When I was a kid, Friday night pizza parties were the highlight of the week. We’d order pizza from our favorite delivery place, carefully crafting the perfect pie from the list of standard toppings. Now that I’m older, I’ve realized that a real pizza party can be so much more.

Take your childhood memories and kick them up a notch with our recipe for Cornmeal Pizza Dough. Forget the standard marinara sauce and pepperoni slices – the sky is the limit when you make your own pizza at home. Try an Indian curry sauce for an ethnic twist on the Italian classic, or get in touch with your sweet side with a dessert pizza. Host a pizza party with family and friends and have everyone make their own mini pizza!

Need ideas? Check out these great recipes for Pizza with Spicy Lamb, Tomatoes and Cilantro or Smoked Eggplant Pizza with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pesto and Goat Cheese.

Cornmeal Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar or honey

1 cup warm water (110º to 115ºF—warm to the touch like bathwater, but not hot)

1/4 ounce (2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

3/4 cup fine cornmeal

1/4 cup coarse cornmeal (polenta)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Flour (unbleached, all-purpose) for dusting/kneading dough

Polenta or semolina flour for dusting pizza peel

Olive oil for the rising dough and for brushing the rolled-out dough

Cook’s note: Be sure to use liquid measuring cups for liquid and solid measuring cups for the solids.  For measuring solids, apply the scoop and sweep method.

Method/Steps:

Proof the Yeast: In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar into the warm water.  (Use an instant-read thermometer for temperature accuracy.) Sprinkle the yeast over the water/sugar mixture and stir gently until it dissolves, about 1 minute.  Let the mixture sit in a warm spot until a thin layer of foam covers the surface, about 5 minutes, indicating that the yeast is effective.  (If the bubbles have not formed within 5 minutes, discard the mixture and start over.)

Make Dough: Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, 2 types of cornmeal and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the yeast/water mix and the oil into the well.   Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the well a little at a time, until the flour is incorporated and the dough just begins to hold together. (If using a standing mixer, transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and insert the dough hook.  For kneading the dough in a mixer, follow the instructions listed in bold below).

Knead/Rise: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough gently as follows: press down on the dough with the heels of your hands and push it away from you, then partially fold it back over itself.  Shift it in a quarter turn and repeat the procedure.  Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, 9-10 minutes. (If using and mixer, turn the machine on setting number 3 and let the mixer knead the dough for only 5 minutes).  Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning to coat it completely on all sides with oil. (This prevents a hard crust from forming that would inhibit rising.)  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent moisture loss.  Set the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place (75º - 85ºF), until doubled in volume, about 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven: Place a pizza stone in the bottom of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 500ºF at least an hour before cooking the pizza. The oven should be VERY hot.

Roll It Out: Once the dough has doubled in bulk, remove the dough from the bowl and cut in half.  Do not work the dough at this point, as it will make it too elastic when you try to roll it out.  Instead, generously dust the dough with flour and begin to roll out.  If the dough is too elastic, let it rest, covered for 15 minutes then try rolling again.  Do this until the dough is rolled to your desired thickness.

Add Topping: Transfer the dough to a pizza peel that has been dusted generously with polenta or semolina flour. Brush the crust with olive oil.  Form a rim around the edge and fill with your favorite ingredients.

Cook Pizza: Transfer to the pizza stone and bake until golden, about 10-15 minutes.

Bon Appetit!

A new month at Parties That Cook means another Cookbook Club potluck lunch! This month’s featured cookbook is New American Table by Marcus Samuelsson, a native of Ethiopia who was raised in Sweden and moved to the US over 20 years ago. New American Table was voted best overall cookbook of 2009 by Epicurious, which made it a great candidate for the Cookbook Club.

With its liberal use of flavors and spices like cardamom, ginger, tamarind, soy, and coconut, New American Table banished any thought of what we considered “American Food” from our lunch table. Each dish was a melting pot of flavor, providing a great perspective on the meshing of various ethnic cuisines that often takes place in American kitchens – the adventurous ones, at least.

