Chilaquiles

Can someone tell me where I can have chilaquiles with chorizo? I can't seem to find it on any menu. Thank You

It's not on their menu, but if you go to Nuevo Leon and ask them to add chorizo to an order of chilaquiles, I'm sure they would do it for you. They are generally happy to do small-scale special orders of that sort.

Nuevo Leon
1515 W. 18th St.
in Pilsen (first block east of Ashland)

A

Could someone explain to us gringos, exactly what are chilaquiles?

Muchas gracias.

Rich4 wrote:what are chilaquiles?

Chilaquiles are a way of using up old (corn) tortillas and it's one of those names that is more a kind of a preparation rather than a single, specific combination of things. The old tortillas are torn or cut up in rough pieces, then fried in oil until they darken in colour a little but are not completely crispy. Then you drain them and use them in any one of a number of assemblages involving various kinds of sauces (e.g., red chile sauce) and other solid ingredients, such as cheese, chorizo and eggs. At Nuevo Leon, they serve their chilaquiles with egg but at, for example, La Kermes in La Villita, they serve them in a green sauce with an optional fried egg on top.

A

Kim wrote:Can someone tell me where I can have chilaquiles with chorizo? I can't seem to find it on any menu. Thank You

Kim,

My typical order at Nuevo Leon is chilaquiles with added chorizo and fresh diced serrano pepper and, if I am really hungry, a chico menudo. Nuevo Leon serves the dry style chilaquiles I prefer, no sauce, no sour cream, just loads of fresh pepper, onion, tortillas and chorizo bound in egg. Nuevo Leon serves their chilaquiles with wonderful beans and rice, made with love and lard, and house-made flour tortillas.

Enjoy,
Gary

Nuevo Leon
1515 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
312- 421-1517

Rich4

They are sort of like Mexican matzo brei.

Evil Ronnie

Taqueria la Oaxaquena makes an excellent chilaquiles, green. It is listed on the menu with cecina, but they have been happy to substitute a fried egg on top, as that's how I prefer it.

Not wet and soggy, really my favorite chilaquiles around town now. I'm sure they'd do chorizo.

They are sort of like Mexican matzo brei.

Exactly. Primarily a breakfast food.

Don't they usually have evaporated milk or something poured over the top? Which is one of the things I'm not crazy about, the ones mentioned above sound better.

Chilaquiles and Some Analogues*

Antonius wrote:a way of using up old (corn) tortillas...

Fattoush

Matzo brei has been mentioned here; to expand along similar lines, I would say too that there is the Arab fattoush, namely, a kind of salad (with variable contents) which is built around pieces of fresh or past-its-prime pita which can also be secondarily crisped or toasted.

Pane Carasau

A not so widely known analogue from Italy is the Sardinian pane carasau, also known as carta di musica. This is a kind of flat bread that is made with semolina, white flour, salt, water and yeast, rolled out very thin and baked twice, to produce a round, very thin and crispy flat bread. Now, this bread avoids the problem of becoming stale by being completely dessicated to start with and so it is in this sense unlike chilaquiles, where the tortillas are used in a secondary way. Nevertheless, the way the carte di musica are used are sometimes quite similar to what one sees with the Mexican chilaquiles. For example, they are rehydrated, dressed with tomato sauce and grated cheese and baked or dressed with tomato paste and olive oil and used as a base for fried eggs.

I have elsewhere sung the praises of stale Italian bread (D'Amato's long loaves are particularly good) used as a base for beans or beans and greens and also as a sort of substitute for maccheroni, dressed in a simple tomato sauce with some pepper and cheese.

All these old bread dishes are tasty and have the further attraction of allowing one to feel smugly good in the exercise of the old Roman virtue of domestic frugality.

"The world has not yet learned the riches of frugality."
Cicero


Antonius

*This looks a bit garish but I wanted to experiment with a different font size.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Rich4

They are sort of like Mexican matzo brei.

Evil Ronnie

Evil,

What an astoundingly Evil (read astute) observation.

Enjoy,
Gary

Kim wrote:Can someone tell me where I can have chilaquiles with chorizo?

Kim,

After writing about Nuevo Leon's chilaquiles with chorizo and fresh jalapeno I had a bit of a hankering. Last night Erik M and I went to NL for an order of chilaquiles which are served with beans and rice.


NL's chilaquiles are just the way I like them, no sauce, loaded with flavor and crisp tortillas.


Erik had very good steak tacos, though they did have an ever-so-slight flavor of adobo/accent powder.


In addition to very good chips, salsa and pickled carrots/jalapeno/garlic Nuevo Leon serves an amuse to all diners. Last evening was pork stew.


Nuevo Leon has been one of my go-to places for years, long hours, reasonable prices and flavorful home style Mexican food.

Enjoy,
Gary

Nuevo Leon
1518 W 18th Street
Chicago, IL
312-421-1517
7-Days Monday-Sunday
7am to 12-Midnight

Antonius wrote:I have elsewhere sung the praises of stale Italian bread (D'Amato's long loaves are particularly good) used as a base for beans or beans and greens and also as a sort of substitute for maccheroni, dressed in a simple tomato sauce with some pepper and cheese.

All these old bread dishes are tasty and have the further attraction of allowing one to feel smugly good in the exercise of the old Roman virtue of domestic frugality.

