Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Chilaquile Casserole

I have to hurry and post this casserole while Hatch chile peppers are still in season!
I made this on Sunday and talk about comfort food. So good, quick and easy, and I just happened to have all the stuff to make it in the fridge! Gotta love that. I'd already made a salsa with a bunch of my roasted chile stash...it was living quite happily in the freezer, just waiting for a yummy recipe like this to go on top of. The best part about this casserole, is that you can really just put anything you think sounds good in it. My tortillas had been purchased to make enchies with and they'd broken in half by the time I'd gotten them home from the store! Those sad tortillas had been sitting in the fridge for at least a week without a purpose, destined for the dustbin. But! They were just perfect for this recipe...they came right back to life. I'll type up the basic recipe then tell you what else got added in.

I guess I'd better type up the salsa recipe too. Even though there's no photo to go with...
You can just buy salsa verde, but homemade is so easy, and always much better.

Chilaquile Casserole:
(Still Life with Menu Cookbook by Mollie Katzen)

12 uncooked corn tortillas
about 1/2-3/4 cup diced roasted Hatch chiles (I used a combo of hot and mild...you could also just use 2 cans of diced green chiles)
2-3 cups grated Jack cheese (I used a combo of sharp cheddar and jalapeno queso fresco)
4 eggs
2 cups lo-fat buttermilk
salsa verde (recipe follows)

Optional additions:
1-2 cups of pinto beans, drained
a touch of cumin
1 cup chopped onion, sauteed until soft
1-2 med. sized cloves garlic, sauteed
1 small diced zucchini, lightly sauteed

I used 1 can of cannellini beans, zucchini and garlic sauteed in a little butter and olive oil with a dash of cumin and a little salt.

Preheat oven to 375.
Butter or oil a 2-quart casserole or a 9x13 inch pan
Tear 6 tortillas into bite-sized pieces and place them evenly into the greased casserole.
Distribute the chiles, then half of the cheese. Now add your beans, zucchini and garlic (or anything extra you chose to put in) evenly over the cheese.
Tear the remaining tortillas and spread them on top.
Follow with remaining cheese.
Beat the buttermilk and eggs together and add salt and pepper to taste.
Slowly pour this custard over the casserole.
Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Serve with salsa verde.

Hatch Salsa Verde:

5 roasted, skinned and seeded roasted Hatch chiles (I used 2 hot and 3 mild)
6 decent sized tomatillos, cut in quarters
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilanto
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt to taste

Whiz it all up in a blender. Done! :-)

5 comments:

Mike said...

Oooooohhh!

I love Chilaquiles! And this looks like a really good one - will have to see if I can get it in our queue.

(I like to roast the tomatillos before putting them in the salsa.)

Erndog said...

It was really great, Miguel...and I'm sure your salsa would be wonderful with roasted tomatillos! I liked the freshness of the raw tomatillos combined with the fire-roasted Hatch chiles in this. It's hard to walk into the grocery stores these days without coughing since they've all got their flaming barrels of chiles roasting away just outside the doors! :-) Oh hey! I'm in FC Sept 18-21!

Beth said...

Ok, we got some chiles from our CSA last week and the neighbor just passed 2 zukes over the fence tonight. Plus, we have company coming, always an excuse to put away the PB&J and Mac and Cheese! I'll let you know after we make it...

Great to see you, was it just last weekend??

Recipeas4u said...

So I needed a quick easy dish tonight and remembered your delicious chilaquiles.... So I used my homemade green chile stew, combined with your buttermilk topping and fresh corn tortillas....omg so good. Have to write upbthe recipe but thanks for the inspiration... Happy Halloween.

Erndog said...

That sounds awesome Debbie!