The Art of Making Quesadillas and Salsas with Chef Omar Rodriguez

As I step into the kitchen of Oyamel, a restaurant in Washington, D.C., I am greeted by Chef Omar Rodriguez, who is passionate about sharing his Mexican heritage through food. Today, we will be making quesadillas, along with two types of salsas: salsa serrano and salsa morita.

Chef Rodriguez begins by explaining that the first step in making our salsa serrano is to get a pan very hot. "You want it like medium-high heat," he says, "because we're going to blister all the ingredients." He then proceeds to add the tomatillos, chilis, garlic, and tomatoes to the pan. The beauty of this process, Chef Rodriguez explains, is that we don't need oil because our goal is to get the tomatillos and chilis blistered. As they cook, the mixture will start to smoke, which is exactly what we want.

While the salsa is working its magic, Chef Rodriguez starts on his other salsa, salsa morita. He uses fresh chilies in this one and dried chilies in his chili morita recipe. "The funny thing about quesadillas, to me," he says, "is that I didn't really grow up eating them as a kid. It wasn't something that was part of my household." However, after getting married to a woman from Mexico who loved quesadillas, Chef Rodriguez's love for them grew. "You can be really creative with what you want to put in," he advises, adding that keeping it simple is the key.

As we wait for our salsas to finish cooking, Chef Rodriguez explains the importance of using fresh and high-quality ingredients. He also shares his experience of making quesadillas from scratch and how it's not as complicated as people think. "Don't make it complicated," he advises. "You don't need a bunch of things that go into it. You just want something that's really good and delicious."

Now, let's move on to the preparation of our tortillas. Chef Rodriguez is using a traditional Oaxacan-style tortilla press, which is different from the more modern tortilla presses you might find. He explains that this specific style of press comes from his abuela, who used to make tortillas for him when he was growing up.

The process of making tortillas involves mixing corn flour with salt and water until it forms a dough. Chef Rodriguez then kneads the dough, adding more water as needed, until it reaches the perfect consistency. He also shares his tip on how to roll out the dough without cracking, which is essential for achieving a smooth and even texture.

Now that we have our tortillas ready, let's assemble our quesadilla. Chef Rodriguez uses a blend of cheese, including Oaxaca cheese, which he says is the best type of cheese for making quesadillas. "Everything about a quesadilla to me is ingredients," he explains. "Don't make it complicated." He then proceeds to add his salsa and cheese mixture to one half of the tortilla and folds it over to create a delicious and flavorful quesadilla.

As we finish our cooking, Chef Rodriguez invites us to taste our creations. The salsa serrano has a lovely balance of heat and tanginess from the tomatillos, while the salsa morita is rich and creamy with a subtle smokiness from the chilies. Our quesadillas are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with just the right amount of cheese and salsa.

