quesadillas florales
edible flowers and herbs harvested from my garden this morning
rose, geranium, lavender, day lily, marigold, mint
Once again I turn to John Sedlar for inspiration. After a most enchanting lunch at his restaurant Rivera in downtown Los Angeles, we fell head-over-heels for his Modern Southwest Cuisine. The chef serves tortillas florales with “indian butter,” a spread made from avocado. Here, I take his idea to embed flowers into the masa and make decorated quesadillas filled with brie.
making tortillas
2 c. corn masa flour
maiz seleccionado y nixtamalizado
(selected corn treated with lime)
sprinkle 1/4 t. sea salt
add 1 1/4 c. water, mix thoroughly to form a soft dough
form masa into a ball
cover masa with damp cloth, let rest 5 minutes
take a piece of dough
roll between the palms to form a ball
cover masa balls with a damp cloth to keep moist
tortilla press
place a sheet of plastic wrap on the press, place one ball in the center, cover with another sheet of wrap
close lid and press down on lever
open lid, remove top layer of wrap
decorating tortillas
rose and marigold
rose, geranium and lavender
rose and mint
after placing the decoration, re-cover the tortilla with wrap, apply the press again
leave tortillas in individual wrappers until ready to cook
making quesadillas
slice brie, remove most of the rind
heat an ungreased skillet or comal over medium-high heat
add tortilla to the pan, cook about 5o seconds on each side
keep tortillas warm between folds of cloth napkins
cook plain tortillas, top with slices of brie
when brie starts to melt, top with a decorated tortilla
slice quesadillas into quarters
pour refreshing beverages
and serve quesadillas florales!
Project Food Blog
- Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where thousands of Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year.
- Voting for entries on the first challenge will kick off September 20th, and contestants will be whittled down over the next 12 weeks via exciting challenges related to food blogging.
- Entries are voted on by Foodbuzz Featured Publisher peers and rated by our panel of judges including: Dana Cowin, Editor-in-Chief of FOOD & WINE Magazine; Nancy Silverton, Founder La Brea Bakery, Co-owner Mozza; Pim Techamuanvivit, Author of ChezPim.com and The Foodie Handbook
- Winners advance to the next challenge, including one lucky Reader’s Choice winner who earns auto advancement to the next challenge (solely based on Reader votes; not applicable in the final round).
- Join the fun! Follow Project Food Blog for contest updates and help us discover the next Food Blog Star!
(from Foodbuzz.com here)
Challenge #4: Picture Perfect
Challenge Prompt: Sure, you can take a pretty picture. But your task here is to go above and beyond and use photography to create a step-by-step, instructional photo tutorial. It could be anything from how to bone a chicken to how to make your favorite recipe, but your photos need to guide the reader through the steps.
UPDATE:
Votes may be cast now through Oct. 14th. If you are a fan of quesadillas florales, please vote here! Muchas Gracias!
Brilliant! These are the most beautiful tortillas I have ever seen…..and with brie – Yum! Congratulations, Lori Lynn, on another winner. You can count on my vote to help move you into the next round.
LL, as I was reading this post again (I just had to) I wondered what the flowers taste like. It’s hard to taste the edible flowers with the eyes. Could you please offer some insight to the taste? Thanks. FA
You have returned the summer flowers to me in my mind and heart by respecting them and doing justice to their beauty. Lovely.
Of course you moved up in the challenge, never did I doubt for even a second! This is just beautiful LL.
These are stunning and make such a gorgeous presentation don’t they!!
How do you do it? This is stunning. It’s informative sure, but it is beautiful too and it looks just like you. GREG
Beautiful! Think how many will enjoy the benefits of your labor (of love!). I want to make these with my young niece and nephew. A great family project, and your demonstration was so detailed and well photographed. Sure to be a winner on the net and in our kitchens! Thanks!
These are the prettiest tortillas I’ve ever seen!
You’ve got my vote!
Wow! Too pretty to eat. Great job on your submission.
The most beautiful dish in history, I’m certain of it!
Absolutely GORGEOUS/STUNNING!
Such a unique and elegant idea!
~ Mary
How cool! wonderful for brunch, tea or mothers’ day!
What an extraordinarily beautiful idea! Just stunning, bravo.
Wow, so pretty!! Great post!
wow, those are very pretty. first time i’ve seen flowers used in quesadillas. fantastic job – you’ve got my vote! good luck!
Those are so beautiful and creative! Such a great idea to prettify quesadillas. They look like pieces of art. You’ve got my vote!
