Chorizo, Fresh Corn and Black Olive Quesadilla with Fire Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa and Guacamole

This is what will be, I vow, the first of many meals this summer in which our famous Indiana sweet corn will be included in some way. Sometimes, it will be the star of the show and probably on most occasions, it will play the roll of best supporting ingredient.  In either case, the pure sweet tender kernels will be showcased in their best light.  In the past, I have not made an attempt to be very creative with my use of corn.  I have always enjoyed it most when the whole cob is dropped in a pot of simmering water, then left in the pot for about 10 minutes with a lid on and the heat off.  Then slathered with butter, crunchy coarse sea salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper.  While I maintain that corn prepared in this fashion is hard, if not impossible to beat, I will make my best attempt to find other ways to enjoy the plethora of Indiana sweet corn picked fresh daily and on sale at a farmers stand near you.

I purchased some magnificent heirloom tomatoes at the farm stand yesterday, but I did not want to use them for salsa because they are too pretty.  I really wanted to save them for their own special use!  So, I purchased several inexpensive tomatoes at the grocery store, but found that they were woefully under ripe.  A great way to pump up the flavor of a tomato is to roast it in the oven to develop some caramelization and dehydrate a bit which will concentrate the flavors.      

I roasted one under ripe tomato, which was cut into eights, seasoned with a canola oil and salt and pepper and placed on a parchment lined baking sheet, in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Next, I added the roasted tomato, 1 regular tomato, onion, garlic, 1 chipotle pepper, fresh lime juice, fresh cilantro and salt to a food processor.  After pulsing a few times it was the perfect consistency and combination of sweet roasted tomato and bright fresh tomato flavors with just the right amount of smokey heat.

I love guacamole and, if you do too, you will be happy to hear how easy it is to make at home.  All you need is 1 very ripe avocado, a small minced clove of garlic, a bit of finely chopped onion, chopped fresh cilantro, lime juice, coarse salt and a minced jalapeno for mild heat or a serrano chili for a little more fire.  Mash all ingredients together with a potato masher until you get a nice creamy consistency but, at the same time, keep it chunky. 

The quesadilla was very simple to prepare as well.  In a large skillet, I sauteed about 1/4 cup of chopped onion and 1 large chopped clove of garlic until translucent.  I added the corn from 1 cob and cooked it for just a minute before adding about 1/4 pound of fresh bulk chorizo.  When the sausage was cooked through I added a small can of drained sliced black olives.  To assemble the quesadilla I added shredded cheese to one side of a flour tortilla, topped it with some of the filling, some more cheese  and another flour tortilla.  Then into a hot pan with some butter for about 5 minutes per side or until the tortillas are golden brown, the cheese has melted and the filling is hot and steamy.  Wait about 5 minutes before cutting into quarters and enjoying!