Wednesday, March 27, 2013

(Leftover Ham Week) Ham and Broccoli Stem Quesadillas (Quick Take)


http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html


I can appreciate the head-scratching that a vegetarian would do upon seeing me wash the farm share broccoli, remove the cabbage white caterpillars that had been feasting on it, escort them outside--away from my garden but with a leaf so they won't starve--then head back inside to dice ham.

What can I say?  I love food, and currently have no medical reason prohibiting me from eating all of it.  Not all at once, of course.  And I love that my farm share doesn't use pesticides on the food my family and I eat.  I can escort a few bugs outside knowing that the food us critters are eating is safe.

I'm happy to say I've finally mailed in my check for this year's summer CSA.  I'd been meaning to for weeks, but now it's a done deal.  Let the countdown begin!  I don't know how we'll handle a large farm share with only 3 eaters, so expect a lot of posts about the 'putting up' of anything that I can put up.  Thanks to Tammy of Agrigirl I've got ideas for lettuces, but today, we're talking about broccoli stems.

You know I hate to waste Swiss chard stems, and broccoli stems are no different.  While living in Richmond I learned how to make a delicious black bean soup that called for diced broccoli stem, and ever since then haven't looked at them as an afterthought.
Note to self--make that soup and blog about it.

After I wrote up this post, I saw this post by Karen of Soup Addict about making an open faced quesadilla with a fried egg on top.  Next time, I'm totally trying that--ham and eggs and broccoli? Yum!

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/03/leftover-ham-week-ham-and-broccoli-stem.html

(Leftover) Ham and Broccoli Stem Quesadillas

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 cup broccoli stem, finely chopped (besides the cowipidders, the composting pigs also got the leaves)
2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup (leftover spiral sliced) ham, diced
1 Tablespoon butter
4 large tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend, but you could go in a different direction w/ swiss)
salsa, guacamole, other toppings of your choice

Preheat a small or medium skillet (my 'perfect for 2 fried eggs' skillet was on the small side but I survived) over medium heat, and stand by to preheat a large skillet.  In the smaller skillet, add a teaspoon or so of cooking oil.  Sauté the red onion and broccoli stem until tender, 5-10 minutes.
When they're about done, preheat the larger skillet over medium heat.  Add the parsley and ham to the smaller skillet, heat through.
In the larger skillet, (still dry) lay one tortilla.  When it puffs up, flip it over, and place 1/4 of the contents of the smaller skillet along one side.  Top with 1/4 cup cheese.  Fold the tortilla in half, pressing down with the spatula.  Or is it turner?  My daughter learned all the correct terms in her Real Skills class over the summer, and was correcting me right and left, but I've gone back to my old ways.  Anyway, the tool you use to fold the tortilla in half?  Use that tool to press down on it and then use the same tool to flip it over to heat the other side.  If the tool you chose is your fingers, maybe you'd like to rethink that choice.  Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Repeat with the rest of the tortillas and filling.
Serve with the toppings of your choice.

This post is playing with the other kids at the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up at Gastronomical Sovereignty,  What's Cookin' Wednesday at Buns In My Oven, Taste and Tell ThursdayWhat's In The Box at In Her Chucks, the Farm Girl Blog Fest and the Clever Chicks Blog Hop over at The Chicken Chick.

21 comments:

  1. I love that flavor combination. I never think about using the broccoli stems, but I'm definitely going to remember that. And an open-face quesadilla with a fried egg sounds amazing! Great tip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa,
      I never thought about broccoli stems until I took a cooking class in Richmond which specifically called for them--and now if my daughter isn't trying to snag all the broccoli first, I use them.

      Thanks!

      Delete
  2. Can't say I am much a fan of broccoli stems. I usually buy broccoli crowns so we don't have stems to deal with. Wasteful, I know! I do like quesadillas. Have you ever made your own tortillas? They are to die for! And I make mine with almost all whole wheat flour. We are having them tonight, in fact, with fish tacos. Yum!
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah,
      I've never made my own tortillas--I'll check out your blog when I decide to take the plunge!
      When I buy broccoli, I usually buy crowns. But when I get it from the CSA farm share, I try and use the whole thing.
      Confession time--I frequently waste the ends of sliced bread. I prefer sandwiches without the heel.

      Thanks!

      Delete
    2. Ooh, save those ends in the freezer and make bread crumbs when you have a bunch. Or dice them up for French toast casserole or croutons (check out the blog for directions for both). I am a bread maker, so I have lots of ways to use up bread that is too crusty, starting to dry out or was too dense to begin with. ;) I never want to throw out what I worked hard to make, even when it is too dry for sandwiches.
      Sarah

      Delete
  3. These look freaking fantastic. I just don't think there are enough cooks in this world like you Kirsten.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a great way to use every single bit of that broccoli plant (well, minus those little caterpillars). I'm going to think of this recipe the next time I make quesadillas for dinner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dara,
      Yep, I don't think any of the broccoli went into the compost in original form--between the humans, the composting pigs, and the caterpillars we ate it all up!
      Please let me know how it turns out!
      Thanks!

      Delete
  5. I'm growing a bunch of broccoli right now and I didn't even know you could use the stems. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lauren,
      Broccoli stems, swiss chard stems . . . haven't met a stem I don't like.
      Lucky you to have something growing in the garden! My garlic/shallot/onion bed has popped through the mulch I added back in November, so there's signs of life in the garden.

      Thanks!

      Delete
  6. As skittish as I can be about food, I can understand removing the caterpillars. Gotta love CSA produce. I've been removing little buggies from my farmer's market spinach before ingesting it. At least it lets me know it's organic, right?
    Great use of the broccoli stems by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meghan,
      Why am I not more skittish about food? Huh, never thought about it. I'm not crazy about raw meat, that's for sure, but I guess I'm cool with most veggie weirdness.

      Thanks!

      Delete
  7. Great idea, looks so good...........Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!


    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino

    The Chicken Chick

    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy,
      Thanks for hosting!
      The sheer variety of topics astounds me.

      Delete
  8. I have to admit, my poor stems never get any love! But now they have a proper home...bathed in cheese and wrapped in a warm tortilla. Sounds like heaven to me :)

    Thanks for sharing and linking up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heather,
      My daughter just scarfed up the stems from last night's broccoli--she's a bit like your Harper in that respect--so I'll have to overwhelm her with broccoli so I can have some stems.
      Thanks for hosting!

      Delete
  9. We try to use our stems as well, from swiss chard, broccoli, etc. I also use chopped broccoli stems in fried rice and stuffing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an excellent idea--I never think about fried rice and stuffing.
      Thanks!

      Delete
  10. Well, I also like using the stems but no so much the ham. My boys live on things wrapped in tortillas.

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    Replies
    1. Tammy,
      There's something about hand held food, I think. My kids like many things wrapped in tortillas, too!
      Thanks!

      Delete