Quesadillas de Camarones

As some of you may know, those deprived little parents of mine are being FORCED to spend the next 2 weeks in Mexico relaxing by the pool...or the beach...or the bar...or all three.  Don't you just feel absolutely horrible for them?

No, no you don't.  Not at all.  (Even if they are adorable in this picture.) And you shouldn't.  You should be just as angry and/or jealous as I am that they didn't include either one of us.  So rude.

So, to spite them (or make myself feel just a tiny bit better) I decided to have a little fiesta of my own!  A fiesta that included shrimp and cheese and salsa and guacamole.  Mmmm delicioso!

Quesadillas de Camarones

...served with salsa and homemade quacamole

Ingredients: 

Makes 4 Quesadillas

• 1/2 red onion
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 lb precooked shrimp
• handful cilantro
• handful green onion
• juice of 1 lemon
• teaspoon old bay seasoning
• pinch of chili powder
• salt and pepper 
• around 2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a combination of Swiss/Gruyere and a Mexican blend)
• 8 tortillas
• butter and olive oil for pan

1. Grab the red onion, and peppers.  Dice them up and throw them in a pan with a bit of olive oil.  Saute until soft.

2. While your veggies are sauteing, throw the little shrimps (ha!) in a bowl.  These are precooked and thawed but fresh shrimp would be delightful!

3. Add a handful of chopped cilantro as well as a handful of chopped green onion.

4. Next squeeze in the juice of one whole lemon.

5. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning.

6. And a pinch of Chili Powder.  More or less depending on how spicy you like it.

7. Don't forget to throw in a bit of salt and pepper.  Once everything is in the bowl, stir it all up and let it marinate for 10-30 minutes.

8. While the shrimp is marinating you can shred the cheese.  There isn't a specific measurement for this.  Just enough to make it ooze out when you take a bite.  Nor is there a specific kind of cheese you must use.  Just whatever floats your boat!

9.  Next: Gather the goods necessary for assembly: Veggies, Shrimp, Cheese, Tortillas, Butter.

10.  Assembly time.  1) Melt a small amount of butter in the pan and then toss on the first tortilla.  Top with cheese.  2) Pile on the rest of the goods.  I also added beans and rice.  3) Layer with more cheese.  4) Place second tortilla on top.  Place a bit more butter in the pan and flip until both sides are golden.

11. Cut in triangles and EAT (or COME for all of you Spanish speakers)

12. I served these with salsa and homemade guacamole.  Sour cream would be yummy too!

Coming up: I've been digging through my very old (1915, I think) Boston Cooking School Cookbook looking for some goodies.  There are several handwritten recipes on scraps of paper that caught my eye...how do you feel about date bars?