Chilaquiles

This week's Carnival of the Recipes calls for a favorite Mexican dish.  I can make enchiladas, salsa, guacamole, quesadillas and fajitas.  Once, when I lived in Tucson, I spent Thanksgiving day with a Mexican friend and her family making tamales, many more than we could possibly eat, though we tried.

I thought I'd try something different.  Chilaquiles are supposed to be a good hangover cure.  Should have posted it a month ago. I found this recipe in Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen.  Chilaquiles are tortilla chips cooked in a sauce.  According to Bayless, one should think of them as the Mexican equivalent of a rustic pasta dish. Here's one of his recipes:

Black Bean Chilaquiles with Smoky Chipotle

1 1/4 cups (about 8 ounces) dried black beans, cleaned
About 6 cups chicken or beef broth or water
1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
4 sprigs epazote, if you can get them (or substitute Swiss chard or spinach)
3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, plus 2 teaspoons tomatoey adobo from the can
Salt, about 1 teaspoon, depending on the saltiness of the broth
8 ounces (about 8 loosely packed cups) tortilla chips, preferably ones that are not too thin
1/2 cup thick cream, creme fraiche, or sour cream, thinned with a little milk
1/4 cup finely crumbled Mexican queso anejo, dry feta or parmesan
1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, for garnish

1.  The beans.  Rinse the beans, then scoop into a medium (4 quart) pot.  Measure in 5 cups of broth or water, the onion, garlic and one sprig of the epazote.  Cut the chipotle chiles lengthwise in half, scrape out the seeds and slice into thin strips.  Add 1/3 of the chiles to the beans;  set aside the remainder.  Bring beans to a boil, then simmer, partially co vered, over medium to medium-low heat, until the beans are thoroughly tender, about 2 hours.(If necessary, add a little extra water during the cooking to keep the beans completely submerged.)

In batches in a food processor or loosely covered blender, puree the bean mixture and all the liquid; transfer to a large (10-to 12-inch ) skillet.  Stir in enough broth or water (it may take an extra cup or so) to bring the bean sauce to the consistency of a thin cream soup.  Taste and season with salt.

2.  The chilaquiles.  Bring the black bean sauce to a boil over medium heat.  Add the tortilla chips, 8 good-size leaves plucked from 2 sprigs of the epazote and another third of the chipotle chiles.  Stir to coat the chips well, then rapidly boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the chips have softened (but still retain a little chewiness), and the sauce has reduced to a medium consistency, 2 or 3 minutes for thinner chips and 4 to 5 minutes for thicker chips.

Scoop the chilaquiles onto a warm, deep serving platter (a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate works well).  Drizzle with the cream, sprinkle with cheese, and the remaining chipotle chiles, dot with the avocado and lastly strew with a few roughly chopped epazote leaves.  Serve without hesitation.

(You can use two 16-ounce cans of black beans with their liquid instead of the dry beans.  Puree as directed in step 1 along with a third of the chipotles and broth or water as needed.  Taste and season with salt, and proceed to step 2.  The finished dish will not be as dramatically black.

Here's a variation of this recipe from Recipezaar.

(Epazoate is used in many bean dishes.  In addition to it's taste, it reduces gas.)

[Image from Association Des Cultures Franco-Mexicaines]