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Christmas Crab Quesadillas

A baked tortilla filled with crab, cheese, and seasonings, served with radicchio and dips.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 450 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Christmas Crab Quesadillas

Oven375°F
Timeabout 5 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

  2. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the butter.

  3. Place the remaining butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat.

  4. Add the shallots and chives.

  5. Saute until translucent.

  6. Remove from the heat.

  7. Add the crab, sour cream, dill, salt, and hot pepper flakes, then mix well.

Assemble and bake

  1. Spread the crab mixture on one half of each tortilla.

  2. Top with a sprinkling of the grated Monterey Jack cheese.

  3. Fold the tortillas in half.

  4. Place the folded tortillas on a baking sheet.

  5. Brush the tops of the tortillas with the reserved butter.

  6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Rest and serve

  1. Let the quesadillas rest for 5 minutes before cutting into quarters.

  2. Place 3 small radicchio leaves on each plate.

  3. Fill one radicchio leaf with sour cream.

  4. Fill another radicchio leaf with guacamole.

  5. Fill another radicchio leaf with salsa.

  6. Place three triangles of quesadilla on each plate.

  7. Sprinkle with a confetti of chopped green and red bell peppers.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1071Calories
67 gProtein
27 gFat
140 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Tortilla1 medium flour (45g)140
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Chives1 tbsp (3g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Shallot + chivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Dill + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,630 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Shallot + dilltop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together91 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Chive + dilltop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together228 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Crab + meattop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds richness and flavor, and browns the tortilla tops when brushed on.
Lump crab meat
Provides the main filling and savory flavor.
Flour tortillas
Form the pliable shell that folds around the filling and crisps in the oven.
Monterey jack cheese
Melts to bind the crab filling inside the folded tortilla.
Sour cream
Adds moisture and mild tang to the crab mixture.

The step that matters

Bake until the tops are golden. Baking is brief, and the tortillas brown and crisp quickly. Overbaking dries them out and can scorch the butter, while underbaking leaves the tortilla soft and the cheese unmelted.

Swap the dill

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, shallot, chive, crab, meat, cream, pepper):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Dillthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, shallot, chive, crab, meat, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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