Mexican Meatball Quesadilla (made with leftover chicken)
INGREDIENTS
  • Cooking Time: 6
  • Servings: 4
  • Preparation Time: 10
  • 12 oz leftover cooked Mexican flavored chicken (or your meat of choice)
  • 3 TB flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 cup minced onions
  • 1/4 cup jalapeno, minced (or any veggie that goes with your meat and theme: celery, mushroom, etc)
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp cumin (or any seasoning that goes with your theme; thyme, oregano, basil, etc)
  • 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
  • 3 lg eggs
  • Vegetable oil to fry
  • Panko, bread crumbs, flour (optional, to coat meatballs)
  • For assembly quesadilla
  • Tortillas (four or corn)
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Cilantro
  • Sour cream
DIRECTIONS
  1. Toss the meat into a food processor and process away... until finely chopped.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except for the oil and panko. Squish everything together with your hands.
  3. Form into about 16 meatballs. Flatten them a little.
  4. Gently roll the meatballs in panko, bread crumbs or flour is desired. I used a panko flour mixture.
  5. Heat a skillet with about 1/4" of oil until hot.
  6. Cook the meatballs on high heat until brown. Gently turn them over, reduce heat to medium and cook for another 3 minutes.
  7. Wrapped them in a tortilla, smothered with cheese, quickly cooked in a hot buttered skillet until cheese is melted, garnished with cilantro and sour cream.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
I can't tell you how excited I am about the results of these meatballs. Not the least bit dry. Full of flavor. The texture is just as it should be. Absolutely delicious! This recipe is very versatile. Use any leftover meat you have (beef, pork, poultry) and adjust the seasonings according to the theme you're going for.