Camper Quesadillas and Pico de Gallo in a NASCAR Rainstorm

NASCAR at Bristol — It’s a fabulous weekend full of camping, festival-style food tents, race cars, and rain… A LOT of rain… So much rain that the race was postponed for 24 hours…

My husband and I found ourselves stuck in a camper with two soaking wet beagles. So, I formulated a foolproof-plan-for-food-and-fun; I got on the Pioneer Woman’s blog and found a recipe for Taco Quesadillas, which became my very first meal cooked at a camp-site. Here is the step-by-step recipe, enjoy!

What you’ll need — INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds Ground Beef
4 1/2 tablespoons Taco Seasoning (Make it Homemade)
3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
8 whole Corn Tortillas
12 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
2 Jalapeños
3-4 Tomatoes
1/2 White Onion
2-3 tablespoons fresh Cilantro
Juice of 1 Lime

The Step-by-Step — INSTRUCTIONS:
Add the ground beef to a cast iron (or non-stick) skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook the beef until it is brown and cooked trough, and then drain off the excess fat. I used 90/10 ground beef, so I didn’t have a lot of excess fat to drain… which is great when you are cooking in a small camper.

Add 4 tablespoons of taco seasoning to the cooked beef… or add more, if you like things spicy! If you want my Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe you can get it by clicking here!

Then add 3 tablespoons of tomato paste to the beef…

… and pour in 1 cup of hot water.

Give your taco meet mixture a good ol’ stir… and let it simmer on low heat for a few minutes. You can use this time to make the pico de gallo!

Start making the pico de gallo by deseeding and finely chopping 2 jalapeños….

Next finely chop three whole tomatoes…

… and then chop 1/2 of a white onion.

Next is the cilantro… the amazing… the fresh…. the wonderful…. cilantro!

So, chop the cilantro up…  and toss it in a mixing bowl with the jalapeños, tomatoes, and onions.

Then add the juice one 1 freshly squeezed lime.

Followed by a pinch of taco seasoning.

Mix the ingredients together… and transfer the pico de gallo into a serving bowl.

Beautiful, isn’t it? However, if you are more of a “guacamole person” I have another recipe you can try; Avocado Pineapple Salsa…. and it’s okay if you’re a guacamole person… I’ll admit it… I’m a huge guacamole person!

But now, let’s get back to the main attraction; the quesadillas. I had some left-over chopped onion, so I threw it in the skillet with the ground beef… I’m spontaneous, sometimes.

At this point the ground beef should be simmered to perfection… so remove it from the heat….

… and grab the tortillas. I used corn tortillas… they were highly recommended by the Pioneer Woman; and that’s a good enough reason for me!

But I also had a couple flour tortillas on-hand…

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and smear butter around the bottom… I used the same cast iron skillet; I only had one in the camper, so I cleaned it for optimum reuse!

Throw a tortilla in the skillet and cover it with a handful of cheese.

Then spoon on some taco meat…

Followed by another handful of cheese!

Top it off with another tortilla… and then…

… channel the Force strength of Obi-Wan Kenobi and and flip the quesadilla over! If some stuff falls out just stick it back in with the corner of a spatula.

Let the quesadilla sizzle in the skillet until the cheese is gooey and melted through… Then remove the quesadilla from the skillet and set aside…. Rebutter the skillet between each quesadilla! Also, keep in mind that corn tortillas won’t get crisp in the skillet the way flour tortillas will. They will, however, turn a glorious golden brown color.

I also made one flour tortilla fold over… because… well, variety!

Almost finished…

Serve the quesadillas with the fresh pico de gallo…

…and, if you’re like me… chop up some avocado for serving.

And Enjoy! We ate them straight off the cutting board, and good golly they were yummy!

Also, in case you were curious… the beagles absolutely LOVED the camper… And I love being able to take them with me when I travel… Life is always better when my dogs are close by.

… and the weather cleared up… So we got to watch a totally awesome NASCAR race.

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cooking Mexi-Style meals, here are some of my favorite step-by-step recipes;
(1) A different quesadilla, that’s also an easy lunch; Stovetop Chicken Quesadillas (recipe here).
(2) Or you can try this total crowd pleaser; Oven-Baked Taquitos with Avocado Pineapple Salsa (recipe here).
(3) And I have to include my personal favorite; Zucchini Taco Boats (recipe here).

Cook Long and Prosper… Camp Like a Champion! Love, the Uncustomary Housewife