Simple, layered, delicious chilaquiles.

I fell in love at first bite when Donna first took me to her own all-time favorite restaurant, El Charro, the famous family-owned Mexican cafe in my birthplace, Tucson Arizona. When Donna visits her family there, they’ve been known to stop at El Charro directly from the airport, and ever since visiting there for the first time in 2003, I can see why. This is both as regionally authentic as it gets AND cooking from the heart of family traditions. And it’s now my favorite, too. (Seriously. It’s that good.)

A Belated Birthday Bash

We had started a new tradition not long before the visit photographed here: every visit would include a “birthday party” for me, so as to make up for some lost time – hence the sombrero of honor and carrot cake with candle. Donna’s favorite dish is carne seca, a dish that involves slowly drying beef in the open air (a tradition that is often a matter of contention for the Tucson health department). I’d be hard pressed to choose only one favorite, but it would probably be a toss-up between one of several varieties of enchiladas or their chilaquiles.

Since we just shared some of our own enchiladas, I’d love to pass on this very easy, very flexible recipe for chilaquiles, which happens to be a great fit for a Meatless Monday. This is also a bit of a hat tip to our former incarnation as Fab Frugal Food, as it is extremely inexpensive and a great way to use up old, stale tortilla chips.  Read the rest of this entry →