Annalena goes south: chilaquiles

Ragazzi, you all know that this blog is very much a salute to things Mediterranean, with, of course, a very VERY strong, almost exclusive link to things Italian. Occasionally, you will see Annalena venture into territory that is a bit unfamiliar, like her Asian dishes. There is also a strong streak of the "American" here, as Annalena continues her quest for what truly constitutes "American" cuisine. Try to get an answer to that. Betcha you won't.
Well, in her formative years, Annalena was a promiscuous cook, trying dishes from all over the world, with varies degrees of success and failure. Do not talk to Annalena, for example, about her attempts at making Indian carrot halvah. Or, the exploding can of milk as she made coteja, that wonderful Brazilian dessert.

Her travels into things Mexican and "Tex Mex" have been more successful, perhaps none moreso than this version of a dish which has as many interpretations as there are cooks who make it.

Chilaquiles is, to Annalena's view, the Mexican answer to bread crumbs, or panzanella, fried rice, or other dishes designed to use up left over staple starch. It calls for, and Annalena would say, NEEDS, stale tortillas to be made properly. Fresh tortillas simply do not stand up in the cooking process.

In a bit of a Pyrrhic victory here, it is absurdly easy to get stale tortillas in New York. All you have to do is go to the supermarket and get some of those ghastly corn things in the plastic bag. UGH. You can do better, however, but then you have to do some work. Not hard work, but an extra step. Annalena recommends you do so.

She found SUPERB tortillas from a group that sells bread products at the Farmers' Market: the "hot bred coop" Now, this organization was founded, as Annalena understands it, to give women with little or no income a chance to do what they know how to do, and to make some money doing it. KUDOS. And the products are wonderful. They started by doing "standards," and, little by little, they are adding the "ethnic" breads of the people who belong. That is where Annalena found their superb tortillas. On a par with those of Rancho Gordo, and that is saying A LOT. Also try their Moroccan m'smen, which may be Annalena's new, favorite food. But that is for another day.

Anyway, chilaquiles is a way to make a filling, inexpensive dish that is essentially vegetarian (although, as we will see, you can add protein to it. Let us get to work.

Twelve corn tortillas, and stick to the yellow ones here, unless you want a rather "interesting" looking final product. You should leave them out, in a single layer, on a baking sheet, overnight, to dry out a bit. They will curl up and feel dried out. That is what you want.

When you are ready to cook, just tear them up into odd sized pieces. Meanwhile, put your oven to 325, and then gather the following: 2.5 cups of buttermilk, 2 cups of tomato sauce, or chopped tomatoes, or some tomato product. 3/4 cup of a grated cheese. If you have a hard Mexican cheese, use it, or use sharp cheddar. You will also want a bunch of scallions , chopped. Stress the greens here. You can use the bulbs for something else if they are very big, or if you use spring onions (which also work). Chop up three cloves of garlic as well. Finally, you will want half a tablespoon (REVIEW: convert to teaspoons. GOOD Laura: 1.5 teaspoons), of chili powder, of whatever heat you can handle, and a half teaspoon of cumin.

Optionally, you may have handy any of these, or all of them: a cup of cooked beans. A can of those chopped green chilis, or other chilis. Some cooked, chopped , well drained greens. Left over shredded chicken or beet.

Ok, don't overdo it. Don't use more than two of the above.

Put two tablespoons of olive oil into a very big pan, and have a big bowl at your side. Add the onions and garlic to the oil, and cook them for about three minutes. Add the powders, and cook for another thirty seconds, and then add the tortilla pieces. Stir everything together to coat the chips unevenly (you won't get them covered uniformly). Dump these out into a bowl, and lower your heat to medium.

Add the tomatoes to that very pan, and let them just come to a boil. When that happens, add the buttermilk, and whatever else you're adding, plus the cheese. When that bubbles, now dump in the tortillas, and stir them so that everything is combined well. Cover the pan, lower your heat to low, and cook for five minutes.

Now, move the whole pan to the oven, and let it sit at the low temperature, for 20 minutes or so. After that, PROTECT YOUR HANDS, and then take it out. Take the lid off, and you will see what looks like a very stable casserole. You can eat this at this point, but it is NOT a solid mass, and you will want bowls. If you leave the pan in the oven for another half hour or so, it will solidify, and is "cuttable," but it will never be really, truly firm.

And who cares? It's very good, very filling, very nourishing, and very cheap. Also, it is not that caloric. If you leave out the beans, a fourth of the dish has but 364 calories in it. That's a result of the buttermilk, which is woefully low in calories. So add some more stuff to it.

Provecho children. Make something tasty and easy and different. This is SOOOOO SOOOOOOO GOOD