Chila-Migas

There is quite a bit of debate about the differences between chilaquiles and migas.  They are both considered Mexican comfort foods and are made with some combination of corn tortillas, salsa, cheese and eggs, depending on whom you ask.  Some argue that it has to do with the way the tortillas are fried and when the salsa is added.  Others contend that chilaquiles are made with eggs and baked while migas are simply fried tortillas with onions, cheese and salsa.  Is this a regional dispute?  A case for a panel of Food Network judges?  The stuff that family feuds are made of?  Even Gilda "La Madrina" and I can't seem to agree.

During a recent discussion about this, Gilda remembered that she had written down my mother's recipe for chilaquiles while my mother dictated it to her over the phone--when they were teenagers!  Gilda dug around and found the recipe.  Written in pencil and the page now yellowed, the instructions are vague and fail to settle the question of whether chilaquiles and migas are different interpretations of the same dish.

I remember my mother frying triangles of corn tortillas with onion, then adding salsa and scrambled eggs.  She called this dish chilaquiles, not migas.  I have made the dish pretty much the same way over the years.   But in honor of the recipe as dictated and written by two best friends over 40 years ago, I have deviated from my usual practice.  This is the result and, as is the prerogative of a daughter/ahijada, I have renamed this dish Chila-migas.

What is the tradition in your family?  Are you a chilaquiles purist or a migas connoisseur?  Enlighten us!

Chila-Migas

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Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Gilda Claudine

Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of Canola oil


• 1/2 chopped onion


• 1 tomato, diced


• 1 serrano or jalapeño pepper, chopped


• 5 corn tortillas


• 6 eggs


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Queso fresco or queso cotija, about 1/2 cup or more

Instructions

1. In a heavy skillet, heat half of the oil.


2. Sweat the onions, tomato and pepper and set aside when done (about 10 minutes).


3. Cut 5 tortillas into triangles.


4. Add the rest of the oil to the skillet and, when hot, fry the tortillas.


5. Remove the tortillas with a slotted spoon/spatula and drain on a paper towel.


6. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.


7. Return the tortillas to skillet, layering the bottom with them.


8. Add tomato mixture and another "layer" of tortillas.


9. Whisk the eggs and add to the skillet, allowing them to cook.


10. Add salt and pepper to taste.


11. When the eggs are cooked halfway through, remove from the burner.


12. Add the desired amount of cheese and place skillet in the oven.


13. The chila-migas are ready when the cheese is melted and the eggs are cooked through.


14. Serve with slices of avocado, red or green salsa, and garnish with chiles.

Notes

I chose to sauté the onion, tomatoes and chiles and did not add salsa to the dish. Adding a red or green salsa when layering the tortillas in the skillet is optional. If you choose not to add salsa at this stage, serve the dish with a side of salsa.

Food is Bond

Food binds us to each other on an intimate level.  This is undeniable.  So-called “comfort foods” remind us of our childhoods when we felt safe, perhaps enveloped in a grandparent’s affection.  Sometimes the dishes we prepare remind us of loved ones we’ve lost, their once palpable enthusiasm for a homemade meal now relegated to a bittersweet memory.

When we spend the day kneading dough together or drawing a new family member closer by sharing an old family recipe.  When we puzzle over a recipe and wonder how the art of cooking came so easily to those who came before us.  Well, these are the ways in which we deepen our relationships to one another and uphold our traditions.  Food lies at the heart of it all, as something we need for both physical and spiritual survival.

Case in point.  I’ve spent the entire day making empanadas.  The recipe is simple but the assembly arduous.  Gilda (la Madrina) and I made the first few together while we sipped wine and contemplated the chemistry of pastry.  But this recipe belongs to an auntie I acquired, along with several other lovable and adoring family members (most of whom hail from Argentina), when I married The Saint.  My Tía Raquel and her sister (my mother-in-law) recently treated me to a talk about their childhood memories of Argentina:

Like the gift that keeps on giving, a discussion about food resulted in my Tía Raquel sharing her recipe for empanadas, a “comfort food” staple in many Latin American countries and Spain.  Now, forever a food that will remind me of her and of this moment.  The gesture of remembering together, sharing a recipe, cooking and talking — these are profound ways we strengthen our ties to one another, almost without even noticing we're doing it. Beautiful, isn't it?

Raquel's Beef Empanadas

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Recipe Type: Appetizer

Ingredients

• Filling


• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 cup chopped onions


• 1 cup chopped tomatoes


• 1 cup chopped green peppers


• 1 clove finely minced garlic


• 1½ teaspoons corn starch


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 1 teaspoon black pepper


• A “touch” of red pepper


• 1 cup of water


• 2 hard boiled eggs (optional)


• 1 egg yolk, beaten (optional)


• Dough


• 3 cups of flour (I used whole wheat flour here)


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

Filling

1. Brown the beef over medium heat.


2. Add the onion, green pepper, tomato and garlic.


3. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and until the onions are transparent. Stir in the corn starch, salt, sugar, and pepper.


4. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Here, I also added two chopped, hardboiled eggs, something I really like in empanadas.

Pastry dough

1. Stir together the unsifted flour (I used whole wheat flour, different from my aunt's recipe.), salt and baking powder.


2. Combine ¾ cup of olive oil and ½ cup of water and add to flour mixture.


3. Stir until dough is soft and cleans the side of bowl. (Note: I used a food processor to mix the dough.)


4. Roll the pastry and use a cookie cutter to cut out circles more or less the size of your palm.


5. Place about 1 tablespoon of the beef mixture in the center of each circle (more if circles are larger) and fold the dough over, gently pressing the dough at the seam.


6. Seal the edges (In a pinch, use the tines of a fork, as I did here.).


7. Place the empanadas on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush each with a beaten egg yolk.


8. Also, don't forget to poke a few small holes or make small slits in the dough to allow the moisture inside to vent.


9. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

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If and when you embark on the mission of making homemade empanadas — well, let’s just say there’s ample time for bonding.

Postscript:

After my Tía Raquel read this post, she sent me these additional tips:

I should have mentioned you can add almost anything you like to the filling.  In Argentina it is common to add eggs (as you did) as well as olives and raisins.  It’s just a matter of taste.

I always roll the pastry between sheets of waxed paper instead of on a floured surface.  You will find that by not adding additional flour the crust is crispier and flakier.  The olive oil in the dough mixture is not absorbed with additional flour which makes the empanadas “fry” in the oven.

If you like a juicier filling, don’t cut slits to vent; enough vapor escapes from the edges to prevent them from splitting. You do need venting slits if you make a pie instead of individual empanadas.

Our mother used to make a beautiful braided edge to seal. I can flute the edges but I haven’t been able to master the braid. When I was little, I used to eat the crust only. I wasn’t interested in the filling and to this date the crust is my favorite part.