Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles

I'm starting with the basic thing I go to when I have people coming who have any number of allergies.  One time, I had a birthday party where we had to avoid gluten, dairy, peanuts, soy and we had a child coming who was vegan.  We somehow made it happen.

Chilaquiles - based on the Rick Bayless recipe out of Joy of Cooking
This makes about 4 cups, so enough for 3-4 decent servings

Heat in a medium-hot skillet (if you've got that cast iron skillet, this is a perfect spot for it):
1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers (I've been known to skip the heating part and just use pickled jalapenos in a pinch, but fresh is best)
2 large cloves of garlic, unpeeled
Roast, turning occasionally, until the peppers are blistered and blackened and the garlic is soft - 10-15 minutes.  When it's cool enough to handle, peel the garlic and put the peppers and garlic in a food processor or blender and pulse until they are coarsely chopped (if you don't have a blender or food processor, or if you are making this for a birthday party the next day and you don't want to make that much noise, you can just chop them really finely).  Then add and process until coarsely pureed:
28 oz. whole tomatoes (I keep the juices in, you can drain if you like.  It also works to use diced tomatoes, especially if you don't have the said blender).

In a soup pot, heat over medium heat:
1-2 teaspoons canola or vegetable oil
Add and cook until nicely browned  - 8-10 minutes:
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
Increase the heat to medium-high, add the tomato mixture.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in:
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth or stock
Simmer for 15 minutes
Season with salt and pepper

Serve over thick home-style tortilla chips.  You can buy these or make your own - I'll get into tortillas in the next post.  Just put a handful of these into a bowl and pour the sauce over them.

You can have these things to serve on top:
shredded cheese
chopped fresh cilantro
sour cream

When I'm making this for brunch, I'll add a poached egg.  When I'm making it for lunch or dinner, I'll shred some leftover chicken into the sauce and heat it through before serving.

Eleanor's version of Chilaquiles is quite a bit simpler:
Open a can of refried beans and put into a medium sauce pan, add 1/3 can of water and stir well.  Heat until hot and bubbly.  Serve over chips with the toppings listed above.  It's the quick and dirty version that her aunt from Mexico taught her.

There are other ways to do it, too.  If you make the sauce above, or purchase a really good salsa, you can layer a casserole pan with chips, then sauce, then cheese, then chips, then sauce, then cheese (similar to lasagna).  Put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes (until it is hot throughout and the cheese is all melted).  Serve it like you would lasagna.  Add a side of beans and a salad and it's a pretty solid meal for company.

The sauce above can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen for an easy make-ahead meal.

I hope you have fun with this one.  It's one of our family favorites.

-Jennifer