Chipotle Chilaquiles

Deseed the chipotle peppers (easiest to do under running water). Add the peppers and around 1 tsp. of the adobo sauce to a blender.

Drain the tomatoes, retaining the canning liquid. Add the tomatoes and about half the canning liquid to the chipotle and adobo in the blender.

Blend the chipotle-tomato mixture until smooth. If too thick to puree smoothly, add more tomato liquid. Taste, and add more adobo to taste. Set mixture aside.

Heat the lard or cooking coil over medium-high heat in a skillet (cast iron works very well here). Add the onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned. The longer you cook them, the more caramelized they will be – that’s up to you and how much time you have. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then reduce the heat to medium and pour in the chipotle-tomato puree. Be careful of splattering!

Stir the sauce for a minute or two, then add 1 cup of chicken stock. Cook over medium heat until thickened, adding more tomato canning liquid or chicken stock as needed. After reducing it, salt and pepper to taste (remember you’ll be adding chips, too, which might be salty as well). This mixture can now sit for a bit off the heat, if you’re not ready to eat. It may continue to thicken, so tomato canning liquid or chicken stock can be used to thin it down if necessary. You want enough to lightly coat all of your chips. It may look at first like there’s not enough sauce to coat the chips, but toss together for a bit before you decide to add more liquid.

You’ll want to fry your two eggs either before or after the next step. I like mine over easy, but it’s all personal preference.

A few minutes before you’d like to eat, add your tortilla chips to the pan and stir to coat the chips entirely. By the time you get this into dishes and on the table, the chips will have softened considerably, but you still want them to have a bit of crunch.

Place a fried egg on top of each dish of chilaquiles.

Garnish as desired.