Late summer in the city

You know it's getting toward the end of summer, and the start of fall by walking through the farmers market. Last week, I saw the first apples. One of the farmers had celery root. And today, for the first time in a long time, I bought leeks. Small ones, not baby ones, and not huge ones, but small ones. Just the right size for poaching, or for putting on a pizza with some olives. But my thoughts are turning toward the kind of thoughts that Ray Bradbury conjures up for me, in his wonderful book for "children," "Dandelion Wine."

I make a point of reading that book in August every year. It always makes me a little weepy, as we follow one summer in a young boy's life, and one summer in the small town where he lives. I didn't grow up in a small town, but I sort of did. Long Island City really is a small town, with houses with stoops, and gardens, and things like that. I guess I did have the kind of summers that Bradbury writes about, but I digress. One of the things that happens, is that late in the novel, one of the lead character's best friends comes running to him, horror stricken. It seems that the general store has put notebooks, pads, compasses (remember compasses?), protractors, and all kinds of school supplies in their window. And the shoestore has taken out the sneakers, and put oxfords in the winter. And everyone is thinking "OH MY GOD. SUMMER IS OVER. HOW COULD THAT BE?" The wise grandfather brings the boy down to the basement and shows him the rows and rows of dandelion wine that they made over the summer, and asks him to just look at the bottles, arranged by dates, and tell him what he sees. And VOILA. He remembers that that's the day he and his friend played marbles and he one the big augie, adn that was the day Granma made chocolate cake for him, and that was the day they went to the lake, and, and and.... Anyway, for me, this blog serves that function. When I look back and read about the dinners, the dishes, the people, yes, the summer of 2008 will not go away. Not unless I want it to. And I don't.

I will be coming back to that book in the future, because there is a whole lot of wisdom about cooking in it. Now, though, a recipe. One that is not so much summer centric, but one that in a way, sort of is, too. And I'm talking about quesadillas.

I don't make quesadillas often. I make them when I want to make "fun food," that I know people will eat. I can't think of many people who won't eat them. The way I make them, they take a little bit of time, but honestly, I think they're worth it. Try them.

You're going to need the larger sized, flour tortillas, and a baking sheet, that you line with parchment. You do this for two reasons. First, the tortillas tend to stick to the pan if you don't. Second, filling is going to spill out. The paper will keep the cheese and other goodies from burning.

You can get two big quesadillas on a baking sheet at a time. While two are baking, you can make more. And you will want to make more. Preheat your oven to 400. And collect your ingredients. There is always cheese. I use monterey jack, but you can use anything that melts well. Grate it. A pound is not too much for these, because people WILL want more. You can stop with cheese, but why, at this time of year, would you? Put two tortillas down on the parchment, and sprinkle them with cheese. Don't overdo it. Two ounces is plenty for a tortilla, so if you have a pound, you have enough for eight of these. Then, add some vegetables. SOFT vegetables. I like to use diced tomatoes, and chopped up I also like chopped tomatillos. You can come up with other ideas on your own, too. Just keep in mind that the veggie should be soft. So if it's something that starts hard (like leeks!), cook it first. Mushrooms are good, so are onions. Actually, so are cooked carrots. I'm not a big fan of putting beans in mine, but if you are so inclined, by all means. You can also incorporate some fresh herbs.

Put a second tortilla on top, and then do this to help them along. Take a big heavy can and press down on it. That will flatten them and help the cooking. Then put the sheet in the oven, and bake them for about eight minutes, or until the cheese fairly oozes out of them. You can make more while this is happening.

They need to sit for a few minutes to "firm up," because you'll want to cut them into at least six pieces. Eight is traditional, but I find it hard to cut them that small. Four is actually a good size too, if you don't feel bad about looking like a hog. I certainly don't. And of course, if you have a salsa of some kind around, by all means, put it on the quesadilla, or even inside of it while it's baking.

You'll change the filling in the winter. Fresh tomatoes give way to canned, or use cooked winter greens, or use meat like bacon or sausage or ham, or something like that. It's all good.

And read Dandelion Wine. I guarantee you, it will make you smile. It will remind you of whatever GOOD memories you had as a young one (some of us don't have too many of those, unfortunately, and we have to hold on to what we have), and perhaps you'll be inspired to make your own "dandelion wine," even if it doesn't involve dandelions, or wine.