What's for dinner: Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles is a dish I ate a lot growing up.  We learned the recipe from a family friend and it soon became a staple in our household.  After learning how to make the salsa, I use a variation it all the time to accompany any sort of Mexican type dish.  


Chilaquiles is kind of like a nacho casserole.  Its chips with chicken and cheese covered in salsa, baked in the oven.  Its incredibly simple and equally tasty.

For this dish there are three main components: salsa, chicken, chips and cheese

Salsa

This can be used as either salsa on the side or in dishes such as enchilada or chilaquiles.  To prepare the salsa you will need tomatillos, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, and seasonings (salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder). Tomatillos are little green tomatoes that come with a husk on them.  After removing the husk and washing off the sap, place them on a roasting pan with the jalapenos the toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast at 450 degrees until the tomatillos change color around 10 min and look fully roasted.  Tomatillos can also be grilled for a similar amount of time which adds a nice flavor.  After roasting the tomatillos let them cool before blending them with all other ingredients.  Taste after blending and adjust portions as necessary.  Keep in mind that the tomatillos are usually the only thing you won't have extra of so make sure that you only put a little bit of the other ingredients in at a time to not overpower the tomatillos.  If you are worried about heat, add the jalapenos in slowly until you're happy with the heat level.  Once you've got it where you want it you can either cool this to serve as a salsa or use it to make chilaquiles.

Chicken

I like to keep it simple with the chicken.  Using small slices of chicken, I season them with salt and pepper then cook them in a pan until they are pretty much cooked through.  I haven't tried this, but I imagine that using other meats similarly or using slow cooked meats could also be an excellent substitution.  

Chips

The original recipe for this dish used tortillas that you fried before using, however, I've found that a bag of store bought chips do the trick (and are much less effort).  


Cheese
I like using some of the Mexican cheeses like Oaxaca or Chihuahua which have a similar taste to Jack but melt a little bit better.  They can be found at most hispanic markets and sometimes even in other stores as well sometimes under the label of Quesadilla cheese.  Jack and / or Cheddar will also do the trick, if you don't have access to these cheeses.

Assembly and Baking

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.  Pour down a layer of chips into a large baking dish.  Layer on chicken then sauce then cheese.  Next, place another layer of chips and chicken then cover with more salsa and cheese.  Keep in mind that you may not need all of the sauce that you make for each batch.  I like my chips relatively crispy still so I try not to put too much salsa down to avoid soggy chips.  You want the middle to be a little bit soggy but the outside to be extra crisp.  After you finish assembling, cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes then remove the tin foil to brown the cheese. Let it cool for a little big and dig in!