Copycat Applebee's Quesadilla Burgers

We love the Applebee's Quesadilla burger so I decided to whip up one of my own!
This recipe is also fantastic with chicken breast or a veggie patty!!
First homemade tortillas....perfect because you can make them "burger" sized... the ones at Applebee's are really huge, in my opinion a waste of extra calories

I made 10 out of this recipe at about 4-5 inches each

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 teaspoons shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup and 2 teaspoons boiling water

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut in shortening to resemble cornmeal. Add water slowly, mixing with your hands to make a soft dough. You may not need all the water.
2. Knead a few minutes on floured surface until smooth and elastic. Lubricate top with oil, put back in bowl and let rest, covered for 10 minutes.
3. Divide into 10 small balls and proceed to roll out into size and thickness you prefer.
4. Cook on top of stove over medium heat using a cast iron grill or heavy skillet until top is slightly bubbly then turning on opposite side for a minute or two.
5. Keep stacked and warm inside a clean dish towel.

Ok for the burgers
1 lb ground beef
1 TB of Seasoning Mix*(Emeril Makes and excellent Southwest seasoning too if you dont want to make homemade)

Mix well and shape into patties(I made 5 of varying size for my family of 5, 2 larger size ones and 3 smaller ones)
cook as you see fit, broil, grill, pan fry etc

*Southwest Seasoning Mix
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano


For the burger assembly:

2 flour tortillas
1 tsp butter, softened(You can use butter flavor cooking spray in place of the butter for a few less calories)
2 tablespoons shredded Pepper Jack cheese
2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar Cheese
pico de gallo to taste
(or 1tsp chopped jalapeno, red onion and 2 tsp chopped tomato)
1 slice bacon, cooked
mexi-ranch sauce*(see recipe below)
1 burger patty
lettuce

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Spread half the butter on one side of bottom tortilla. Put one tortilla, butter side down in the hot pan. Sprinkle the cheeses evenly onto the center of the tortilla in the pan - but not all the way to the edges. Put the pico de gallo and bacon and over the cheese, add the seasoned burger and spread mexi-ranch on remaining tortilla and place over the burger, spread top with remaining butter. When the bottom side is browned, about 45-90 seconds, flip the quesadilla and grill the other side. Remove the quesadilla from the pan and add lettuce, replace top and using a pizza cutter, cut through the middle like a pizza.





Applebee's Mexi-Ranch Dressing

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tbl milk
1/2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp minced tomato
1 tsp minced canned jalapeno slices
1 tsp minced onion
(you can replace the above 3 ingredients with 1-2 tablespoons or so premade pico de gallo)
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp Tabasco pepper sauce
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dried dill weed
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tspcayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
1 dsh garlic powder
1 dsh freshly-ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients and blend until smooth.