These are the most adorable quesadillas I’ve ever seen. I knew rose, marigold and lavender are edible but day lily and geranium, that’s’ new to me and since one of my geranium bloomed yesterday I’ll give it a try. Thanks for sharing
Those are the prettiest quesadillas ever! I have some lavender… might give this a go….
I LOVE this…it’s so creative and so up my alley! So happy to have discovered you through PBF- best of luck moving forward!
These are the prettiest tortillas I’ve ever seen!
simply gorgeous, I’ve never seen anything like it!
How GORGEOUS and elegant! This would make a perfect bite for a wedding. You should trademark your idea, I suspect it could become very popular 🙂 Pictures are also gorgeous. This is a perfect post, congratulations!
Awwwww…that’s the prettiest quesadilla I have ever seen, ever. Great job. Good luck in this round.
How cool!!! These are so pretty.
These are so beautiful, and you make them seem so accessible. They would be great for a bridal or baby shower.
uh hey there creative, way to knock it out of the park!
Voted ! Incredible.
All I can say is WOW!!! I’ve never seen such pretty quesadillas and this is definitely one of my favorite posts for this round. So creative and fun. Fabulous job!! 🙂
So pretty!
These are lovely. I just bought my first package of masa harina and you’ve just inspired me to make my own tortillas. The flowers just take them over the top! Good luck with the challenge. 🙂
These are so unique and so pretty! Like works of art!
Beautiful! How unique and tasty these must be!
Such a gorgeous presentation. You are quite the gardener, and incorporating your beautiful flowers into your quesadillas was a brilliant idea.
Nice job!
Excellent post – you got my vote for this! Good luck 🙂 Feel free to hop over to leave a comment 🙂
Have a wonderful day!
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
Wow!!! Those quesadillas are so unique and amazing with flowers! This is truly brilliant!
how creative!
LL, these are absolutely inspired! Well done on making what could seem complicated seem do-able and accessible. Good luck!
Oddly enough I thought your site had already moved??? This is a great idea, I may have to try it in one of my recipes…
Hi Chef E – it had, but I removed the redirect so old links could be accessed. Please let me know if you try the quesadillas florales!
LL
Lori Lynn, I always get so inspired visiting your place. This is absolutely beautiful and creative! Best of luck to round 5!! Just voted!!
stunning! your post is beautiful!
Leila
WOW – that is FANTASTIC!! I just found your website, and I am jealous of your awesomeness!!
I’ve seen edible flowers in salads a lot, never on quesadillas. These look beautiful, and they probably taste pretty good too. Definitely voting for you, great choice for a photo tutorial. Good luck this week!
Lick My Spoon
like a work of art-like it.
Hello, I am a Romana from foodbuzz.I am your frienz on fb.But I have big problem ,because I can not enter the side of my foodbuzz ….Why? I will follow you through your blog.It’is very nice blog!If you want follow me to?See you Romana
Beautiful, lovely, gntle photos. A treat to look at. Voting now!
Forgot the ‘e’ in gentle. Need a coffee 😉
So beautiful! What a really, really special treat. I will definitely be giving this a try someday. And your tutorial is clear and easy to follow. Nicely done. I voted for you yet again!
Good luck! Hope to see us both in round 5!!! =)
Lori Lynn,
Such spectacular work! You are so creative and come up with such unique ideas. I love them all and look forward to each and every entry….. Keep on cooking and I will keep on voting!
JW
This is a post apart – probably one of the most interesting (and attractive) uses of edible flowers that I have ever seen. Beautiful.
Absolutely fantastic! So creative and just all around stunning 🙂
Love it!
I LOVE how simple and GORGEOUS this is!! I’m so excited to know how to do this that of course you have a vote from me!
My own post is a romp through croissant making that’s filled with humor, exhaustion, and a little bit of popstar glamor. Come see if you’d like 🙂
Wow. I can never even hope to make something this beautiful……too gorgeous to eat! Cheers girl, just voted…
Awesome! A vote I can be proud casting.
beautiful 🙂
have a lovely weekend!
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
Edible art!
GORGEOUS!!!!!
These are simply beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like them – I love your ideas!!!
Look at this very important post about edible flowers.
http://thebakingpan.com/baking-tips/candied-edible-flowers.html
I just stumbled on your blog and through a series of steps came to this page. I could not be more impressed! Gorgeous photography, beautiful food, lovely idea. Will have to keep up with you…and with my limited time, I don’t track many. So good.