Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
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Friday, February 10
(middle) East Meets (south) West - Lambadilla Smash-up!
Feeling snacky at 4pm yesterday I opened the fridge to see some leftovers staring at me from an outing to a Morroccan eatery. Unfortunately, they wouldn't last much longer as they were already 5 days old. Something must be done with the beautiful Lamb Tagine!
I'm a corny gal, and I loves me crispy pockety things, so I endeavoured to make a tagine quesadilla, in the traditional Mexican style.
In this case, traditional Mexican means the quesadilla dough is constructed out of corn masa, then formed into a half-moon calzone shape with the filling inside, all before being cooked. Many street vendors will fry the whole thing, but an alternative is to cook it on a dry griddle as you would a plain corn tortilla.
The modern interpretation of quesadilla, as you will see in any restaurant that prepares them as cheesy appetizers, is to take 2 flour tortillas and essentially make a grilled cheese with them. Nothing wrong with that, but not how quesadillas might be found in, say, Mexico City.
So out comes the masa harina and I get to work. 15 minutes later I have a big Arab-Mex calzone, gooey with tender lamb and crispy at the edges. To drizzle over I make a quick sauce of buttermilk and garam masala. Eat up!
ARAB-MEX POCKET/CALZONE/THING (serves 1)
3-4 Tbsp masa harina
2-3 Tbsp water
1/2 cup leftover lamb tagine
salt
2 Tbsp buttermilk
1/8 tsp garam masala
1. Mix together the masa harina and the water and a few pinches of salt in a small bowl until it makes a thick paste, not too sticky. Allow to stand for a few minutes to absorb more liquid.
2. When ready, form into ball and sandwich ball with a piece of plastic wrap.
3. Use a rolling pin, your hands, or a tortilla press to smoosh the ball into a disc about 7" in diameter - just don't let the disc get too thin.
4. Lift off the top plastic wrap and spoon the lamb over 1/2 of the circle.
5. Fold over the dough and pinch the edges shut.
6. Gently transfer the thing to a medium heat DRY skillet, and allow to brown for a few minutes. Gently flip and cook other side for several more minutes.
7. Remove to plate, stir spices into buttermilk, drizzle, garnish with parsley, and eat!
Time posted: 13:33 [permalink]
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CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
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