Asparagus Quesadilla

Another winner from Nopalito! These may be the best ‘Dillas I’ve ever had. Perfect for lunch!!

Ingredients:
1 onion, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, mined 
salt
1 binch of asparagus, sliced into thin coins
Corn tortillas
12 oz shredded Oaxacan or Jack cheese
Queso fresco, crumbled
Cilantro leaves
Salsa

In a large pan heat 1 tbsp oil over medium cook the onions, garlic and jalapeño until soft, stir in the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes or until bright green.

Prepare a griddle or large pan, spread 1/3 c Oaxacan cheese on a tortilla, top with Asparagus filling top with a little more cheese and a tortilla. Cook on each side until cheese is melted.

Top with cilantro, queso fresco and salsa.

Serves 4.

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Costillas de Puerco en Salsa Verde con Nopales (Braised Pork with Salsa Verde and Cactus

This is from my new fav cookbook Nopalito. I did make some changes because there was no way I was tossing the cooking liquid. Hit your fav Super Mercado for all the ingredients. 

Ingredients:
2 large onions
10 tomatillos, husked
4 jalapenos
4 cloves garlic
2 lb pork spare ribs, sliced individually
Salt
1 1/2 nopales, diced
2 avocado leaves
Cilantro
Corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. 

Slice 1 onion into thick slices, place on a baking sheet, along with jalapeño and tomatillos and cook until tomatillos are wrinkled and brown. About 30 min.
Allow to cool and then toss in a blender with 2 cloves of garlic and a generous pinch of salt, pulse till smooth.

Lower the oven to 325. 

In a large Dutch oven heat 2 tbsp oil and cook until browned on both sides. Add enough water to cover, 1 onion sliced thin, 2 cloves of garlic and Avocado leaves. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook until tender, about 2.5 hours.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook nopales for about 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

Place the Dutch oven on the stove and cook over medium to reduce the liquid – you want most of it gone. Here it’s your call to remove the meat from the bones and shred it, that is how I perfect it. 

Add 1/2 the salsa to the pork and stir in the nopales, stirring to coat everything. 

Serve with tortillas and additional salsa.

Serves 6 – 8.

Cherry Clafoutis

This dish screams spring! Put the cherries in with the pits – it really makes a differnce in the flavor. This dish is also best served warm.

Ingredients:
1 vanilla bean scraped (put pod in an air tight container to make vanila sugar)
3/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c almond meal
1/2 c vanilla sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp kirsch
1 tsp vanilla extraxt
1 lb of cherries, with stems and pits

Preheat oven to 375.

Whisk together all the ingredients except the cherries and pour into shallow baking pan. Arrange the cherries with the stems up.

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Serves 8 -10.