Tasty Thursday: A Mexican Brunch

Love Chilaquiles, I think they make the perfect brunch recipie, topped off with an egg.  And the Mister loves anything Mexican, so I think I'll be trying out this recipe this weekend.  Happy Thursday!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 dozen corn tortillas, preferably stale, or left out overnight to dry out a bit, quartered or cut into 6 wedges (It will help with the frying if your tortillas are a little dry. If they are fresh, cut them first, put them in a warm oven for a few minutes first to dry them out a bit, then proceed.)
• Corn oil
• Salt
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups red chile sauce or salsa verde*
• A few sprigs of epazote (optional)

Garnishes

• Cotija cheese or queso fresco
• Crema Mexicana or creme fraiche
• Cilantro, chopped
• Chopped red onion
• Avocado, sliced or roughly chopped

*Red chili sauce
Take 4 dried ancho chiles, remove seeds, stems, and veins. Heat chiles lightly on a skillet on medium heat to draw out their flavor. Put chilies in a saucepan, pour boiling hot water over to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Add chiles, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 1/2 cups of chili soaking liquid to a blender. Hold down lid of blender tightly while blending, blend until completely puréed. Strain through a mesh sieve into a frying pan to make the chilaquiles.

*Salsa verde
Put 1 lb tomatillos, husks removed, into a saucepan, cover with water by an inch. Add 1 jalapeno, stems and seeds removed. Add 2 cloves garlic. Bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until tomatillos have changed color and are cooked through. Use slotted spoon to remove tomatillos, jalapeno and garlic to a blender. Add a cup of the cooking liquid. Blend until completely puréed. Add salt to taste.

DIRECTIONS:
1.  In a large sauté pan, coat pan generously with corn oil, (1/8 inch), heat on medium high to high. When the oil is quite hot, add the tortillas, fry until golden brown. Remove tortillas to a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess oil. Sprinkle a little salt on the tortillas. Wipe pan clean of any browned bits of tortillas.

2. Add 2 Tbsp oil to pan, bring to high heat again. Add the salsa and let salsa cook for several minutes. If you have a few sprigs of epazote, add them to the salsa. Then add the fried tortilla quarters to the salsa. Gently turn over the pieces of tortilla until they are all well coated with salsa. Let cook for a few minutes more.

3. Remove from heat. Serve chilaquiles with garnishes and fried eggs and beans or nopalitos.