Chilaquiles For A Crowdfrom Rick Bayless Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the broiler. Spread the tomatoes onto a baking sheet and broil until they are darkly roasted, about 6 minutes a side.
• (Note: Chef Bayless uses half a large onion, but this recipe has substituted 1 small onion instead.) Cut the onion in half, then cut both halves into ¼-inch slices; reserve half of the slices for garnish. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or a deep, large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onion and cook, stirring regularly, until golden, about 7 minutes. Peel and mince the garlic cloves; add to golden onions and stir until soft, 1 more minute.
• Remove the roasted tomatoes from the oven and transfer to a blender. Add the chipotles and blend to a coarse purée. Pour the mixture into the pan with the sautéed onions and garlic; cook over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the epazote or cilantro and the broth. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a rolling boil; taste and add more salt if necessary. Add the chips and make sure they are coated with the sauce; then cover the pan and turn off the heat. Allow to rest until the chips have soaked up the sauce, 5 minutes.
• Gently stir the chilaquiles before spooning them into a serving dish. Top with the remaining half of the onion slices and garnish with the crema, queso anejo, and additional epazote or cilantro.

Steps:

• In a very large, (6-quart) Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high.
• Add about 2/3 of the onions, and cook, stirring often, until richly browned.
• Add salsa and broth and bring to a boil.
• When sauce is at a rolling boil, turn off the heat and stir in the tortilla chips and shredded cheese. Press the chips down so that nearly all of the chips are submerged, some may still stick out.
• Strew the chicken over the top, then cover and let stand 3 to 4 minutes.
• Gently stir everything together, then drizzle with the crema and sprinkle with the onion, optional grated queso anejo and cilantro.
• serve without hesitation.

Steps:

• In a food processor put the green chili and the garlic clove and mince.
• Roughly chop two of the tomatoes and add to the food processor along with the cilantro. Pulse 7-8 times.
• I next usually remove the top of the food processor and use a spoon to push down any of the ingredients that have gone up the side of the food processor. Put the top back on and pulse a few more times or until you have the desired consistancy.
• Pour the ingredients into a serving bowl.
• Finely chop the remaining two tomatoes and add the tomatoes and green onions to the serving bowl.
• Add 1-3 teaspoons lime juice or vinegar and a generous amount of salt. Stir until everything is well blended.
• Let the salsa marry in the fridge for about an hour if desired, before serving.
• The cooking time is the chilling time in the fridge.

Steps:

• NOTE: for the tomatoes, drain them lightly and don't drain them completely dry, or you may have to supplement the sauce with jarred salsa (see sauce preparation instructions below).
• NOTE: for the chicken, I usually season 3 skinless boneless breast halves with Tone's Lime Pepper seasoning or Goya Adobo con Pimiento, then toss them on the Foreman grill for about 8 minutes.
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• TO PREPARE THE TORTILLA CHIPS:.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Stack tortillas into three piles of four tortillas each. Cut each pile like a pie into 8 sections.
• Spray 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. Divide the tortilla chips between the two pans, keeping them in as much of a single layer as possible.
• Mist the chips with cooking spray, and bake them (stirring them a bit, once or twice) for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crispy and golden.
• Sprinkle with salt, if desired.
• TO PREPARE THE SAUCE:.
• Pour the drained tomatoes and the chipotles (seeds and all) into a blender. Coarsely puree the mixture (it shouldn't be totally smooth).
• You need to have approximately 2 1/4 cups of puree. If you come up short, rather than using another partial can of tomatoes, you can supplement the mixture with some jarred salsa (I use taqueria salsa from either Goya or La Victoria).
• In a large Dutch oven with a lid, heat the vegetable oil and cook about 1/2 cup of the onion, stirring regularly, for about 7 minutes or until golden.
• Add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring so garlic doesn't burn.
• Increase heat to medium-high and add tomato/chipotle puree. Stir almost constantly until the mixture thickens up a bit, about 4 or 5 minutes.
• Stir in the broth, and salt to taste (keeping in mind the salt that will be added from the chips, if you used it).
• FINAL COOKING AND ASSEMBLY:.
• Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the chips and stir to coat.
• Bring sauce and chips to a rolling boil again. Cover the pan, turn off the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes (no longer, because the chips should be s bit chewy and not mushy). Sprinkle cilantro into the pot.
• Dish out mixture onto 4 warm plates. Divide chicken evenly over top of tortilla mixture and stir lightly to coat chicken with sauce. Top with crema or thinned sour cream, remaining chopped onions and both cheeses, then serve.

Steps:

• For fresh tomatoes: Roast the tomatoes and chiles on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until they're darkly roasted (they'll be blackened in spots), about 6 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side-5 or 6 minutes more will give you splotchy-black and blistered tomatoes that are cooked through. Cool. Working over your baking sheet, pull off and discard the blackened tomato skins and, for round tomatoes, cut out the hard "cores" where the stems were attached. Transfer tomatoes and chiles to a food processor or blender, along with all the juices on the baking sheet. Blend to a smooth puree.
• For canned tomatoes: In a small dry skillet, roast the chiles over medium heat, turning regularly, until they're soft and splotchy-black, about 5 minutes. Place in a blender or food processor along with the drained canned tomatoes. Blend to a smooth puree.
• In a medium-size (4- or 5-quart) pot (preferably a Dutch oven or Mexican cazuela), heat the oil or lard over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until golden, about 7 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high, and, when noticeably hotter, stir in the tomato puree. Cook, stirring, until darker in color and thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the broth, partially cover and simmer 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. The sauce should be a slightly soupy consistency-not as thick as spaghetti sauce. If it is too thick, stir in a little additional broth. Keep warm over low heat.
• Other preliminaries. Stir the crema (or one of its stand-ins) into the sauce. Put the chicken in a bowl and stir 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture into it. Taste and season with additional salt if you think it needs it. Have the cheese at the ready.
• Heat the oven to 350°. Smear about 1/4 cup of the sauce over the bottom of 4 to 6 nine-inch individual ovenproof baking/serving dishes or smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Lay the tortillas out on a baking sheet (2 sheets if you have them, for more even heating), and lightly brush or spray both sides of the tortillas with oil. Bake just to warm through and soften, about 3 minutes. Stack the tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm.
• Working quickly so the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the chicken into each tortilla, then line them all up in the baking dishes. Douse evenly with the remaining sauce, then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 15 minutes. Garnish with onion rings and cilantro sprigs. These are best served piping hot from the oven.
• MAKE AHEAD The sauce can be made a day or two ahead; refrigerate covered. Once the tortillas have been heated in the oven, you need to work quickly and steadily toward serving in order to preserve their beautiful texture. Once out of the oven, the finished dish softens to near mush over a period of 15 to 20 minutes.