Buzz
One of the first dishes I ever made for myself was a quesadilla, where I’d fold shredded cheddar inside a flour tortilla and microwave it until the cheese melted. It wasn’t authentic or perfectly balanced, but it worked for a 7-year-old.
Even at 7, I probably could’ve made a “real” quesadilla. All you need is to heat the tortilla in a cast-iron skillet, swap out the cheddar for Oaxaca cheese, and pan fry it until the cheese melts (I love when it oozes out and forms a crispy frico-like crust). You can add protein if you want, but I usually don’t—until I came across this recipe for Danny Trejo’s fried chicken quesadillas on Food52.
I first saw Trejo when my stepfather took me—an 11-year-old—to watch *Con Air* at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. I liked the movie and have enjoyed Trejo in everything since, but I adore this quesadilla more than I do most films. His recipe is well-crafted and well-balanced, featuring homemade fried chicken and a zesty yet creamy chipotle cabbage slaw.
You can—and should—make Trejo’s quesadilla just as the recipe instructs, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you can also toss in leftover fast food fried chicken, like I did yesterday afternoon.
I went to Popeye’s and grabbed a spicy eight-piece, devoured a drumstick as soon as I walked in the door, then chopped up some of the breast along with a generous amount—seriously, a *lot*—of crispy, salty skin. I placed a large flour tortilla in a skillet over medium heat, let it warm up a bit, then flipped it and evenly sprinkled Oaxaca cheese and the chopped fried chicken on top. After folding it over, I cooked it for about a minute on each side until the cheese melted. (For the crema, I made a quick version by blending a chipotle in adobo with 1/2 cup of sour cream.)
It’s easy to guess that this tasted amazing. You can’t go wrong with fried chicken or melted cheese, and combining them is nearly cheating. (But in food, there’s no such thing as cheating—only in sports and board games, which is why I prefer food to sports and board games.)
So yes, I highly recommend following Danny Trejo’s advice and filling your quesadilla with fried chicken, but next time, I’m taking it up a notch by ditching the meat entirely and going for a *skin-only* quesadilla—a rich, crispy, cheesy, gooey, salty creation—because the skin is the best part. That feels like cheating, but once again, there’s no such thing.
