When I was living in Mexico in 2001, and when I went back to visit with David a couple years ago, I completely went nuts over chilaquiles. Chilaquiles are made with either red or green sauce, tortilla chips, and then are topped with either eggs for a breakfast meal, or chicken for lunch or dinner. Here is a delightful plate of chilaquiles from Mexico City with chicken. I was in heaven while inhaling this dish.
I had yet to recreate chilaquiles, until I found a recipe in the new cookbook I’m obsessed with, Truly Mexican. I bought heirloom tomatoes, roasted them, blended them with serrano and garlic, then simmered the ranchero sauce with onion for twenty minutes, along with a pinch of salt, sugar and cinnamon. Then, I made tortilla chips from scratch by poking holes in corn tortillas, chopping them into 8 triangles, and frying them in 1/2 inch of olive oil on the stove. Best. Decision. EVER. These chips were crunchy, mildy salty, and delicious. I don’t know if I could go back to storebought chips after eating these.
I put the chips in the ranchero sauce for about 2 minutes, then transferred them to a plate along with the most perfect eggs made by David. We topped the plates with freshly-chopped onion, cilantro, cojita cheese and Mexican crema.
I was trying hard to take a few photos and not drink this all down immediately. The chips weren’t soggy, but perfectly crunchy in the sauce.
The salty cojita and slightly sour crema were awesome toppings for the ranchero sauce, which was flavorful from the heirlooms, but not too spicy.
Just looking at these pictures is making me starving for a second helping. I’m going to have to make these again, pronto! Maybe next time with a spicy green sauce and shredded chicken. I think authentic Mexican food is one of my most favorite cuisines in the world!
Oh dear, that just made me hungry! I rarely eat red sauced tortillas but that sauce sounds really good. You’re way more mexican than I am! And homemade chips?! Impressive. How about next time to cut down on calories and oil, you bake them. I think I might try that. I do believe my aunt fries them the way you do. YUM!
I should totally try baking them to compare! They were just soooo good, and I used extra virgin olive oil to fry them so maybe (slightly) healthier than using vegetable oil and I couldn’t taste the olive oil. The sauce was very mild….you’d like it. Next time I’ll try green. My new cookbook is also full of moles and pipians, and they are easy!! I’m so excited to have found this cookbook
Yum. That looks incredible. And tortilla chips from scratch? I’m impressed.