Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Chilaquiles (Tortilla Based Breakfast Dish)


"Chilaqiules" are a dish popular for breakfast. It is strips of tortilla, deep fried, then simmered in a "Chili Colorado" type sauce until thickened topped with a mixture of fresh cheese, oregano, and onion. Served with Refried Beans and Eggs on the side.
It is important to deep fry the tortilla strips, because if you don't they dissolve in the boiling sauce plus the deep fried still gives it a bit and maintains some type of texture.
For really LAZY people or people who are in a hurry you can skip the deep frying the strips and just use prepackaged "Tostadas" and tear them into segments or use tortilla chips.
Before I begin I posted this to show a nice lady who's myspace name is "Precious" how to make some good "Chilaquiles" since she wanted to know :) So here you go "Precious" I told you I was gonna show it to you and I kept my word hope it turns out good for you to.


Ingredients for Sauce
-6 dried "Chile Guajillos" (if you want it spicy) or 6 dried "Chile California" (if you want it really mild or not spicy at all)
-4 roma tomatoes
-Water
-2 cloves garlic peeled
-About 1 teaspoon salt and probably more to taste later
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-½ teaspoon ground cloves or you can grind them in a spice grinder
-1 teaspoon black pepper ground


Ingredients for Fresh Cheese topping
-½ pound or more Fresh Mexican Cheese crumbled (I use the one from "Los Altos" brand that is sold fresh in the creameries)
-1-2 teaspoons dried oregano crumbled well with hand
-¼ onion finely minced.
Ingredients for rest of recipe:
-9-11 corn tortillas cut in half then into strips
-Oil to deep fry
-¼ onion minced


Directions for sauce:
(1)Cut the tops of the dried chilies, open in half and remove seeds and veins.

(2)Put dried chilies in a small pot along with tomatoes and salt. Cover with enough water to submerge a little not a lot. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes then let it rest 20 minutes in water.

(3)Put the boiled stuff along with the liquid in a blender along with 2 cloves garlic and blend until liquefied.

(4)Strain it through a strainer and press and move the strained content to try to get as much sauce out of it as possible you can even add a little water to the strained stuff to get the most you can through.

(5)Add the cumin, cloves, and pepper then set aside.

Directions for Cheese Topping:
(1)Crumble the cheese, add oregano, add minced onion and mix well


Directions for rest of it:
(1)Deep fry the strips of tortilla in batches, then set aside in a plate with paper towels or a big dish





(2)Pour out almost all oil then in a large pan heat a little bit of oil, sautee onion until translucent and really fragrant.

(3)Pour in sauce and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.

(4)Taste it and add more salt if necessary, if the sauce is bland at this point and you don't salt it IT WILL RUIN YOUR WHOLE DISH BECAUSE WHEN YOU ADD THE STRIPS OF DEEP FRIED TORTILLA IT ABSORBS A LOT OF THE SAUCE SO IT WILL BE BLAND NO MATTER HOW MUCH SALT YOU ADD LATER.

(5)Add tortilla strips and fold in gently until sauce starts to thicken and it absorbs some sauce, turn of heat your done.



(6)Serve with refried beans, and eggs on the side with the "Chilaquiles in the middle and maybe a tall glass of milk.

6 comments:

Jovan said...

Let me just tell you, i dont like chilaquiles, but for some reason the way you prepared yours is making me rethink my dislike, I might just try your recipe ... no correct that I will just dobt know when :)

Anonymous said...

hi,usually chilaquiles are done only with corn tortillas and green salsa.

Nathan said...

Anonymous,
Actually your wrong Chilaquiles in green sauce are not common at all. What part of Mexico are you or your family from? Some regions or people do it in green. But the common one most people make is in "Salsa de Chile Colorado" (red sauce) that is what you will find in most Mexican eateries and households. It's the "norm"

Unknown said...

It looks a little difficult to make, but I'm sure the result is so worth every effort. I'm into Mexican cuisine, but I’m also one of those really LAZY people so I’ll probably skip the deep frying of the tortilla chip parts!

Violet Larson

Nathan said...

Hello Violet Larson,

The deep-frying of the tortilla is important so it holds it's shape, texture, and it makes it dry so it soaks in the sauce. If you want to skip that process you can use tortilla chips in it's place which is essentially the same thing except the shape will be different but taste wise should be good :)

BFG21 said...

My mother would overcook the tortillas and let them harden a few days in the oven, not on of course, then she would fry them, not completely fry just a quick flash fry and toss in the salsa roja/colorada, when she was mad she would add chiles de arbol para enchilarnos a todos!