Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Chilaquiles

A great use for leftover corn tortillas (or even tortilla chips) and/or salsa/canned tomatoes. These are kind of like skillet nachos--thrifty Mexican style. Don't let the eggs throw you--you don't notice them in the final product really. You could also add leftover beans--just put them on the chips before you sprinkle the cheese (pintos, black beans, refried beans, etc.).

Original recipe from Extending the Table (notes/variations are mine)

12 5-inch corn tortillas*
1/2 c. oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 eggs, beaten
spicy tomato sauce ** (recipe below)
1 c. mild cheddar or Monterey Jack, grated

  1. Tear tortillas in 1-inch strips, then tear each strip in bite-size triangular or square pieces. Heat oil in large skillet (I used a 12-inch skillet). Fry small batches of tortilla pieces until golden brown, 3-5 minutes (took me 4 batches). Drain on paper.
  2. Remove excess oil from skillet. Saute onions and garlic briefly.
  3. Add tortilla pieces to onion/garlic and pour eggs and tomato sauce over top. Cook over low heat 10-15 minutes, stirring as little a possible, until liquid is absorbed and mixture appears fairly dry.
  4. Sprinkle cheese on top and cover until cheese melts.
*I think you could use about half a bag of tortilla chips, broken into smaller pieces. Then, you'd skip step 1. Cookbook notes that, if you don't mind a soggier texture, you could also simply stir-fry the tortilla pieces with the onion and garlic if you want to skip the frying (use 4-6 T. oil).

**Spicy Tomato Sauce (you could also puree one cup of stewed tomatoes or salsa instead of this)
Whirl together in blender until smooth:
2 medium tomatoes or 1 c. canned tomatoes
1-2 fresh green chilies or several drops Tabasco pepper sauce or 1/2 t. chili powder
1 t. salt

Serves 4

1 comment:

$5 Dinner Mom said...

Yum! I'll have to try this one! I do have the Extending the Table Cookbook...I have been browsing it looking for more ideas! I plan to post about it soon...
-Erin