Chilaquiles With Red Sauce
Ingredients:
- dried ancho or pasilla peppers
- 3 or4 cloves of garlic
- 1 large chicken
- 1 white onion
- couple stalks of celery
- 1 carrot
- 15 soft corn tortillas (preferably a day old)
- 1 cup of chili sauce
- 1 cup of chicken broth (you can substitute consomme)
- 1/2 cup of grated white onion
- 1/2 cup of roughly grated Mexican cheese such as Manchego
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 cup of shredded chicken
- 15 soft corn tortillas (preferably a day old)
- 1 cup of chili sauce
- 1 cup of chicken broth (you can substitute consomme)
- 1/2 cup of grated white onion
- 1/2 cup of roughly grated Mexican cheese such as Manchego (Monterrey Jack or Mozzarella can be substituted)
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 cup of shredded chicken
Cut the day old tortillas into triangles or strips. I prefer strips because they get crisper when cooked.
Look in your supermarket or specialty food store for dried ancho or pasilla peppers. They won't look like much until you start to work with them so don't despair. (If you can't find these peppers in your supermarket don't worry. You can substitute canned enchilada sauce or, in a real pinch, I have tried with modest success, adding four tablespoons of chili powder, one clove of garlic to 2 cups of water and simmering until the chili powder is dissolved).
Place 4 or 5 ancho or pasilla peppers, or a combination of both, in a pan with 2 cups of water and one clove of garlic. Bring the water to a boil, cover, turn off the flame and let sit for at least 20 minutes or until soft while you're getting the other ingredients ready.
Buy a nice, fat chicken. Cover it with cold water, add a large coarsely chopped white onion, a nice sized sliced carrot, a couple stalks of chopped celery and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the chicken is tender and the meat separates easily from the bone. Salt and pepper to taste.
While the chicken is doing its thing, have a margarita or a glass of iced tea, put your feet up and think about what a great meal you're going to have.
When the chicken is just about done it's time to begin making the sauce. Incidentally, this sauce can be made in quarts and it keeps almost forever in the refrigerator. You'll discover there are lots of things you can use it for, including great chili beans without meat.
Put the peppers, garlic and the water you boiled them in into a blender and blend until the sauce is smooth. Add salt to taste. Now that the sauce is made you can began assembling the rest of the ingredients.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. I like cooking with peanut oil. Brown the strips or triangles in batches until they are crisp. Drain and place them in a casserole with the shredded chicken.
Pour the pepper sauce over the tortillas and chicken and toss. Sprinkle the cheese and onion over the mixture and top with the sour cream. Serve immediately with refried beans and guacamole.
You can hold this dish in a warm oven, however the tortillas will be less crisp. If you want this dish to be a little lighter or perhaps serve it for a special breakfast, you can leave out the shredded chicken.
If you want to dine on the wild side you can add a hot pepper such as an habanero, serrano or jalapeno. Also, this wonderful dish with the chicken can become tortilla soup. Just add the appropriate amount of chicken broth and top with the sour cream.
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