Literary Southwestern Quesadillas

If you're looking for the recipe, skip down a few paragraphs :)

"Within a few short hours, Alice was shocked that she had negotiated a place to stay. And the rent was cheap too. Maybe vacationers have preconceived notions of high rates because they’ve never lived in Southern California before. The third-story apartment was quaint. She felt as if she were in the middle of someone’s home; fresh linens sat at the foot of the bed, above the toilet and in the kitchen. The bed had been made with such painstaking care that Alice hadn’t seen in years possibly. She knew she’d have to go to great lengths to preserve the quality and care which this house had been maintained. Bowls of citrus decorated the sturdy wooden table at the entry way into the house and from every corner light erupted into the room to brighten and cheer up the place. The minute details that enticed Alice kept her from the most beautiful element of all – the stark rocky archways that jetted out from the crystal clear aqua ocean and the near perfect ivory beaches that seemed to stretch across all of Mexico. Dropping her two suitcases in the bedroom, Alice slipped out of her clothes and into a large, fluffy bathrobe that engulfed her body completely. Noticing the scratches and scars still on her body, she took one look at the bathtub and shuddered. As quickly as she entered the room, Alice hastened out and plopped on the couch for a quick nap.

When she came to, she almost felt as if she were still dreaming. The setting sun cast a rosy hue throughout the entire room that danced and splattered various colors across the room after refracting through the massive windows. Although Alice still felt cold and numb inside, she couldn’t help but admit to making the right choice by coming down here. Eventually she would establish a new life and hoped to at least live out her days in peace and adventure; two things she was certain awaited her just around the corner in Mexico. Above all else, Alice felt a strong desire to explore her new city. She intended to do so in the morning and easily dozed off without any regard for setting an alarm in the morning."

~~~~~~

After one week of writing, I've penned just over 11,000 words and am definitely on track to finish my story by the first of December. It's weird, writing just to hit a certain word count. Since I don't have a clear idea of where my plot and characters are going, I'm constantly surprised by the predicaments I put them in. If you'd told me a week ago that I would write a story with a really twisted plot, I wouldn't have believed you. I guess my mind can be subconsciously dark.

Anyways, this literary trip to Mexico influenced my cooking last night. J.D. and I have had an acorn squash begging to be used for close to a week now. Fearful of it rotting and throwing our money down the drain -- I mean, garbage can -- I looked up tons of acorn squash recipes yesterday afternoon. The typical brown butter and maple syrup applications bored me. I wanted something more exciting. I did come across a recipe for acorn squash stuffed with quinoa and hazelnuts, but again, wanted something more daring.

That's when I found a recipe for acorn squash quesadillas with tomatillo salsa. Duh, fall foods and Southwestern flavors are totally my thing right now! (Not to mention the fact that I do live in Arizona) After finding an entire menu for a Mexican-inspired Thanksgiving on the beach in my recent edition of Sunset Magazine (click the link, I swear you'll be stealing from the recipes!!!), I called my mom and told her we had to make that for the upcoming holiday! The pumpkin tacos sounded so subtle and fun, that acorn squash quesadillas were an obvious precursor to such a meal.

It's daring in that I've never cooked with tomatillos or really any spicy chilis/peppers of any sort.

ACORN SQUASH QUESADILLAS WITH TOMATILLO SALSA

• 1 small/medium acorn squash
• 4 T vegetable oil
• 3 T diced white onion
• 1 T minced jalapeño
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and cut into strips
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10-inch flour tortillas
• 1 c shredded Mexican cheese blend of your choice

First, roast the acorn squash. Preheat the oven to 400° and lightly oil a baking sheet. Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds (you can save them to toast later, if you wish) and cut each half into half-inch slices. Lay them on the baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, until soft but not cooked to mush. (You’ll finish it in the pan.)

When cool enough to work with, use a paring knife or your hands to peel the skin off each slice. Lightly chop the squash and put it in a bowl.

Saute the onions, garlic and jalapeno in the oil until translucent. Add the poblano strips and cook for a couple minutes more. Add the squash and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes, until the squash is tender and the flavors have melded. Season with salt and pepper and take off heat.

Spread a few tablespoons of the cooked squash mixture onto one half of a 10-inch flour tortilla. Sprinkle with a couple tablespoons of the cheese. Fold over and place in a hot pan with melted butter, and fry until crispy. Cut the finished quesadilla into four triangles and top with your choice of garnishes. Eat while warm.

Tomatilla Salsa [Salsa Verde Cruda]

• 10 tomatillos, husked and well washed, quartered
• 1/2 bunch of scallions, roots and green ends trimmed, cut into big segments
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 jalapeños, roughly chopped
• Pinch of allspice
• Salt to taste

Puree all ingredients together until very smooth either in a blender or food processor. Season with salt.

Confession time: I had several tomatillos in my basket and ready to purchase when walking through the grocery store. They weren't cheap either. But when looking for mini tortillas -- we just had them as a side to chili lime marinated pork -- I found something that wound up saving me time and money in the ethnic foods section:

J.D.'s favorite celebrity chef of all time is Rick Bayless (or maybe it's Ming Tsai, I never know). He's been eying Bayless' brand of salsas for quite some time now. They're always much more expensive than the house brand salsas we often buy, but like I said this was a much cheaper alternative to actual tomatillos. And J.D. got to try his favorite person on the planet's signature salsa. It was delicious. Confession No. 2: I dove in to the bottle and ate the salsa with chips for about 10 minutes before I finally started cooking. I also topped off my meal with chips and Bayless salsa ;)

Anyways, this was probably one of THE BEST THINGS I've ever made. I'm not even joking. The quesadilla filling was so incredibly delicious, I spooned it into my mouth before it ever hit the tortilla. We ended up using one quarter of a jalapeño and cut out all the seeds/veins, and then probably used 2/3 of the poblano, giving it the same treatment as the jalapeño. Maybe because we used less spicy elements than called for, or maybe because I topped mine with plain Greek yogurt, it didn't taste as spicy as I originally anticipated. And guess what? I LOVE cooking with peppers! I'm ready to do it again :)

Then again, maybe it's the two of these talking:

I guess we'll never know. But I do know that I'll be making those bad boys again, not as the side dish, but as the main event!