Recipes Chicken Quesadillas with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions 4.0 (3,305) 1 Review One picky taster—a self-described onion hater—said she never realized how rich and sweet onions could taste when they are caramelized. Great Game-Day Recipes By Melissa Clark Melissa Clark Melissa Clark is a food writer and the author of more than 40 cookbooks. She has been a staff reporter at The New York Times for more than 10 years, where she writes about food trends, develops recipes, and appears in cooking videos linked to her column, A Good Appetite. She is a regular guest on the Today show, Rachael Ray, and NPR.Experience: Melissa Clark's introduction to the world of culinary journalism came while she was pursuing her MFA from Columbia University, where she took a food writing course taught by Betty Fussell. Upon graduation, Melissa worked catering and front-of-house restaurant jobs, did freelance writing for publications such as Time Out New York, and began developing recipes.Melissa has been writing for The New York Times since 2007. She's been a staff writer there since 2012, turning out her weekly column, A Good Appetite, and writing about 65 recipes for the paper each year.Melissa has authored more than 40 cookbooks, including collaborations with renowned chefs Daniel Boulud, David Bouley, and Claudia Fleming. Her work has been recognized with awards from the James Beard Foundation and the IACP.In 2019, Melissa hosted her own podcast, Weeknight Kitchen with Melissa Clark. She has been featured as a judge on Iron Chef America and regularly appears on the Today show, Rachael Ray, and NPR's The Splendid Table. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on September 27, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Lucy Schaeffer Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins Yield: 6 Ingredients 8 skinless chicken thighs on the bone (about 4 pounds) 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary 2 garlic cloves, minced Kosher salt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 large onions, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons chopped thyme 1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar Pinch of sugar Freshly ground pepper Twelve 6-inch flour tortillas 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup) Directions In a bowl, toss the chicken thighs with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the rosemary, garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and let the chicken stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, melt the butter in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the sliced onions, thyme, vinegar, sugar and a generous pinch of pepper. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 30 minutes; add a few tablespoons of water from time to time to keep the onions moist. Light a grill and preheat the oven to 500°. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and grill over moderately high heat, turning, until lightly charred and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Let the chicken cool, then pull the meat from the bones and tear into shreds. Arrange 6 tortillas on 2 large baking sheets. Spoon the onions onto the tortillas and top with the shredded chicken and blue cheese. Cover with the remaining tortillas, pressing to flatten slightly. Bake for about 6 minutes, until the quesadillas are golden and toasted. Transfer the quesadillas to plates and serve right away. Make Ahead The unbaked quesadillas can be tightly wrapped in plastic and refrigerated overnight. Suggested Pairing Zinfandel's rich fruitiness makes it a go-to wine for much of Mexican cuisine, since it can balance spiciness as well as stand up to bold flavors. (This holds true even when an interloper ingredient like blue cheese is in the picture.) One great region for Zinfandel is Sonoma's warm Dry Creek Valley. Rate it Print