Quesadilla Sonorense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Wooden rolling pin
• •Box grater for the cheese
• •Wide spatula for flipping
• •Clean kitchen towel for stacking the cooked tortillas

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the masa for flour tortillas

   In a wide bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the lard and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse, sandy crumbs. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable shortening will not give you the same flavor, the same flexibility, or the same browning on the comal. This is a Sonoran tortilla. It is built on pork lard.

   Take your time rubbing the lard in. The senoras in Hermosillo do this for several minutes until the flour smells faintly of the manteca. That smell is the dough already telling you it will be good.
2. 2

   Add the warm water and knead

   Pour in the warm water in a slow stream while mixing with one hand. Stop when the dough comes together into a shaggy mass. Turn it out onto a clean counter and knead for eight to ten minutes. The dough will go from rough to smooth and finally to satiny under your palms. It should feel like an earlobe. If it tears when you pull it, knead longer. The gluten is what makes a tortilla sonorense thin and elastic enough to fold without cracking.

3. 3

   Rest the dough in fat balls

   Divide the dough into six equal balls, about 4 ounces each. Roll each one tight between your palms until the surface is smooth. Place them on a tray, brush each with a little extra lard, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The rest is not optional. Without it, the dough fights you when you try to stretch it. Asi se hace y punto.

4. 4

   Stretch the tortillas thin

   On a lightly floured counter, flatten one ball with the heel of your hand. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a round about 12 inches across, turning a quarter turn after each pass. The tortilla should be paper thin, almost translucent in spots. The senoras who make sobaqueras stretch them across the back of one hand and let gravity do the rest. You do not have to go that far, but you do need them thin. A thick Sonoran tortilla is a contradiction.

   If the dough springs back and refuses to stay stretched, set it aside and start the next ball. Come back in five minutes and it will yield. The gluten needs the rest.
5. 5

   Cook the tortilla on the comal

   Heat a dry cast iron comal or a heavy 12-inch skillet over medium-high until a drop of water dances and disappears. Lay one tortilla flat on the comal. After about 30 seconds the surface will start to bubble in pale brown spots. Flip it. Another 30 to 45 seconds on the second side. The tortilla should have light brown freckles, not dark scorch marks. A burnt tortilla is a stiff tortilla. Stack the cooked tortillas under a clean towel as you go to keep them soft and pliable.

6. 6

   Fill with queso asadero

   Lower the comal heat to medium. Place a cooked tortilla flat on the surface. Scatter a generous handful of grated queso asadero across one half of the tortilla, edge to edge. If you are using the roasted chile strips, lay two or three across the cheese. Queso asadero is the cheese for this. It is a stretched-curd cheese from Chihuahua and Sonora that pulls in long strings when it melts. Yellow cheddar is not a substitute. It will not stretch and the flavor is wrong.

7. 7

   Fold and brown both sides

   Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the cheese to make a half-moon. Press lightly with a spatula. Cook for one to two minutes per side, flipping once, until the tortilla picks up dark golden spots and the cheese has melted into a single sheet inside. When you press the quesadilla, the cheese should yield. When you lift one corner, you should see strings pulling between the two halves. That pull is the proof that you used the right cheese.

8. 8

   Serve immediately at the table

   Slide the quesadilla onto a plate. Cut into wedges or leave whole. Serve with salsa de chiltepín, sliced avocado, and lime wedges on the side. Eat with your hands while the cheese is still pulling. A Sonoran quesadilla cools fast and the cheese stiffens. This is not a dish that waits. Recetas probadas y garantizadas, but only if you eat it now.

Chef Tips

• •The flour tortilla is non-negotiable. Corn tortillas are for Oaxaca, for Puebla, for the south. The Noroeste eats wheat. Buy the flour fresh, all-purpose works fine, and use lard. No me vengas con atajos: vegetable shortening makes a stiff tortilla that browns wrong.
• •Queso asadero is sold by good Mexican grocers and online. If you absolutely cannot find it, Chihuahua cheese is the second choice. Oaxaca cheese is third. Monterey Jack is a distant fourth and only because it at least melts. Cheddar belongs nowhere near this dish.
• •Sonoran cooks often add a strip of roasted chile Anaheim or chile guëro inside for what they call quesadilla con rajas. It is not required, but if you have good chiles in season, char them on the comal first, peel, seed, and slip a few strips inside the cheese.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Form into balls, brush with lard, cover tightly, and refrigerate. Bring back to room temperature for at least an hour before stretching, or the dough will fight you.
• •Cooked flour tortillas keep at room temperature for the day, wrapped in a clean towel. Reheat briefly on the comal before filling. Do not microwave: it makes them rubbery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)