Quesadillas Fritas de Comal

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron tortilla press or aluminum tortilla press
• •Quart-sized zip-top plastic bag, cut along the seams
• •Heavy cast iron comal or 12-inch skillet
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan for draining
• •Wide bowl for mixing the masa

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the masa

   In a wide bowl, combine the masa harina, salt, and the tablespoon of softened lard. Pour in the warm water in three additions, working it in with your hand. The masa should feel like the inside of an earlobe: soft, pliable, and not sticky. If it cracks at the edges when you press a ball with your palm, it is too dry. Add water a tablespoon at a time. If it sticks to your fingers, add a spoonful of masa harina. The lard is not traditional in every masa, but for fried quesadillas it gives the dough flexibility and a cleaner crisp.

   Cover the masa with a damp cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes. The masa harina needs the rest to hydrate fully. Skip it and the discs will crack when you fold them.
2. 2

   Clean the squash blossoms

   Pull off the green sepals at the base of each flower and pinch out the long stamen inside. Some cooks leave them. The señoras at Mercado de Jamaica take them out and so do I, because they can taste bitter when cooked. Tear the flowers in half lengthwise. Do not rinse them unless they are dirty. Water makes them collapse.

3. 3

   Cook the flor de calabaza filling

   Heat the tablespoon of lard in a wide skillet over medium. Add the chopped onion and serrano and cook for two minutes, until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic and stir for thirty seconds. Add the squash blossoms and the salt. They will collapse almost immediately and release their water. Cook for three to four minutes, stirring, until the liquid evaporates and the flowers are tender but still hold their color. Stir in the chopped epazote at the end. Epazote goes in at the end. Cook it too long and you lose the perfume that makes this filling what it is. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. 4

   Press the tortillas

   Divide the rested masa into eight equal balls, about the size of a golf ball. Cut a quart-sized zip-top bag along the seams to make two square plastic sheets. Open your tortilla press, lay one sheet down, place a ball of masa slightly off-center toward the hinge, cover with the second sheet, and press firmly. You want a disc about six inches across and the thickness of a thick coin. A true quesadilla frita is pressed a little thicker than a taco tortilla, so it holds the filling without breaking.

   If you do not have a tortilla press, use the bottom of a heavy skillet pressed down on the masa between the plastic sheets. The press is the right tool, but the skillet works.
5. 5

   Fill and fold

   Peel off the top sheet of plastic. Flip the disc onto your palm and peel the second sheet off. Place a heaping tablespoon of the squash blossom filling on one half of the disc, leaving a half-inch border. If you are using cheese, add a small handful of Oaxaca cheese strings on top of the filling. Lift the empty half over and press the edges gently to seal. The masa should fold without cracking. If it cracks, your masa is too dry, knead in a spoonful of water and try again.

6. 6

   Fry on the comal

   Heat a heavy comal or large cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add the lard or oil to coat the surface generously, about a quarter inch deep. When the fat shimmers and a small piece of masa dropped in sizzles immediately, lay the quesadillas in, two or three at a time. Do not crowd them. Fry for two to three minutes per side, until the masa turns deep gold with brown blisters and the surface crackles when you tap it with a spatula. La manteca es el sabor. Drain on a wire rack, not paper towels. Paper towels trap the steam and the masa goes soft.

   Keep the heat steady. Too low and the quesadilla absorbs the fat and turns greasy. Too high and the outside burns before the cheese melts. Medium-high, adjusted as you go.
7. 7

   Serve immediately

   Pile the fried quesadillas on a warm plate. Pass salsa verde cruda, salsa roja de molcajete, and crema mexicana at the table. People dress their own. A quesadilla frita waits for nobody. Five minutes off the comal and the crust softens. Eat them now. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •If you cannot find fresh masa from a tortilleria, Maseca and Minsa are both acceptable. Fresh masa is better, especially for fried quesadillas, because the corn flavor is rounder and the texture is silkier. If there is a tortilleria within reach, go.
• •Flor de calabaza is seasonal. If they are not at the market, do not make this filling. Make it with huitlacoche, with papa con chorizo, with tinga de pollo, with rajas con crema, with picadillo, with chicharron prensado. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling today, not what is on Pinterest.
• •Queso Oaxaca is the right cheese if you want cheese. Quesillo, as it is called in Oaxaca, melts into long strings without breaking. Mozzarella is a compromise, not an upgrade. Do not use cheddar. Do not use Monterey Jack. No me vengas con atajos.
• •If you want the dry comal version instead of fried, skip the half-cup of lard for the pan. Cook the quesadillas on a dry, hot comal for two minutes per side. The masa will not crackle the same way, but it is the everyday version, the one most chilangos eat on a weekday morning.

Advance Preparation

• •The squash blossom filling can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before filling the quesadillas.
• •The masa can be mixed up to four hours ahead, covered with a damp cloth and a plate, and held at room temperature. Past that, it starts to ferment slightly and the flavor turns sour.
• •Quesadillas fritas must be eaten the moment they come off the comal. They do not hold and they do not reheat well. Plan to fry them while your guests are at the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)