Grilled Steak Quesadillas with Hickory Smoked Cheddar and Spicy Chipotle Dipping Sauce

Now I suppose you could go out for Cinco de Mayo. You could go stand in line at your favorite Mexican joint. You could spend 20-30 minutes waiting for your order to arrive. OR you could have a little fun on the grill, and spend some quality time outside with friends and family. I’m going to assume you’re looking to spend a little time with the people you love doing what you love and that’s why you’re here. Or maybe I just popped up on your feed either way I’m glad you stopped by.

What to expect: The marinated steak will not only be moist and have an amazing Mexican flavor, but will be very aromatic. The addition of grilled red onion and poblanos will round out the flavor. Hickory smoked cheese will give you depth with a faint wisp of smoke that will haunt you. The spicy chipotle  dipping sauce will add heat and lighten the dish up a bit.

Yield: 4 Quesadillas

Time: 

• About 1 hour cook time.
•  1-24 hours for marinating the meat. (1 hour is sufficient, but if you want to do it as make ahead there shouldn’t be a problem.)

What you’ll need:

For the marinade:

• 1 12 ounce beer (preferably Mexican, think about what we’re doing here)
• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (I LOVE El Yucateco for this recipe, it can be picked up in the ethnic aisle of most grocery stores)
• ½ of a large red onion finely chopped (we’ll use the other ½ a little later on)
• ½ cup finely chopped cilantro
• 5 larger cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (chipotle chili powder if you have it, if not cayenne will work)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 lb thinly sliced skirt steak

For the quesadillas:

• 4 medium to large flour tortillas
• 1 lb hickory smoked sharp cheddar
• 4 problanos
• 1 ½ large red onions (told ya we’d use that other half)
• 1 lb thinly sliced marinated skirt steak

For the spicy chipotle dipping sauce:

• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 small can of chipotle peppers in adobo
• 2 tbls cilantro

Make the marinade:

Simply combine all the wet ingredients in a bowl, add the dry ingredients, and whisk.

Add the meat one slice at a time. This will insure that each slice gets full coated with no air bubbles.

Cover, and refrigerate until your ready to use. It won’t look pretty but it will be very aromatic.

Make the spicy chipotle dipping sauce:

Chop 6 chipotles.

Add them and all the adobo sauce you can fetch out of the can to the 8 oz of sour cream.

Stir in the 2 tbls of cilantro.

Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Make the quesadillas:

Slice the problanos and onions.

Shred the cheese.

   

Set the grill up for direct grilling.

Grill the peppers and onions until al dente.

Remove the meat one slice at a time being sure to let any excess marinade drain off.

Place on oiled grates over direct coals with open lid.

Grill, turning once. These will cook fairly fast. I’m not going to give you a time, because the meat is so thin and the temperature of coals will vary. When they look about done flip them and cook the other side.

Assemble quesadillas.

Oops a little blurry on this one.

Fold in half and place on grill over direct coals. Cook UNCOVERED watching the down side VERY CLOSELY. I can’t stress this enough, they will go from golden brown to burnt to a crisp in a heart beat. Once they are done on one side flip. We found that the trick to flipping them was using a pair of tongs in each hand. A large spatula may work but this is what worked for us.

When they’re lightly browned on both sides and and the cheese is melted, remove from the grill and slice into wedges. Plate and server with the spicy chipotle sauce, and lime wedges. I recommenced a side of lime and cilantro infused rice as a light cooling side.

Remember what you cook isn’t nearly as important as who you cook it with.