Roasted Nuts with Dried Sour Cherries: Taken from the Snack section of New American Table, Patty picked this dish because it requires few ingredients and can be made in less than 30 minutes. Almonds and walnuts are mixed with paprika and brown sugar and roasted in olive oil, then sprinkled with mint and tossed with dried cherries. It’s an easy to make and even easier to eat snack that can be mixed and matched with a variety of nuts, spices, and dried fruits.

Jicama-Radish Salad with Chive Dressing and Miso Chips: Esther had originally planned to make the Grapefruit-Radicchio Salad, but noticed a critical error in the recipe. Aside from its appearance in the title of the dish, the grapefruit is conspicuously absent from the ingredient list and recipe instructions. Oops! She turned instead to the Jicama-Radish Salad. The cool crunch of the jicama and granny smith  apples, along with the refreshing taste of the chive dressing made for a hit with the entire table. The miso chips – made with miso, nori and chili powder– were incredibly salty on their own, but paired well with the salad.

Spiced Rice: Maureen’s spiced rice, which incorporated almonds, raisins, Greek yogurt, saffron, cumin and cinnamon was another big success. There were a few substitutions and liberties taken here and there – I seem to recall some mention of lemon Pellegrino making its way into the pot. Regardless of what went into the pot, the end result was truly delicious. The crunch of the almonds was a pleasant surprise among the softer texture of the rice and raisins.

Empanadas with Peanut Mango Sambal: Crissy was concerned everyone may prefer the traditional crispy empanada shell to the more bread-like exterior created by the yeast dough used in these empanadas, but they flew off the plate at record speed. The beef and pork stuffed empanadas were a great match for the flavor packing ginger-coconut-coriander-peanut-mango dipping sauce. Marcus Samuelsson is certainly not shy with the spices.

Yogurt-Steamed Halibut: With perhaps the most elaborate ingredient list and methodology, Bibby’s recipe took five full hours to prepare. The recipe called for halibut, but Bibby opted for seabass instead. The fish and yogurt are wrapped in banana leaves with lemon and shitake mushrooms, then steamed. The spicy tomato sauce was an undertaking in itself, with at least 15 ingredients. The visual effect of the deep green banana leaves with the rich red tomato sauce was stunning.

Beer-Braised Short Ribs: Beth loves making short ribs, and picked this recipe because it provided a new and interesting twist on one her old favorites. Many of us have had beer-braised short ribs, but only a few have tried them with soy sauce and ginger. The ribs soak in the soy sauce and beer overnight, and are then cooked in another mixture of beer, soy sauce and spices for about 3 hours, until the meat is literally falling off the bone. These short-ribs were a fun spin-off from standard American fare.

Banana Bread Pudding with Hazelnut Kulfi: We all make mistakes in the kitchen, but only a true chef can take a mistake and turn it into an even better dish. Michelene managed to do just that when she accidentally left the bananas out of her banana bread pudding. She opted instead to caramelize and drape them across the brioche, raisin and chocolate packed pudding. Far from traditional, this bread pudding uses no custard; coconut milk serves as the only liquid in this interesting rendition of the classic. Moving even further from tradition, the kulfi, or “easy ice cream”, is actually a mixture of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream white bread and a variety of spices pureed together and frozen. It made for an interesting taste and texture, and I think a few of us are still trying to wrap our minds around it.

Spiced Melon Granité with Melon: On a quest for something different and absolutely unordinary, Suzanne picked the Spiced Melon Granité. We got an unexpected kick in this dish when she substituted spicy curry in the sweet curry topping. The combination of icy watermelon, frozen melon balls, grapefruit, black pepper and spicy curry was truly like nothing any of us had ever tasted before.

And last but most certainly not least, the PTC team had a few contibuting guests at this month’s Cookbook Club. Amro keeps the computers in the office running smoothly, and he’ll always be a welcome member at the PTC table, especially with contributions like the soda bread from Mazzetti’s Bakery in Pacifica. We tried one with raisins and one without – both were delicious. And of course, no meal is complete without good wine. We were lucky enough to sip on some of the best, courtesy of our friends Stu and Hayden from Crushpad. Thank you to all of this month’s contributors, and looking forward to another delicious Cookbook Club next month!

