A Hangover Cure from Mexico: Breakfast Chilaquiles with Homemade Tomatillo Sauce

I don't remember exactly where I saw this dish first, be it on the food network or the other cooking shows I watch on PBS or WLIW Create, but I know it HAD to be on TV.

Southwestern Breakfast is a culmination of all that is good about the world of food, it has all the elements of "awesome".  There are the eggs of course, which puts this dish in the breakfast category, then all kinds of veggies, familiar and foreign, then you add the dairy.....CHEESE!, in my dish I'm using Casique, crema, and Monterrey jack (need i say more?!), some carbs in the form of tortillas, some spices via hot sauce, peppers and fresh herbs, and in this specific recipe i diced leftover roasted potatoes to add to the mix....OK enough gab, lets get to the good stuff!!!!!

First the Tomatillo or Green Sauce:

You will Need:

1 + 1/2 to 2lbs of Tomatillo- cubed

2 Jalapenos or Serano chiles (OR BOTH!)- Halved

2 Cloves of Garlic- Smashed

1 can of green chiles

1 +1/2-2 cups Cilantro (or as much/little as your heart desires, but please use at LEAST 1 cup)- Chopped

1 Spanish or White Onion- Diced

1/2 Fresh Lime juice

1/4 teaspoon of white sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Now there are many ways to prepare this "green" sauce....I used to ROASTING method

Take tomatillos, Jalapenos,garlic and onion on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and pop into an oven at 425degrees. It took me about 20 minutes for the toms' to get a char on them....You don't necessarily need the char, and you do NOT want to burn the garlic, so watch your veggies carefully!!! Roasting will add another dimension of flavor to your sauce but mainly all you want to cook and break them down a little.(if roasting isn't for you there are other methods of cooking the veggies that you can look up on the web.

Once ingredients have reached desired softness remove and let cool for a few, then pop EVERYTHING into a blender and let her rip!

consistency is everything with this sauce, you want it loose enough to work with, but also to hold together like a "salsa" so give it a good buzz at first and then dial it down to a pulse.

Ok now for the actual dish:

You will need:

TWO frying pans for simultaneous cooking :)

One package of corn tortillas and or Torlilla chips, it all depends on what kind of textures you like in your Chilaquiles

Bowl of WARM Tomatillo Sauce

Eggs (usually I like at least two per serving)

Diced Potatoes (I used leftovers from the week that I had roasted, u can use something similar to what you would make home fries with or you can omit them all together)

Casique Cheese (a"queso blanco"; part skim semi soft spanish cheese, if you can't find queso blanco or add Oaxaca use  Mozzarella or just the Monterrey)- crumbled

Crema or Sour Cream- for drizzling

Monterrey Jack Cheese- shredded

Green Hot Sauce or whatever hot sauce you prefer or have laying around

Lime Wedges

Tablespoon or so of Corn oil per Tortilla, or Pam spray

Extra Chopped Cilantro and Fresh Chopped Oregano for garnish

GET READY, your about to make your new favorite breakfast dish......

In one pan add eggs and cook sunny side up over medium heat

While eggs are frying, in a small to medium frying pan spray a little Pam or a small amount of  corn oil

add potatoes, a HEAVY dose of hot sauce, toss and reheat until crispy or until desired done-ness

Remove and set aside

Re-oil the pan and add one corn tortilla, flip after one minute or as it begins to soften

Add one to two heaping spoonfuls of Tomatillo sauce to soak and saturate the tortilla round

Keep this pan going until the contents of the pan warm through, you may raise the temperature of the pan now if needed

On a single serving plate:

add soaked tortilla round

add potatoes

add a squeeze of lime if desired

add crumbled Casique/Queso Blanco cheese, and shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

add if desired more Green sauce

add the fried eggs and top with more green sauce, more cheese, drizzle with the crema/sour cream, top with cilantro, oregano and salt/pepper to taste......pretty much do it however you want!!!!!!

Now ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES, dig in, and ENJOY :) this is sure to cure any ailment you might have! Especially hunger!

The nice thing about this dish is you can make it however you want!!!! Add re-fried bean, black beans, chicken or ground beef, heck, add em all!

Master this dish and you'll definitely be popular with whoever you plan on feeding, because you cannot find this dish that often in NEW YORK.....