David’s Place Blog

September 8, 2009 Chilaquiles is traditional Mexican dish, but not one you see in restaurants very often. In fact I never have. But a friend long ago from New Mexico talked about them frequently and recently I saw a recipe for them in Men’s Health. I did that, but added some embellishments from Rick Bayless’s Authentic Mexican. They were yummy! And we did them again for friends. They were yummy! So one night I need to fix something for dinner and I am thinking chilaquiles. So how do I simplify this process? Basically it is a tortilla dish with a sauce topped with shredded chicken, cheese, maybe eggs, and toppings. The long way is to cut up day old tortillas in triangels or strips and fry. Make a rich ranchero sauce with tomatoes and chilies, shred chicken, and dice onion, grate cheese. I’ve got the chicken left over from another meal, I have jars of salsa, canned tomatoes. So here goes: In a large skillet saute:

• 1 small diced onion
• 1 medium clove garlic diced

After that gets going add:

• 1 small can Muir Glenn Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 3 tbl Rosa Mexicano Chile Pasilla de Oaxaca Salsa or other thick red salsa of your choice

Prepare on the side:

• diced scallions
• diced cilantro
• grated Cojita cheese or Ricata Slata

Just to get it warm I sauteed in a small skillet:

• 1 cup shredded chicken

Now back to the tomato sauce simmering in the pan. Add

• 1 bag, 7 oz at least of Baby Spinach.

Wilted Swiss chard is very good here too. Or skip it.

Now to assemble: I use some large soup bowls we have. Wish I had more of them, bought them for a dollar a piece on a closeout. Or other large platter of plates. I put a generous helping of

• Red Hot Blues corn chips. Or what every you have.

Top this with the tomato sauce and spinach mixture. Stir it around a bit if you like. The tradition recipe cooks the tortillas in the sauce a bit to soften them. Top with the shredded chicken, grated cheese, chopped scallions, chopped cilantro. Top with

• 1 dollop of Creme Fraiche or sour cream.

Serve quickly! Note: Cotija (pronounced ko-TEE-hah) is like the Mexican parmesan cheese, it is also called Queso Añejo Mexicano. Cotija Cheese is white, salty and granular, also similar in flavor to Feta Cheese, it softens but does not melt when heated. You can find it Golden Harvest in Kittery (if you don’t see it in the cheese case ask Jim.) Or at MexGrocer.com.