossed with about ½ teaspoon of grainy brown mustard)
- 1 10 inch flour tortilla
- enough oil to lightly coat the tortilla
directions
- preheat a ten or 11 inch skillet over medium low heat
- lightly coat one side of the tortilla with a neutral oil and place oil side down in the skillet
- add the cheese, sprinkling evenly over the whole tortilla, add the chicken to half the tortilla and top the chicken with the relish.
- Cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden brown and crispy.
- Fold the just cheese half of the tortilla over the chicken side and remove from the pan.
- Slice into wedges and serve hot with a southern hot sauce like crystal or Tabasco
Fried Chicken & Pickled Green Tomato Relish Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 2 ounces boneless fried chicken sliced (enough to cover half the tortilla)
- 1.5 ounces about a cup shredded medium or sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Pickled Green Tomato Relish now that I’m out I’ll be substituting rough chopped dill pickles or pickled green tomatoes tossed with about ½ teaspoon of grainy brown mustard
- 1 10 inch flour tortilla
- enough oil to lightly coat the tortilla
Instructions
- preheat a ten or 11 inch skillet over medium low heat
- lightly coat one side of the tortilla with a neutral oil and place oil side down in the skillet
- add the cheese, sprinkling evenly over the whole tortilla, add the chicken to half the tortilla and top the chicken with the relish.
- Cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden brown and crispy.
- Fold the just cheese half of the tortilla over the chicken side and remove from the pan.
- Slice into wedges and serve hot with a southern hot sauce like crystal or Tabasco
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