Recipe: Goat Cheese Quesadillas with Smoked Salmon and Kumquat Relish

GOAT CHEESE QUESADILLAS WITH
SMOKED SALMON AND KUMQUAT RELISH

"I have hijacked this essentially Mexican dish to allow for multicultural flavor combinations. It is so easy and satisfying to sandwich any number of good cheeses between two crispy sheets of tortilla. (Tortillas, by the way, keep very well in the freezer). The quesadilla is a great vehicle for using up bits of cheese in your fridge as well as cooked leftovers like shrimp, chicken, beans, mushrooms-wherever your imagination takes you. Add a salsa and you have an impressive first course, or a light lunch."

FOR THE QUESADILLAS:
Eight (6-inch) flour tortillas
12 ounces creamy goat cheese
1/2 small red onion, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
FOR THE KUMQUAT RELISH:
1 dozen kumquats, sliced into rings with seeds removed
1/4 fresh green chile, minced
1 small bunch cilantro leaves, minced
FOR COOKING THE QUESADILLAS:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
FOR SERVING:
1/2 pound smoked salmon, cut into 24 small pieces
2 ounces salmon roe or caviar or per your preference and budget

Trim the tortillas, going around the edge of an inverted bowl (it should just fit inside the outer edge of the tortillas) with a sharp knife; this makes a neater presentation. Spread 4 of the tortillas out on a work surface, and divide the goat cheese among them.* Scatter the minced red onion over the cheese, season lightly with salt and pepper, and press the remaining 4 tortillas firmly over each bottom tortilla. Wrap the quesadillas with wax paper between them. They can be stored in the fridge at this point for a day or two.

MAKE THE RELISH:
Combine the kumquats, chile, and cilantro in a small bowl, and stir gently.

COOK THE QUESADILLAS:
Heat an 8-inch nonstick pan or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Coat the pan with a film of vegetable oil, and when it gets hot, add a teaspoon of butter; when it sizzles, add a quesadilla (see Chef's Trick). Using a spatula, peek at the underside periodically--you are looking for a golden brown color; this should take about 2 minutes. When the tortilla is brown, carefully turn the quesadilla over, tilting the skillet at 45 degrees, to prevent a "splashdown" of oil when the quesadilla hits the pan again; then brown the second side. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Cook the remaining quesadillas, adding more butter and oil as necessary. Keep the cooked ones warm in a 200 degree F oven, or simply assemble the garnishes and eat them as quickly as they come out of the skillet.

TO SERVE:
Cut each quesadilla into sixths with a very sharp knife or pizza wheel, and place a s lice of smoked salmon on each piece. Top the salmon with a spoonful of the kumquat relish and a dab of the caviar.

*ONE CAUTIONARY NOTE:
Keep the amount of filling to a reasonable level. Too much will make a soggy quesadilla, which is not a good quesadilla.

CHEF'S TRICK:
Butter tends to burn and turn bitter when cooking at a high temperature. To prevent this, fry in a combination of vegetable oil and butter-what we call in the business "fortifying." The vegetable oil raises the smoking point of the butter an gives you that rich buttery flavor without the burn.

Serves 6
Excerpted from Sparks in the Kitchen by Katy Sparks with Andrea Strong
Copyright 2005 by Katy Sparks with Andrea Strong. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.