In conclusion, Chef Omar Rodriguez's passion for making traditional Mexican dishes like quesadillas and salsas is infectious. His commitment to using fresh ingredients and simple techniques has resulted in delicious and authentic flavors that are sure to please even the most discerning palates.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en-I am chef Omar Rodriguez,at Oyamel,in Washington, D.C.And today,we'll be making quesadillas,along witha couple salsas --a salsa serranoand a salsa morita.I like stuff spicy.I am second-generationMexican.I grew upin South Texas.And my family always hadsalsas on the table.And it wasalways spicy.The first stepin making our salsa serranois getting our panreally nice and hot.You want it, like,a medium-high heat,'cause we're gonna blisterall the ingredients.We're using tomatillos.The beauty of this --you don't need oil.The whole pointof this processis we want to get it --get the tomatillos blistered.We want to getthe chilis blistered.And then, it's just kind ofto your liking,And while that's working,we can work on our other salsa.I'm using fresh chilisin this one,and I'm going to be using driedchilies in my chili morita.But also, when you usethe tomatoes,it's gonna geta little more sweetness.The funny thing aboutquesadillas, to me,is that I didn't really grow upeating quesadillas as a kid.It wasn't something that waspart of my household.My love for quesadillasdidn't really become a thinguntil I got married.And my wife,who's also Mexican,their family,they love quesadillas.They make quesadillasall the time.I really likequesadillas now.And the great thing is thatyou can be really creativewith what you want to put in.You keep it simple.So, you want your pan fairly --fairly hot,like medium-high.Then, you just addedyour tomatoes.And so, this one, you know,has a few more ingredients,but it's not necessarilymore challenging.It's kind of the same thing.It's a pretty forgiving salsa.Like, you can just take it,and put everything in your pan,Let it go.This is a littleunique part with this salsa.So, you've gotchili moritas.You could basically.Fry them a little bit,and then, you're gonna seethat they getall puffy.This is probably the one partyou want to be careful with,just because, as they puff,you don't want them to burn.'Cause whendried chilis burn,they kind of geta little bitter.We're gonna go backto the tomatillos.You guys seethis smoke?Let's take a look,and see where we're at.Yeah.That's what we want.so, you can see that some ofthem are starting to puff.And I'm just gonna, like,rough-chop the garlic,just to help it kind of cooka little bit faster.You can see the tomatoesgetting color.And we'll go backto the tomatillos,and take a look at them.You've gotthe toasty parts.Then, you've got some partsthat are a little raw.And that's what you'rekind of looking for.You want itto be like that,because it's gonna add a littlebit more freshness to it.The combination of the twowill give you, like,atomatillos.I'm gonna start incorporatingour onions and garlicinto the tomato, and then,we're going to let them cook,let them gofor a little bit.We're gonna let thiskeep cooking.And then,I'm gonna start...getting our stuffready for tortillas.This is about a cupof the corn flour.The salt,just a matter of preference.You know,you can use a lot.You can use a little.You can use none.So, I'm just gonna seasona little bit.Always want a little bit of --a little bit of seasoningto bring out the flavorof the corn.I'm gonna waiton the water.We're gonna come back,and check on our salsa.And the tomatois kind of stuck.You get a little bit of thatfrom the tomatoes.After I take thisout of the pan,I'm gonna, like,just de-glaze itwith a little bit of water,just to scrapeall those bitsto put it into the salsa.The water's hot.Gonna mix it, slowly right now,just because it's hot to me.It doesn't have gluten in it,like wheat flour,so the more you knead it is notgonna make it tighter.It's not gonna make itwant to not press out.So, you can really workthis dough.This probably needsa little bit more water.I can feel itin my hand,that it's a little dry.Pretty good.So, take a piece off.Roll itbetween your hands.Press.You can see thatit doesn't --it's not sticking.But if I pull it,you can feel it pull awayfrom my hand, which is great.The big thing is, too, is, like,when you're rolling it around,you don't want to seecracking.That lets you know you probablydon't have enough water.If you feel it kind of cracking,add a little bit.A little goes a long way,so you want to be carefulhow much you add once youkind of have your dough.I'm gonna startwith the tomatillos,just becausethis doesn't require usto incorporate oilinto it.Gonna justblend it up.Add a little bitof salt.And that's it.Oh, yeah.A little bit more salt.A lot of good heat, a lot oftanginess from the tomatillos.And this is gonna keep inyour fridge for about a week.So, the chili morita salsa,again, is differentwith the ingredients,but it's also different because,in the end,we're gonna emulsifysome extra virgin olive oilinto it.We do need to still addsome salt to this.You can see thatthat's creamier looking.This is reallya lot looser.This has morethickness to it.Not al tortilla presseslook like this.This happens to bea tortilla press from Oaxaca,so it's a very specific styletortilla press.My abuela would always usethese cutouts.This is just a blacktrash bag.A lot of people use, like,Ziploc bags.They'll cut offlittle pieces.Just about, like,an ounce matza ball.Take the matza,kind of pat it downa little bit.You havethe two nylons.And you press.And you'll see...The tortillacomes right off.And the quesadillawe're making todayis something I sawin Puebla, Mexico,which is in the central region,just south of Mexico City.Everything about a quesadilla,to me, is ingredients.Don't make it complicated.You don't need to havea bunch of...of bunch of thingsthat go into it.You just wantto have somethingthat's really goodand delicious.The first thing, for our cheesethat I'm using todayis what they call\"quesillo.\"And then --sometimes they call it\"Mexican string cheese.\"You just tear it.So, you can usemozzarella,because this behavesal lot like mozzarella.It's gonna meltvery similar.It's an easymelting cheese.But you're just gonnahave a little bitof a different flavor.In Mexico,pork is king.Everywhere you see, some ofthe best dishes are pork-based.So, what we've got here --chicharrones.We've gotsquash blossoms.Squash blossoms are an integralpart if the tortilla in Mexico.And then, the last thingis this really cool herbcalledThis might bea little bit harder to find.You than alwayssubstitute cilantro.But this hasa very unique taste,because it's kind of gotthis blend of cilantro,and kind of mint,and anise, all together.Fat -- this pork lard,or monteca --is gonna be greatfor cooking.It's gonna give youtons of flavor.So, what I'm gonna do is,I'm just gonnamelt down some of this.For all intents and purposes,it's pork butter.And while it's hot, I'm gonnastart cooking our tortilla.Perfect.Let's melt our cheese.Our chicharron.One pieceof theOf course,the squash blossom.I'm gonna begenerous with that.That's like...really what makes it...makes it pop.The tortilla,at this point,is kind of partially cooked,and ready to fold.See the cheese melting?Now, this is the partwe're really gonna ramp it up.I'm gonna baste the tortillawith some of that pork fat,get the outside of itreally crispy.The tortilla is still raw,so it's gonna absorbsome of that flavor.Flip it over.Let it fry on that side.Do the same thingon this side.Back to the other side.You see, it's getting a littletoasty and blistered.The tortilla's gota really nice sheen.It's absorbingsome of that pork fat.Take a look.You can seethat's oozing out.this side'sa little bit toasty.I think I'm gonna cook the otherside a little bit more.I'm gonna bring this over herebecause the gooey cheese,the blossoms have wilted,chicharrones nice,and warm, and hot.Now, you have to decide whichsalsa you want to put inside it.So, now, we're gonna tastethe quesadilla.I put in some ofthe salsa serrano,because it's gonna add that justnice, , sharp spice.Real gooeyOaxacan cheese.It's like, nice, sweet,blue corn flavor.And you know, the great thingis that, you got all that pork,a little of that monteca,it's rich, and it's fatty,a little bit of that,like, acidic, spicy salsa,you know,to kind of cut the edge.Click the link belowfor today's recipes.♪♪♪♪\n"