A Yank Take on Quesadillas

This past summer, when we were in Maine, my daughters and I visited a fascinating restaurant that had a variety of interesting globally-inspired, locally sourced dishes. By far, the best thing I tasted was the cheese quesadilla appetizer. Had I known how good it was, I'd have ordered two and skipped the main course. I also would have taken a photo so you could see what lives on in my memory.

I imagine the quality of the ingredients had something to do with the flavor, but what won me over was the cheese crust on the outside!

You know how when you make grilled cheese, you get the crispy parts where the cheese melted off the bread and toasted on its own? The entire crust of this was like that. I'm not entirely sure how they did it, but it was amazing - an entire cheese crust on the outside - and then there was the cheesy goodness inside.

I'd also had a veggie quesadilla recently that was okay (though it looked like it had been made with frozen veggies).

I decided I wanted to try to combine the two.

The result wasn't particularly pretty (my technique in crust-making left something to be desired), but it sure did taste good!

 First, I tried putting shredded cheese on the outside of the tortilla. Once it was melted, I flipped it to add the fillings - shredded pre-cooked chicken, veggies, and more cheese.

It didn't hold together well once I flipped it because I always tend to overfill with yummy fillings.

It's not a great photo, but you can get a bit of an idea about how the cheese crusted the outside.

Edited because I came up with a better plan.

After typing this up, I was hungry, but I had to take Fenway for a walk. SO, as we walked, I pondered how to improve on it.

Problem #1 was overstuffing. Not necessarily a problem if you prefer taste over appearance.

so - just cheese and chicken this time

Problem #2 was the cheese not spreading well.

Solution - I put the tortilla in the pan and put the cheese on top to melt at low heat. Once the cheese was melted, I flipped it for the crustiness. Then I put in the cheese and chicken.

For the top part, I decided to experiment with melting the cheese in the microwave. That was still pretty good, but not as good as the first way.

Then I tried the pan solution, but folding it over. I think that worked best.

Photographic evidence:

So, what do you think? Would you like a Yank Quesadilla?