Shrimp, Bacon, and Mushroom Quesadillas with Mexican Herbed Sour Cream

So it was Saturday night and I was trying to figure out what I should whip up for dinner. After mentally running through everything that was in my freezer/fridge and pantry, I came up with the idea to do Quesadillas. But these aren’t “normal” quesadillas; these have shrimp, bacon, mushrooms, and gouda cheese in them. Swoon.

After I settled on my ingredients I thought that I couldn’t just serve them with plain old sour cream. That would be boring and probably not stand up well. So I went with a Mexican-ish Herbed Sour Cream. Which I am now addicted to and use on everything I can possible think of. And I swear the longer it sits in my fridge, the better it gets.

Shrimp, Bacon, and Mushroom Quesadillas with Mexican Herbed Sour Cream

*Serves 2

(Printable version)

Ingredients:

- 1 dozen raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

- 2 cups shredded gouda cheese

- 2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

- 1 cup sliced mushrooms, any variety – I used baby bella

- 6 bacon strips

- 3 large tortillas

- 1/3 cup chopped scallions

- Canola or Veggie oil, few tablespoons for frying

- S&P

Sour cream:

- 1 cup sour cream

- ½ teaspoon garlic

- 2 tablespoons fresh chives

- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro

- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

- Juice of ½ lime

Preparation:

Note: Make the sour cream mixture first and then set in the fridge. You’ll want to do this so they flavors have time to develop into a happy mixture.

Mexican-ish Herbed Sour Cream:

1. Mince fresh chives and cilantro.

2. In a small bowl combine herbs, sour cream, cumin, garlic, and lime juice. Whisk together and set in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Quesadillas:

1. The first step is to prepare all of your ingredients:

- Grate both cheeses, add to a large mixing bowl and toss together.

- In a medium sauté pan add a couple of tablespoons of butter and sauté mushrooms over medium-high heat for about 10 minute or until sort and golden in color.

- Cook bacon until crisp using whichever method you prefer. Then chop/crumble.

- Chop scallions.

- Cut shrimp into thirds and season with salt and pepper. Then sauté in a little bit of oil or butter over medium heat until firm and pink. Will only take a few minutes.

2- Take a large sauté pan and heat over medium heat. Add a tiny amount of oil – just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

3- Once hot, add one tortilla. Then add a light layer of cheese, followed by a sprinkling of shrimp, bacon, mushrooms, and scallions. Leave about a ½ inch border. Top with another layer of cheese. NOTE: Remember you are making 3 quesadillas so you want to “mentally” divide all ingredients by three to keep them as even as possible. Also because I fold mine in half, don’t be concerned about getting every inch of the tortilla covered.

4- With a spatula fold the tortilla in half and press down gently to even it out. Then flip over for a minute to let the other side cool.

5- Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly before slicing into wedges. Repeat process for remaining tortillas.

Thoughts: I really don’t think you can go wrong with quesadillas anyway you stuff them. These had a lot of flavors going on and I think they worked really well together. The sour cream mixture also was a good match for them and much more interesting than regular guacamole or sour cream.