foodie fridays: devil in a ‘dilla with apricot bourbon glaze

I just can’t do it.

Every time they appear on the TV screen, I immediately shut my eyes. My heart begins to beat quickly as if there is a large gaggle outside my front door. And my hands begin to perspire because I have no idea how to use a crossbow, nor do I know a guy named Darryl.

I’m talking about the Walking Dead zombies.

Yes, I realize I’m 31 years-old and its a made-up TV show, but a girl can only handle so much neck-gnawing, intestine-eating and knife-stabbing action! The funny thing is, zombies are the dumbest and least scary in the realm of horror creatures. Jason, Freddy, and Mike Myers are the all-time scariest characters that I would like to permanently erase from my memory.

I remember accidentally watching Jason one Halloween when I was in grade school and sleeping on my parents floor because I was so freaked out he was going to find and ’86 me. Oh, and then there was the time I watched the Exorcist because my brother thought it was a good idea. I slept with crucifix for over a month.

Clearly, anything with horror on the tube is not my cup of tea. All I know is that I hope Darryl survives the show because he is clearly a badass and if the Apocalypse goes down, I need his number. But let’s talk real quick about something that is far from scary. Yes, it has the word devil in it, but it’s more like let’s be naughty because it’s Friday, yo.

We are all familiar with the famous appetizer, Devil on Horseback. A date stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in bacon. One of my favs! But I thought it would be fun to put the devil in a different vehicle. Enter the, quesadilla. Fill it with all the usual ingredients, but a little more cheese. It’s so easy a zombie could do it!

Print Recipe

Devil in a ‘dilla with Apricot Bourbon Glaze

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

For the quesadillas:
4 flour tortillas
1 4oz plain goat cheese, room temperature
1 ½ cups dates, pits removed, cut in half
4 pieces of bacon, cooked, chopped
1 jalapeno, sliced into rounds
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

For the apricot bourbon glaze:
¼ cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons bourbon

Directions:

For the quesadillas:
Preheat a panini press. Spread about a tablespoon of goat cheese on one side of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half creating a crescent. This will give you a guideline of how much to fill on one half of the tortilla so you don’t overfill. Next, add dates, once piece of bacon, three jalapeno rounds and about ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Fold the tortilla and place on panini press. Let it grill for about two or three minutes. Remove from panini and repeat with remaining tortillas. Pour apricot bourbon glaze over top and serve immediately.

For the apricot bourbon glaze:
In a medium saucepan, add the apricot jam and bourbon. Bring to simmer and stir. Cook for about a minute or until warmed through.

All images and text ©Lauren Grier for The Curious Plate