I love cheese quesadillas. They are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods (just after nachos). Growing up in San Antonio and Dallas, we ate them frequently. Now you know why I have such a love of Mexican food — I was raised on it!
Come to think of it, do you know any kids who don't like cheese quesadillas? It's the grilled cheese of Mexican food.
This recipe for cheese quesadillas is slightly more sophisticated, using goat cheese and black beans — but it's so easy to make. I serve quesadillas for lunch or dinner when I have leftover tortillas. (Either that or I fry the tortillas in coconut oil or lard and make nachos.) It literally takes five minutes to throw this meal together.
I make my own corn tortillas from homemade masa. The flavor is so much better. Besides that, it's economical — and fun to do with kids.
It's not hard at all to make homemade corn tortillas. It does take planning. I like to soak the corn for at least a few days — and usually a week. But doing the soaking just takes about 15 minutes. Then grinding the corn in the food processor only takes another 15 minutes or so. And then you pat the dough, press it and fry it. So easy!
We've been making masa once a week. That night we'll have fresh tortillas and then we'll have leftover tortillas for other meals throughout the week. Breakfast burritos, nachos, enchiladas, tacos, tortilla chips with fresh guacamole — the possibilities are endless! You can also freeze your masa for later use — just like pie or cookie dough.
I'm going to buy some corn husks so I can start making tamales. I am completely in love with tamales! (Expect recipes soon.)
Here is my 3-step process for making homemade corn tortillas:
Homemade Corn Tortillas – Part One: Soaking the Corn
Homemade Corn Tortillas – Part Two: Making the Masa
Homemade Corn Tortillas – Part Three: Making the Tortillas
You can also buy sprouted corn tortillas at the health food store. Although, of course, the flavor of the storebought tortillas is nowhere near as good — they always taste stale to me. If you do go with storebought, I recommend always buying organic corn tortillas because otherwise the corn is most likely genetically modified (GMO).
If you wanted to, you could also add a little leftover ground beef, chorizo, chicken, or shrimp to these quesadillas.
Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas with Homemade Corn Tortillas
Ingredients:
Black beans (1 can)
Homemade chicken stock (4 ounces)
Organic corn tortillas, homemade or storebought (2)
Goat cheese, homemade cream cheese would also work great (2-3 TBS) — where to buy goat cheese
Red onion (1 TBS)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste , where to buy black pepper
Avocado, fresh guacamole, sour cream, fresh cilantro, tomato or pico de gallo, and/or salsa for garnish
Pinch of cumin (optional)
Pinch of chile powder (optional)
Equipment:
Cast iron skillet
Directions:
1. Drain the can of beans and add to a saucepan. Add the chicken stock (I keep mine frozen in ice cube trays so it's easy to pop out a few ounces' worth).
2. Bring to a boil and then let simmer until the chicken stock is incorporated into the beans.
3. Add cumin, chile powder, sea salt and pepper to taste.
4. Put one tortilla in a dry (no oil) cast iron skillet on high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of black beans and top with goat cheese and chopped red onion.
5. Put another tortilla on top, press down slightly, and carefully flip over, using a large spatula.
6. Transfer to a plate and slice with a sharp knife. Serve with fresh avocado or guacamole, sour cream, fresh cilantro, tomato or pico de gallo, and/or salsa.
PS: A friend told me she tried making these homemade corn tortillas and was disappointed at how thick they are — especially for tortilla chips. She said she wanted them to be thinner like the corn tortilla chips you find in the store. I asked a Peruvian friend about this and she said, “If you go to Mexico, all the handmade corn tortillas are thick like that. They have special machines in the factories to make them thin. It is not possible at home.”
I personally like the tortillas thick. And my Peruvian friend tasted my tortilla chips fried in coconut oil and gave them a thumbs up!
This post is part of the Simple and Nourishing Carnival over at The Nourishing Gourmet. Go visit The Nourishing Gourmet for more great recipes for simple, nourishing food.
When I lived in Oaxaca, Mexico all the tortillas were fresh, homemade corn tortillas. The villagers in the mountains where I lived didn’t eat with forks; they used tortillas instead. It was common for the ladies to be gathered during dinner to make a continuous supply of hot corn tortillas, usually numbered in the hundreds, for each meal. When the men were done eating, the women had a pile of tortillas that they’d reserved for themselves, and then they’d start eating.
Needless to say, I got quite pampered. When I returned to the States, I couldn’t eat tortillas for a few years because they seemed like cardboard in comparison. And I certainly couldn’t eat flour tortillas. Those were only recently introduced to the populations in Northern Mexico, and I had grown to love the corn tortillas of the Southern Mexicans. I eventually overcame my tortilla snobbery and started eating them again, but wow. Absolutely nothing compares to fresh homemade corn tortillas!
