Three Cheese Quesadillas with Cranberry Chutney

Wednesday 5 January 2011



Do you like cheese like I like cheese?? I am betting you do!

Funny thing is . . . when I was a child I did not like cheese at all . . . not unless it was bright orange and came wrapped in flat celophane squares . . .



Or was bright orange and came in a rectangular box (read Velveeta here). As an adult I have come to question the value of a cheese product that doesn't need refrigeration . . . and that colour, well . . . 'nuff said.



Seriously though, I really did not like cheese very much unless it was artifical cheese. I have come to love and appreciate all sorts of cheeses though, which is a very good thing . . .
Unless of course you are trying to keep your weight down, which I'm not really very good at it seems . . .



I love all kinds of cheese now . . . stinky cheese, sharp cheese, creamy cheese, cheese full of blue bacteria . . . you name it, I love it.



These fabulous quesadillas are a perfect way to get rid of some of the cheese you have hanging around in your fridge after Christmas. You don't have to use the three cheeses I have suggested of course . . . but these three do work incredibly well together. Crisp, buttery and nicely browned on the outside, and scrummy yummy and gooey on the inside. . .



It goes without saying that the garlic butter on the outside may not go with everything. Use your discretion, and enjoy!




*Three Cheese Quesadillas With Cranberry Chutney*
Serves 8 to 12 as an appetizer or 3 to 4 as a light lunch, along with some salad
Printable Recipe

s small cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 TBS butter at room temperature
8 ounced medium cheddar cheese, grated coarsely (2 cups)
1 1/4 ounces Gran Padano Cheese, finely grated (1/2 cup)
4 ounces fresh Goat's Cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup)
4 (9 to 10 inches in diameter) flour tortillas
Cranberry Chutney to serve (see recipe below)

Bring a small pot of water to the boil. Drop in the garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and allow to cool. Once cool, peel and mash in a bowl, along with the butter, mixing in well. Set aside.

Combine all the cheeses in a bowl. Spread one side of each tortilla with some of the garlic butter. Set on a work surface, buttered side down. Sprinkle one half of each with some of the cheese mixture, dividing it equally amongst the four. Fold the other half over the cheese, creating half moons, and lightly press down.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add half of the tortillas and cook on one side until nicely crisp and lightly browned. Flip over and crisp and brown the other side. Place into a warm oven to keep warm while you cook the other two. You can keep them warm in the oven for about half an hour if need be.

When ready to serve, cut into wedges and place on a heated tray along with a bowl of cranberry chutney. Delicious!



*Cranberry Chutney*
Makes 4 cups
Printable Recipe

This lovely chutney makes a wonderful gift and is such a lovely change from the usual cranberry sauce. It goes beautifully with turkey, ham or chicken. We just love it.

3 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup sultanas
1/2 cup chopped candied peel
1/2 cup chopped peeled onion
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp salt
2 whole cloves
2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp dried chilies



Place the vinegar, water, both sugars, lemon juice and salt into a heavy non-reactive saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring to help dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved add the cranberries, sultanas, candied peel, onions, garlic, cloves, celery seed, ginger and chilies. Simmer gently, stirring often, uncovered for 45 minutes. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. This will keep for up to a year. You can, of course, just put it into jars for giving away and immediate use, but if you do want to keep it longer, you really must process it in the water bath. Enjoy!



You can play with chutney flavours as well. A good mango chutney would go wonderfully with a mixture of cheddar and blue cheeses! (just a suggestion!) Let your imagination go wild! I do!

12 comments

  1. Çok leziz ve iştah açıcı görünüyor. Ellerinize, emeğinize sağlık.

    Saygılar.

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  2. I'm still developing my taste buds in the cheese stakes but Hubby will love this recipe ;0)

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  3. i love cranberry chutney!! this looks gorgeous!!

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  4. What a lovely combo..Did you hear me thinking of you yesterday? I found Flake bars:)

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  5. This looks delicious Marie. I have a recipe for bleu cheese,brie and walnut quesadillas with pear salsa that is very reminiscent of these. They are always a hit. I will definitely be trying your recipe.

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  6. Dear Marie I adore quesadillas and the kids the same!! And these look awesome, Im hungry!! send you huggs to you and Todd, Love ya!! gloria

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  7. Marie why are you doing this? I've never seen this method before. Is it to make it milder, and if so, is that your particular taste or something done in England?

    Sharon

    "Bring a small pot of water to the boil. Drop in the garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and allow to cool."

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  8. I have a confession to make. Two confessions, actually. Marie, I don't know if you've noticed this, but since January 1st I've left comments for every post you've written. I don't think I've said so much as, "Boo," in 2009. In 2010, I began leaving comments. Not often and for that I truly apologize. I do feel bad, that I "take" every bit of information from the blogs I read, but rarely do I take the time to say, "Thank you, great recipe, wonderful insight, and/or "God bless you. On New Year's Eve I made a few resolutions. Mind you, I make resolutions EVERY New Year's Eve and, unfortunately, I break them a few days after making them. I'm overwhelmed with guilt because I believe, at the moment I committed to them, that I would see them through. How hard can keeping a commitment possibly be? Exactly. Well, my MAIN resolution was to leave a comment, after EVERY post, on the blogs that I read EACH day. I do read "A Year From Oak Cottage" daily, but I don't want to overwhelm you with a lot of babble, so I'll limit my comment to the "English Kitchen," and Kirsten's blog, "Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker." I read a LOT of blogs, but yours and Kirsten's are the ones I visit a couple times each day. I'm SURPRISED I've reached day 5. I hope to make it to day 365. Thank you, Marie, for all you share on your blogs.
    My second confession is, I don't like chutney. At least, I don't THINK I like it. I should, at least, give it a try. Growing up, my mother told my siblings and I that we couldn't say we didn't like a "food" until we tasted it. We had to take one bite. If we didn't like it, so be it -- we never had to taste it again. Along the way I discovered a multitude of foods that I actually love, when I honestly believed I disliked them ... before tasting them. What would the world be without sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, bleu cheese, broccoflower, zucchini and the list goes on. Chutney? My mother's best friend, Shirley Valentine, her name IS Shirley but her last name isn't Valentine. Shirley looks and has the same mannerisms of Shirley Valentine/Pauline Collins, and that's how I refer to her. Anyway, Shirley LOVES to cook and her specialty, according to her, is chutney. Her son is a great chef and has been employed, around the world, by the best 5 star restaurants, but he didn't inherit his culinary skills from his mother. Anyway, Shirley got into the habit of bringing jars of chutney to the homes of her family and friends whenever she stopped to visit. I take it because no one in her house would eat it. I'm not being mean, but it smells awful. I can't being myself to taste it. Neither could my mother, and my mother was the nicest, most gracious woman who's ever walked on the face of this earth. If my Mother didn't like something, she would smile and say, "Thank you very much for the "whatever it was," I appreciate the effort it took to prepare this, and it was nice of you to think of me, but please don't make it for me again." I LOVE quesadillas! I'll just have to pass on the chutney. :( Thanks for the "cheese" ideas. In the desert, we usually use queso fresco and/or Monterey jack and Colby combo. Oh, did I mention I've never tried goat's cheese, or goat's fudge, either? When I was a child, farmers sold goat's cheese and fudge by the roadside. I'm thankful my Mom never stopped because I couldn't imagine having to take a bite. Goats frighten me!

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  9. This looks absolutely fabulous! I love the thought of using goat cheese in a quesadilla, and well, with the cranberry chutney this is a near perfect meal in my book! Thanks for sharing! Lovely photos, too!

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  10. I am so excited by your Three Cheese Quesadilla recipe! I think these quesadillas would be absolutely AMAZING with the Red Pepper Jam I posted this week, don't you? It hadn't occured to me how perfect it would be to serve this jam (instead of the chutney you use) with quesadillas (DUH!). Thanks for the idea and the recipe!!

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  11. We had fantastic cheese in Australia when I was growing up and I developed my taste for all kinds of cheese from an early age. There was also the same sort of processed cheese you mention (ours was called Kraft Processed Cheese and was in a blue box) though not orange (I think that's a North American thing - our cheese was yellow, even good old Kraft "Soap" as we called it - hee, hee. Mum grated it for cheese sauces etc. But we had matured cheddar cheese mostly on sandwiches. And mum bought assorted cheeses for their wine and cheese evenings, so we got to try all sorts of exotic things. I can't think of a cheese that I don't like :)

    We had these lovely, cheesy morsels of goodness for lunch today. I had everything at home, so it was quick and easy. I halved the chutney ingredients to make a smaller quantity, but regretted it once we tasted it. That chutney could be used in quite a few dishes, so I shall make up more of it as it is really, really tasty!

    We enjoyed this so much. An ideal lunch while sitting at the window watching the snow gently fall.

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    Replies
    1. I love that you are making your way through my recipe list Marie. That makes me happy! I have not made Quesadilla in a while. I need to rectify that! I have some chutney left from Christmas also! Happy you enjoyed these! What a great way to pass the time, watching the snow fall. We had a snowy day here yesterday also! xoxo

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