Rain, rain, go away. While it may technically be a good thing, the rain seems to have a lot of people feeling kind of ho hum this week. Last week’s bursts of sunshine got us thinking spring had arrived early, but the weekend forecast is a wet reminder that the Groundhog did see his shadow this year.

Wet weekends often mean lots of pizza and Chinese delivery boxes in the compost bin, but you can literally spice things up with our Cinnamon and Coriander Spiced Skirt Steak Recipe.

The blend of cinnamon, coriander, cumin and cloves will warm you from head to toe. So allow the rain to help you enjoy a relaxing night in, and remember that spring is just a few storms away.

Ingredients:

6 garlic cloves, minced to a paste

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 Tablespoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 pounds skirt steak, trimmed

Cilantro for garnish

Methods/Steps:

Preheat Oven to 400ºF

Spices: Mix the garlic, olive oil and salt together in a flat cake pan. Measure out the cumin, coriander and peppercorns into the base of a spice grinder.  Grind them together to a powder. Pour ground spices into the pan with the garlic paste and add the paprika, cinnamon and cloves.  Stir to combine.

Prepare the Steak: Trim the steak of silver skin, leaving most of the fat.  Rub the steak with the spice mixture. (Wash your hands thoroughly right afterwards.)

Grill: Preheat grill to medium-high heat (or if cooking inside, a rigged stove-top grill).   Place steak on the hot grill and cook for about 2 minutes until a nice crust forms (don’t burn spice rub, light grill marks are ok).  Turn and cook an additional 2 minutes.  Transfer the meat to a sheet pan.  When all the steaks have been browned, transfer meat to the oven and finish cooking, about 5 minutes.

Serve: Slice the steak into thin strips–on the bias, against the grain.  Serve immediately with a sprig of cilantro. Serves 8

With the explosion of the underground street food scene and mobile food carts in San Francisco, it seems that no one actually sits down at restaurants anymore. Food has become an adventure – a quest to find the newest, hippest, and best that the city has to offer. And while it’s all good fun, I’m not always in the mood to chase my dinner down after a long day at the office. So how can I find the newest and coolest eats without a Twitter account? Our takeout roundup helps you find San Francisco’s best fast food – gourmet style.

You can find a street food inspired lunch for under $10 straight out of the garage door of Kitchenette SF. Using fresh local ingredients, chefs create daily lunch menus featuring items such as the Slow Roasted Niman Ranch Pork Sandwich and Roasted Beet and Fromage Blanc Baguette. The window is open from 11:30-1:30 M-F, and supplies are limited, so arrive early for maximum dining pleasure.

For soul food served fast, check out Farmerbrown’s Little Skillet on Ritch St and Townsend. With menu items like Fried Chicken and Waffles, BBQ Pork, and a Po’ Boy of the Day, there’s something here for everyone. As full as you may be, don’t skip dessert here, the Mini Pecan Pies and Red Velvet Cupcakes are worth every calorie.

They may have just opened a new sit down location in the Mission, but the original Rosamunde Sausage Grill on Haight St has been providing San Franciscans with lunch and dinner to go for years. Famous for meaty options like the Beer Sausage, Nuernberger Bratwurst, and Chicken Cherry, Rosamunde also offers a daily Vegan Sausage like the Smoked Apple Sage.

Want to take your taste buds on an adventure? Green Coriander offers meat, vegetarian and gluten free friendly options with healthy organic Indian takeout. Order online before noon for same day pickup or delivery after 6 pm. You can be home enjoying Baigan Bharta and Chicken Curry before Jeopardy starts!

To satisfy your sweet tooth after a power lunch in the Financial District, grab a Walnut Fig Scone or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin from Batter Bakery. Though small, this tiny kiosk stationed outside of the Bank of America Building is packed with goodies. Open M-F 7:30 am-4:30 pm, Batter Bakery has your breakfast and afternoon pastry needs covered.

