June Potluck

A word to the wise...
If you have never worked with masa dough
and are rushing lunch since you dinked around too long on one internet time suck or another
and your husband is in the room to your left practicing accordion (over and over and over.  And loudly.)
and your son is in the room to your right bouncing on the yoga ball like a monkey on speed

do not attempt.

This is one of those recipes that requires concentration.  Attention.  Focus.
Maybe even a little finesse.
None of which I had.

Not even a proper tortilla press.

I did still have red plastic wrap leftover from Valentine's Day.
Surely that counts for something, somewhere, to someone?

The Husband says I always blame myself when a recipe from a celebrity chef doesn't work out.  And I never take credit when one does.

Between us, I think he's just trying to take some of the blame from his accordion.

I also think Rick Bayless would know a thing or two (or three or four) about masa dough.

Me, not so much.  I never could get the dough to the consistency I wanted.  (Although who knows if what I wanted was all that right in the first place.)

While I've made plenty of flour tortillas (yum!), I've never worked with corn.  Making this recipe has taught me that it'll take a couple of (or three or four) tries.

In Authentic Mexican, Bayless offers various fillings for these Quesadillas Fritas.  I chose the simple queso fresco option.

Why?
See above about rushing lunch, accordion playing, and speed monkeys.

The filling was too simple, though, and was overpowered by the dough.  The Husband and I ended up dousing our quesadillas in hot sauce for more flavor.  The Boy went with Cajun Power Garlic Sauce.

There's a Rick Bayless potluck going on at I Heart Cooking Clubs.  Stop by and visit!



The recipe can be found HERE at Frontera Recipes.
I used the cheese filling (queso fresco) without the roasted poblano, as found in Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless.