Smoked Salmon Quesadillas With Black Bean Puree Recipes

Serve: 6
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound smoked salmon, cut into ¼ inch dice
- 1 canned low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup dried black beans, picked over and rinsed
- 1 ham hock
- 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
- 6 flour tortillas, each 8 inches in diameter
- ½ cup shredded jalapeno Jack cheese
- 6 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, just the leaves
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Freshly ground pepper and Kosher salt
Methods:
1. Mix the blacks beans, ham hock, chicken stock, garlic, cumin seed, chili powder and thyme sprig in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. When boiled, reduce the heat to low and simmer slowly, uncovered, until the beans are very tender, about 1.5 hours. Add some water or a little more stock to ensure the beans are covered during cooking.
3. Remove the ham hock and thyme sprig.
4. Drain the beans, reserving the stock, and place them in a food processor. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed and adding some of the reserved stock to create a puree the consistency of thick ketchup.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
6. While the beans are cooking, melt the butter over low heat in a sauté pan.
7. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent for about 10 minutes.
8. Drain the onion in a sieve placed over a bowl, and reserve the butter and onion separately.
9. In a 10-inch sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved onion butter.
10. Add the tortillas one at a time and brown lightly on both sides, adding additional butter as necessary.
11. As the tortillas are browned, blot them with paper towels to remove excess butter and set aside.
12. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the tortillas in a single layer on 2 baking sheets.
13. Sprinkle each evenly with an equal amount of the lack cheese. Using the squeeze bottle of bean purée, create a star pattern, or whatever design you like, on the cheese.
14. Place in the oven until thoroughly warmed and the cheese have begun to melt, about 5 minutes.
15. Remove the quesadillas from the oven and immediately divide among 6 plates.
16. Evenly divide the smoked salmon among the quesadillas.
17. Garnish with the onion, sour cream, and cilantro leaves.