Texas has Tex-Mex. New Mexico has its own distinctive cuisine. And trendy California has fresh-Mex. Arizona, in addition to its Native American Sonoran cuisine, lays claim on a couple of dishes with a similar history using Mexican ingredients transformed in a new home, two-thousand miles from the capital city of México.
It is interesting to note that all four states were once a part of México, and each of these states celebrates the cultural richness we/they have inherited.
One food that is always safe for me (no garlic) in our local Mexican restaurants is the Arizona cheese crisp.
Sometimes I can get guacamole without garlic, and occasionally a quesadilla... but those are never guaranteed. However, I can always count on a cheese crisp.
The Arizona cheese crisp is, more specifically, a Tucson thing, now found more broadly across Arizona. Although invented here, it uses ingredients associated with the adjacent state of Sonora, México. It is a flour tortilla that is baked, then covered with grated cheese, and baked some more. Crispy, cheesy goodness. For my Tucson friends, I got my tortillas at the Heirloom Farmer's Market from Esperanza who owns the Tortilleria Arevalo. Her tortillas are the best!
Crisps often have additional toppings, most commonly green chiles. Once, when a server was feeling bad that there was literally nothing else on the menu for me other than a plain cheese crisp, she offered to add shrimp. This turned potential disappointment into a memorable treat, and has drawn us back to that establishment several times since.
From then on, I knew there was always a port in the storm. I needn’t starve any longer, or even avoid Mexican restaurants… at least here in southern Arizona!
~ David
Arizona Cheese Crisps
4 10-inch flour tortillas
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
8 ounces coarsely grated cheese (I use Monterey Jack, a Mexican blend, or Cheddar)
ground chile flakes, optional, for a little added zing
addition toppings, as desired **
** (diced or strips of green chiles, shrimp halved lengthwise)
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
Line 2 large cookie sheets with foil or parchment (this isn’t necessary, but it does help with clean up) and top with large cooling racks (each rack large enough to hold two tortillas).
Brush both sides of each tortilla with melted butter. Place them on the two racks (on the cookie sheets) and then put the cookie sheets in the oven. Bake for 9 minutes, remove from the oven and flip the tortillas and return them to the oven. Bake another 6-7 minutes until golden. Watch them carefully, as they can go from golden to too dark in the space of a minute. The tortillas on the top rack will turn darker faster.
Remove them from the oven and increase oven heat to 500°F. Top each tortilla with the grated cheese - about 2 ounces of cheese per crisp, not too thick. Sprinkle evenly with ground chile flakes, if using. Add any toppings and return to the oven for 3-5 minutes, when cheese is fully melted and edges of the tortillas are nicely browned. Slice into wedges.
Serves 6-8 as a starter.
Labels: arizona, cheese, cheexse crisp, flour tortillas, mexican cheese crisp, sonoran cheese crisp, tucson