With takeout options like these, it’s easy to enjoy the best of the San Francisco street food scene without the scavenger hunt. Just pick up, sit back and relax, and savor every bite.

With the Super Bowl looming, the Vikings sulking back to the Dome, and New Orleans finally getting the celebration they deserve, it is time for us to give you some great recipes to bring to your Super Bowl party.

A football favorite is guacamole. How do I know this? Well other than it being a fact of life, 50 million tons of avocados are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday, this is more than Cinco De Mayo! Now if your team loses, you’ll still be able to impress your friends with your avocado knowledge!

Chef and founder of Parties That Cook, Bibby Gignilliat, shows you in this video how to make a delicious chunky guacamole, which is perfect for Super Bowl Sunday!

Another great option if you feel like offering something different for your Super Bowl party is our Tortilla-Crab Soup with Cilantro-Lime Crème Fraiche. This has some great flavors and is even a great dish to serve alongside your guacamole.

Soup:
6 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium sweet onion (about 2 cups), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
4 large scallions, separated: white parts finely chopped, green parts thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon coriander, toasted and ground
4 cups bottled clam juice
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups frozen baby peas, thawed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup of cilantro chopped

Creme Fraiche:
1/2 pound tomatillos - husked, rinsed and quartered
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup plus
2 Tablespoons creme fraiche
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Tortillas:
Canola Oil for frying
3 6-inch yellow or white corn tortillas, julienned, about 1 cup
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through

Methods/Steps:

Cook Bacon: Place cut bacon into a large stock pot over medium heat and cook until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel lined sheet pan. Set aside. Drain half of the fat from the pot and discard. 

Make soup: In the same stockpot, reheat the reserved bacon fat. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno and scallion whites to the stock pot and cook over medium heat until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Whisk in flour, cumin and coriander and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Whisk in clam juice and water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer soup for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add peas, corn and scallion greens. Bring soup to simmer over medium heat. Add lime zest, juice, kosher salt and cooked bacon.   

Creme Fraiche: In a blender, puree tomatillos with 1/2 cup of cilantro. Pour into a bowl and add creme fraiche, lime juice and salt.

Tortilla Strips: In a medium skillet, heat 1/2 inch of oil until simmering. Add tortilla strips in several batches and fry over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 2 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer tortilla strips to a paper towel lined sheet pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Serve: Reheat soup. Add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Mound crabmeat in center of soup bowl and ladle soup over crab. Garnish with the tomatillos, creme fraiche, cilantro leaf, and tortilla strips. Serve immediately.

After doing a roundup of some of our favorite restaurants in the Bay Area, we decided it would be a great idea to ask our Chicago counterparts for their most frequented and most favorite.

Avec – a very popular, therefore very crowded, restaurant. Many reviews say it is worth the wait and the communal tables add a new twist on the old restaurant environment.

Blackbird – Noted for its innovative menu and small but solid wine list.

North Pond – With a gorgeous view and knowledgeable staff, this would be a great place for a special occasion or visiting guest.

Adobo Grill – This is a great location to get something different than your usual Mexican food, but also a good spot for a delicious margarita!

Piccolo Sogno – This upbeat joint has great appetizers as well as an array of wines served by the glass.

Big Star – These homemade and creative dishes are served at a great price!

MK – Great food in an intimate atmosphere that’s not too packed together.

Fronterra Grill – This restaurant works with top notch ingredients and serves up some delicious Mexican dishes along with great margaritas and a wide selection of Mexican beers.

Custom House – Our chefs love the Braised Short Rib!

The Publican – a pork and beer lovers dream!

The Avenues – They have a fantastic 15 course tasting menu, set in the beautiful Peninsula of Chicago.

Everest – Our chefs see this as one of their favorite staples.

Sola – Awesome food and drinks. The room has great sound as well – you can hear the person sitting across from you.

Spring – This restaurant has great food, drinks AND service. A few of the PTC favorites are the Seared Maine Sea Scallops, braised oxtail, wild mushrooms, sweet soy, and baby bok choy.

