Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The excellent climate and abundance of friends make Puerto Vallarta the perfect party place.

"Because living in the tropics means it's summer year-round," says hostess, cook and Timothy Real Estate Group Agent, Linda Kennedy de Espinosa, "we try to entertain with light snacks." So, last week, Linda shared her recipe for Roasted Fresh Salsa, and in this episode, she shares her favorite quesadilla recipe using a truly Mexican delicacy.

Linda's Huitlacoche and Requeson Quesadillas

1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced to equal about 2 tablespoons
1 medium white onion, chopped
3 chile serranos, finely chopped
1 small bunch of epazote, leaves only, chopped
1 kilo huitlacoche, rinsed and sparsely chopped. (Remove small pieces of hard corn attached, if necessary)
1 small can of corn, drained
1 shot of good quality Tequila
1 kilo corn tortillas, you can ask to have them made thin

Requeson Filling:
1/2 to 1 kilo requeson
1/2 medium onion
1 chile serrano
1/4 cup epazote, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Pour olive oil into a good sized frying pan, heat to just before smoking. Add garlic, onion and chiles and cook for about 5 minutes. Add epazote and stir well. Then add huitlacoche and cook on medium high for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking for about 8 more minutes. Add the tequila and stir. Remove from heat.

For the quesadilla filling, mix the requeson, onion, epazote, serrano and salt and pepper. Drizzle some olive oil on a comal or flat skillet and heat to medium/high.

Assemble the quesadillas by placing 1/2 to 2/3 cup of requeson mix on a tortilla, spreading it to the edges. On top of the requeson, put about 1/2 cup of huitlacoche mixture, spreading almost to the edges. Place another tortilla on top and lightly press down so it sticks reasonably well.

Put the quesadilla on the hot comal or skillet and again drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of the tortilla, flip when crispy. Repeat process until finished. Make sure the quesadillas are crispy and hot when removed from the heat. Cut into quarters and enjoy! A terrific option is to top with a freshly made hot salsa.

Most of the ingredients used in the recipe are common in Mexico. Huitlacoche is a mushroom grown on the corn stalk, Epazote, which is an herb, onions, garlic and Requeson, which is what you skim off of fresh milk.

Linda shows what epazote looks like coming off the plant and says it has a very distinct flavor, it's tough to describe what it tastes like, it's a leaf and much larger than parsley or cilantro and it comes in various sizes for this recipe just the leaf is required.

"I know most people are not thrilled about eating black food," says Linda, "But huitlacoche is divine, it's a delicacy that's been around since the 1500s, it's been used by the Aztec and the Toltec indians in Mexico and is now used world wide as a delicacy. It is often called a Mexican truffle, but in Mexico it is called Huitlacoche.

Linda explains a little known fact about the chiles. "Amazingly enough serrano chiles can be grown in one week on the same plant and have a certain heat to it or the next week to be a lot hotter or a lot milder, one way to check the heat of the serrano is to take the stem off and smell it, and that's an easy way to determine how many chiles you are going to need in a recipe because it could change the idea entirely of what you are trying to cook."

After slicing and chipping, place the garlic into the olive oil, which has been heating on a medium stove for a couple of minutes, let that cook, and then add the onion and the chiles. The epazote is next, let that saute a bit with the garlic, onion and serrano chiles.

After the epazote, chile, garlic and onion have cooked down, it's time to put in the huitlacoche. Mix it up well and cook it on medium high heat for about 10 minutes and then drop it down to low for another 10 to 15 minutes.

"As with any good cooking in Mexico first you need to add a little bit of tequila to the chef," laughs Linda, "Then add a little bit of tequila to the huitlacoche, it adds a special flavor and aroma, obviously it cooks down, it just makes it more fun and tastes good that way."

Linda explains assembling the quesadillas, "What we are doing now is mixing the requeson with epazote, some more epazote, salt and pepper, we start this here on the tortilla and put a bit of huitlacoche on top of that, spread it out a bit, put another tortilla on top and then we put this on a lightly oiled griddle and we make quesadillas."

The full and part-time expat population find they have a more active social life than they did in their hometowns. With so much fun available, many have to decline invitations.

"We first moved to Mexico and lived in Ajijic for six years," says Tish Hollaway, a full-time Resident. "And then we moved to Vallarta because it's just more fun, more things to do, the sidewalks don't roll up at nine-o'clock at night and the people are from all walks of life, adventuresome people."

Most condominiums and homes offer spacious terraces and spectacular entertaining venues.

"The best home I've ever seen for a fiesta, the house could hold 300 people easily," Linda says, "You're on the bay, you're in the spacious kitchen cooking up a storm, living room, terrace, all next to the salt water pool, Villa Bahia is a superb entertain venue."

Puerto Vallarta is not only a major tourist destination, but a great place to live, work and retire. Let Linda help you settle into the superb lifestyle.

Timothy Real Estate Group, inspired living.

Timothy Real Estate Group is a full-service real estate sales, rentals and development agency representing some of the most distinguished properties and developments across Puerto Vallarta, Bahía de Banderas and the Riviera Nayarit. For more information, visit TimothyRealEstateGroup.com.

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