And, yes, the ARE thicker than store bought. But I’ve discovered two really helpful secrets:
1) Grind the corn into a very fine masa and add enough water so that the dough is soft, smooth, and relatively elastic. Many people make the mistake of not grinding their corn fine enough. In the Mexican village where I lived, the children would all go to the mill before the crack of dawn, carrying large buckets of soaked corn. The mill was a giant round stone, turned by a donkey. That said, the flour it produced was very fine, and I’ve only been able to reproduce it using a real grain grinder.
2) Use a tortilla press. Even though the Mexican villagers didn’t have a press (they stretched the tortillas out much like someone working pizza dough), they probably would have enjoyed them if they’d had them. Using a press makes the job faster, easier, and more uniform for those of us who haven’t made hundreds of tortillas by hand since we were 4 years old.
Doing these two things, they’re still thicker than store bought, but they’re also a lot more pliable and much more like the real thing.
Also, goat cheese is the bomb! It’s all we had in our Mexican village, where the primary occupation was as a goatherd.
Thanks for posting this recipe!
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
FoodRenegade’s last blog post..Meet An Organic Dairy Farmer
I am so going to make your corn tortillas ~ thanks for sharing this great meal.
~Wardeh
That looks so awesomely delicious!!!!!!! There’s nothing I love more than black beans, avocado and cheese.
Foodie McBody’s last blog post..Blindsided
I have actually used the bottom of a heavy pan to squash the tortillas like a press does. My toddler loves to yell “sqoooosh!” every time we do one. Haven’t done that a while since we’re grain free.
Shannon’s last blog post..Food Roots – May 7
that’s a good idea. I am going to try that tomorrow when I fry one up
Excellent! Gotta try the corn tortillas recipe! Can you also use the masa for cornbread? I really want to try to make cornbread, too.
Homemade corn tortillas definitely beat anything you can buy in the store!
I haven’t made my own masa (I can get high quality fresh masa at a local Mexican grocer) — but I’ve been contemplating making my own. Certainly doesn’t require much effort… just a bit of forethought. But, isn’t that the way it is with so many good things?
These look fabulous. The goat cheese/black bean combo is so classic.
I am totally impressed (bowing: I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy) that you make your own sprouted corn tortillas. Food for life sells sprouted corn tortillas that are organic, that’s all I’ve every used, I never even THOUGHT about making my own, until now, now, I’m going to think about it and still sit here in awe of the fact that you do that regularly.
thanks for the links to the tortillas- I have had some organic corn and lime sitting on the shelf for a few weeks waiting to be made but to durn busy to search for a recipe- time to get busy!
Vehement Flame’s last blog post..Simple and Nourishing Carnival: Six Beautifully Simple Recipes
time……….. where does it go?
Oh myyyyyy, those look so good, and I’m also going to sit in awe for a while…and then I might just make them.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s last blog post..Yogurt Cheese Recipes – How to Get More Probiotics Into Our Diets!
did you make them? :-)
I just have a question about using the lime to soak the corn. My understanding of culinary lime is that it is very caustic. Did you have any issues with using or storing the lime? I can’t wait to try out your recipe, but I have to admit that I am nervous about working with lime…
just make sure you rinse, rinse and rub the corns a little to get all the lime out.
How long ago did you order the Tropical Traditions corn? I went to the site order it, and all they seem to sell now is a 20 oz. bag of Eden Organic Popcorn.
Hi, April
Hmm I don’t see it on their site either. Weird. Maybe they stopped selling it.
They do still sell it on Amazon — I have it in my store:
http://astore.amazon.com/cheeseslave-20/detail/B001BEOIHK
http://astore.amazon.com/cheeseslave-20/detail/B001BEOIHA
Maybe we’d better stock up!
I made the tortillas–your directions helped them turn out great. I let the corn, water and Mrs. Wages pickling lime sit the full two weeks. Will do again soon. I never knew what the “lime” was on corn tortilla ingredients until now. When I found it at a local store and saw your recipe, I was ready to try it out. This is the only place I ever saw an actual recipe from start to finish. Most call for the instant masa (who knows where that came from or how long it’s been on the shelf). I live in the midwest and get organic corn thru a buying club for Country Life.
These look amazing. I have managed to get some organic blue corn but cannot get any food grade lime – in New Zealand- is there an alternative I can use or can I just soak in water and make the recipe that way? Thanks.
You really need lime. Water is not going to cut it.
There is a recipe for making lime from wood ash in Sandor Katz’s Wild Fermentation. This blog does a good job explaining it:
http://www.urbanscout.org/nixtamal-and-the-24-hour-taco/
Thank you for the corn tortilla recipes. Being on GAPS, I can’t try them right now. But I did try it before GAPS and it didn’t work so well. I will be excited to try it again – in a couple years.
I have been wondering about running tortillas through the pasta rollers to get them thinner… might have to give a try
I’ve thought of that too. Let me know how they turn out..
My tortillas do not turn out well…… I must be adding too much water. I fry them up anyway and they are delicious but I can’t roll them out too thin….. I’ll keep trying. these look so good.