Spacca Napoli – The service is great – your pizza comes out 5-10 minutes after you order them. All of their pizzas are made in the in-house wood burning Pizza oven. The pizza special with porcinis and truffle cheese is a favorite.

Mixteco – Great mole and it is BYOB!

Any or all of these restaurants are great options to show visitors, try out for the first time, or put on your regular list of restaurants – as tested and proven by our own Chicago foodies!

Remember not too long ago when the thing to do was be healthy, buy organic, go vegetarian? Well apparently that was a joke because the “thing” is now bacon. Bacon Vodka, bacon peanut brittle, bacon jelly beans, bacon gumballs, bacon wallets, bacon lampshades, bacon bras. It does not stop there and trust me it does not stop getting increasingly ridiculous. At first I thought this was a joke, a big practical joke on the average weight of Americans, and then it happened, the moment I realized this was all too real. I went to the grocery store searching for white chocolate to bake with. I found a wall of chocolate and figured this was where I would be finding my loot. But no. They had 7 varieties of bacon chocolate and no white chocolate. Now I am completely aware that NO ONE likes white chocolate, but are you really trying to tell me that there are more people who like bacon chocolate, than who like white chocolate? I was horrified.

There are some bacon products I can kind of understand (I will never completely understand bacon products):

• Bacon Mayonnaise: you can use this on BLT’s,… well that’s the only thing that could legitimize bacon mayonnaise
• Wrapping other things in bacon: I think this may be the culprit for making everyone crazy for bacon. My favorite recipe at Parties That Cook is the Bacon-Wrapped Prune/Persimmon with Blue Cheese and Honey-Balsamic Glaze. Another feature on the internet was bacon-wrapped hot dogs.

Ok the list ends there.

On to the list of bacon products that shouldn’t exist, because we all know these are the only reason we search the internet for bacon products:

• Bacon bra, enough said.
• Bacon flavored envelopes. The creators have this to say: “Technology has given us a lot lately. The car. TV. X-rays. The refrigerator. The Internet. Heck, we even cured polio. But what have our envelopes tasted like for the last 4,000 years? Armpit, that’s what.” I have a whole slew of things that I would place above flavored envelopes on the priority list, apparently that’s just me.
• Bacon candy (lollipops, jelly beans), baked goods, and ice cream (I love you Humphry Slocombe but I won’t be trying this new flavor).
• Bacon cake – an article online speaks of a woman who ordered a bacon wedding cake because it was her husband’s favorite thing other than her. Congratulations to him for finding the only woman on the face of the earth who would sacrifice her wedding day for his unreasonable obsession with bacon.
• Bacon soap – I guess I’ll know when I meet the people who bought this product.

The bacon fad is hilarious for a nice rainy day internet search. Some of my favorites were the Mr. Bacon vs. Monsieur Tofu action figures, St. Anthony – the patron saint of bacon, the “I Love Meat” sticker collection, along with many more. There are plenty of people who are plenty passionate about bacon and love these new bacon products, and power to you, because it looks as though EVERYTHING is being produced with a big fat injection of bacon. I, myself, will be using the bacon fad as amusement on a day when facebook activity is slow.

I will provide you with a DELICOUS bacon-included recipe in hopes that someday you will join me away from the dark side:

BACON-WRAPPED DRIED PLUMS WITH BLUE CHEESE
AND BALSAMIC-HONEY GLAZE

Plums:

9 ounces of thinly-sliced bacon, cut in half

2 ounces soft blue cheese

3 ounces cream cheese

½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Pinch of kosher salt

24 pitted dried plums (prunes)

Balsamic Glaze:

½ cup balsamic

1 ½ Tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Bacon: Lay the cut bacon on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Transfer to the oven and partially cook the bacon (only 5 minutes).

Make Stuffing: Using a hand mixer or fork, mix the blue cheese and cream cheese together. Add the thyme and salt. Chill in freezer for 5 minutes.

Stuff Prunes: Using a pastry bag fitted with ¼-inch tip, stuff each prune with 1 teaspoon of the cheese mixture. Wrap with a piece of partially cooked bacon and fasten with a toothpick.

