Chilaquiles
February 13th, 2006 Tony
It’s not uncommon to find some version of this on brunch menus here in San Francisco. This is my attempt to recreate the effect. I think of this as a sister dish to Huevos Rancheros, but rather than having tortillas on the side, they’re integrated into the dish.
I’ve seen versions of chilaquiles without eggs, but I’ve only ever eaten it myself as an egg dish, so here goes.
One of the main things that my version has going for it is that it scales. That’s a term us software monkeys love to use — it simply means that you can make this for many people, or (as I most often make it) for just one. When making it for many, I do scrambled eggs because it’s just more efficient. When making it just for myself, I almost always have fried eggs — there’s something great about the oozy eggs contributing to the overall gooey, messy effect.
Again, the recipe changes based on how many people I’m cooking for. If it’s just for me, I usually don’t include beans, simply because I would only need about a half can, and a don’t trust myself to remember to use the other half can of beans in the fridge before they get fuzzy.
Eggs (roughly 2 per person)
Tortillas (corn or flour or even tortilla chips)
Salsa (this is a dish where salsa from a jar is better than a really fresh chunky salsa)
Onion
Soyrizo (!) (optional) I’ve seen this on many menus with the more traditional chorizo. I’m a vegetarian, so
Black beans (optional)
Avocado (optional)
Heat the oven on low (250 or so) and put plates in. If you’re just using tortilla chips, put a couple handfuls of chips on each plate.
If you’re using tortillas, cut them into strips — I usually cut the tortillas in half first, and then cut the two halves into strips. Add a little oil to a skillet and fry the tortilla strips until crispy. Transfer them to the plate/s in the oven.
Chop the onion into thin wedges. If you’re cartographically inclined, that would be slicing them longitudinally. Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the onions over pretty high heat. If you’re using Soyrizo (or chorizo for that matter), add it to the pan after a couple minutes. Cook until everything is nicely browned.
Things move pretty fast at this point, so be on your toes.
Add the salsa to the onions, thinning with a little water or some tomato sauce if you’ve got some handy. Since the pan is hot, it will bubble up pretty fast and you don’t want to cook away all the liquid. If you’re using black beans, add them now. Simmer until everything is nice and hot.
Pour the sauce over your tortillas or chips. Now it’s time to cook the eggs.
Fry or scramble your eggs in the same pan… they’ll pick up the flavor from the salsa and onions. Put the finished eggs on top of everything else. If you’ve got an avocado, you’re in heaven.
Entry Filed under: Recipes