Broil: Place on a baking pan and broil on one side until the bacon starts to brown (about 2-3 minutes). Turn and finish cooking until the bacon is crisp (another 2-3 minutes). If left too long under the broiler, the cheese will melt and ooze out. Transfer to a platter, garnish platter with a few sprigs of thyme.

Balsamic Glaze: Combine balsamic and honey in a sauté pan and simmer/reduce for 2 minutes. Drizzle or brush over plated prunes.

One of our new favorite spots in the city is Omnivore Books on Cesar Chavez. By the name, one might expect a small, dark bookstore with books like “Meat: How to Kill and Eat”. Au Contraire! Omnivore Books is an adorable and bright new bookstore that features everything to satiate the taste of anyone interested in indulging themselves in all things food. From vintage cookbooks to books on food to modern and local favorites like A-16 and a Platter of Figs. They also have signed books; an impressive collection including the likes of Michael Pollan, Nicolette and Bill Niman (now there are some omnivores!), Jacques Pepin, and M.F.K. Fisher, just to name a few.

Another thing we love about Omnivore is their array of different events that they offer at their bookstore! Many of the authors housed in the store have stepped foot inside to give their insight on the topic du jour. Some of their upcoming events include a talk with Paula Wolfert (Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking) and Patricia Unterman (owner of Hayes Street Grill and author of San Francisco Food Lover’s Guide). At the end of the month, they are having a punch contest!

We love that the store came from a love for food and a unique passion for collecting antique cookbooks. As the site says, it is very interesting to note the similarities and huge differences in food culture between time periods. We can’t wait to attend some of the events and watch Omnivore grow!

It’s crab season and we here at Parties That Cook are ready to provide you with a unique way to use your crab. From Santa Cruz to San Francisco, the temperature of the ocean creates a perfect habitat for crab season.

Although crab tastes delicious plain and dipped and butter, would you ever think of adding it to a quesadilla? Well we have, and it’s one of our favorites!

Crab Quesadillas:
1 pound of fresh crabmeat, picked through to remove any shells or cartilage 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup green Pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds), toasted in a dry pan for 3 minutes
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh marjoram, chopped
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
4 ounces Cotija cheese, grated
7 ounces Monterey Jack, grated

Salsa:
3 dried chipotle peppers, stem and seeds removed
1 cup boiling-hot water (for steeping peppers)
2 medium tomatoes, cored and cut in half
1/4 small white onion, coarsely chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
1/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 teaspoons lime juice

3-5 Tablespoons canola oil (for cooking)
10 eight-inch flour tortillas

Garnish:
Cilantro leaves

Methods/Steps:
Quesadilla Filling/Crab: In a medium bowl, mix the crabmeat with the lemon juice and salt.  Set aside.

Quesadilla Filling/Other: In a bowl, combine the pepitas, marjoram, parsley and the grated/crumbled cheeses. Mix.

Salsa: Put tomatoes on a sheet pan and broil them, turning once, until blackened on both sides (about 3 minutes a side); remove and discard skins. Remove stem and seeds from the chipotles.  Toast chipotles in a small dry sauté pan, pressing with a spatula, until they turn deep red and smell aromatic, about 30 seconds a side.  In a medium bowl, put peppers into the hot water; cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until soft, about 15 minutes. Purée peppers, tomatoes, onion, and cilantro in a food processor until smooth.  With machine running, pour in oil in a slow, steady stream.  Season with salt.  Put in serving bowl.

Assemble/Cook Quesadillas: Add 1 Tablespoon of canola oil to a non-stick pan over medium heat.  Lay a tortilla flat in the pan. Place some cheese and crab filling on top, and cover with another tortilla.  Cook for a few minutes until golden, then turn and cook until toasty on the other side.  Remove from heat.  Repeat until all ingredients have been used.

Serve: Cut each quesadilla into 8 triangles. Place on the serving platter, surrounding the salsa. Garnish with leaves of cilantro.

These are perfect for an appetizer or could even be made larger for a main course. Get to cooking because the best crab comes during the winter.