"The world has not yet learned the riches of frugality."
Cicero


Antonius

*This looks a bit garish but I wanted to experiment with a different font size.

Antonious, I must have missed your earlier comment about stale Amato's bread. Rock-hard bread is frequently a problem at our house, and The Wife usually sprinkles it with water and reheats it so it "tastes fresh." This, to me, is kind of like saying soy-sage or to-furkey tastes almost like sausage and turkey. It's demeaning to the food. Old bread has a personality of its own, and I resolve to use it as the base for beans that you suggest.

I love the quote from Cicero: I don't think I ever ate better than when I was a starving student. When you don't have money, you get inventive in ways that ready cash just allows you to buy your way out of, at your own loss.

Big (or colored) fonts make sense to me, too. As I commented before, the tiny subject line is almost worthless -- way too hard to read, and barely noticeable.

David

David Hammond wrote: As I commented before, the tiny subject line is almost worthless

David,

Look at the top of the page, just under the LTH Forum logo, there the subject line is in large bold letters.

Enjoy,
Gary

He means the one above EACH post, which you can change along the way as a thread evolves. In other words, that one that's so tiny you didn't even notice it. However, I think it might help the search system if you use it.

Thanks for clarifying, Mike.

Yes, I meant the small tiny subject line, indicated in this post with the words "small tiny subject line."

David

GWiv,
It looks so good , just how I like it. Your photos are wonderful ! I wish I could go right now , but it's going to have to wait till the weekend. So I guess I will have to drool until then. Thanks so much. Your the Best.

I guess to my mind what's missing is a way to click on the original post and then get a list by author/title of the all the replies; there titles of replies could be usefull to see how the thread has developed. The lack of such a possibility will perhaps come to be more keenly felt over time, as some threads continue to grow and meander.

But other than that, I really love the basic ways that this software works.

A

We do a chilequiles at MAS in Wicker Park for brunch that we will add Spanish or Mexican chorizo to. There in a ancho sauce with a poached organic egg on top (or you can substitute an organic duck egg if you prefer.)

Nuevo Leon is great because they make them fresh and will add any ingredient you like. They can also be served very soft to a little crunchy based on how you like them.

Next time in Pilsen, you might also like to try Perez a new place in the 1100 west block of 18th Street. Also serve great carne asada. Ask for the outer skirt when ordering.

Mmmm, Nachos for Breakfast. My favorite. The best chiliqueles I've had was in Puerta Vallarta. However, a decent alternative is Flo on Chicago Ave. Below is the info for your review.

Flo
1434 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
Phone: (312) 243-0477

LTH,

Nuevo Leon Chilaquiles remain a favorite, yesterdays with my standard addition of chorizo and fresh jalapeno a study in bad for the heart, good for the soul deliciousness. Volcanically hot taquitos were the NL amuse of the day and the tasty shredded pork filled tamales I split with my lunch companion were of the slightly dense, slightly dry, almost crumbly, variety.

Noontime Nuevo Leon is busy as a bank on payday, with a couple of minute wait on Friday, though service is fast, friendly and efficient. Oh, and basic chilaquiles are a flat $5 with good Spanish rice and terrific lard love refried beans, not to mention the best flour tortillas I have ever tasted, made in-house with lard.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Oh, and basic chilaquiles are a flat $5 with good Spanish rice and terrific lard love refried beans, not to mention the best flour tortillas I have ever tasted, made in-house with lard.

NL's chilaquiles are the best dine-in value I've found in Chicago. They're great and it's a full meal for $5.

PSA: Avoid the chilaquiles at Twisted Spoke. I *should* have been wiser given that they are listed as "Chilla-Killas" on the Hangover brunch menu. Gloppy, seemingly nuked mess. About $10 with chorizo.

It's funny, I've never had chilaquiles in Mexico with chicken or egg or chorizo. Usually they're garnished just with some raw onion and a little crumbled dry cheese and maybe some sour cream. I usually prefer green to red and in a pinch and good prep will do for breakfast. Along with menudo they're supposed to be good for a hangover.

Mexico's a big place. Nuevo Leon's are from, well, you know. About as good as it gets for chilaquiles.

You can get chilaquiles con chorizo at cafe con leche as well.

2714 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 289-4274
http://cafednoche.com/index2.html

My favorite chilaquiles are served at La Cocula at 51st & Pulaski. They are in a green sauce, bound with egg but not too much and crispy on edges but also on the wet side. They come with half an avocado on top, sour cream (a little too much in my opinion but I just push it aside) and wonderful, homey refried beans and rice. It's a huge portion, easily two meals. Once when I went to get them it was close to lunch and was given a delightful cup of sopa de fideo on the house, while my chilaquiles were being prepared.

La Cocula seems to be a mini-chain . . . I tried the chilaquiles at their Cermak location and they just weren't the same. They have chorizo on the menu so I don't think it would be a problem to that thrown in if need be.

Time to head southwest for some chilaquiles . . .

La Cocula
5241 S. Pulaski Ave.

bjt

JeffB wrote:Mexico's a big place. Nuevo Leon's are from, well, you know. About as good as it gets for chilaquiles.

A lot of Mexican restaurants in the US serve things you'd never find in Mexico, e.g., burritos, nachos, fajitas. The furthest north in Mexico I've had chilaquiles is Monterrey. I'm not saying that chilaquiles in Mexico with chorizo doesn't exist, just I've never seen it, and I always get chilaquiles wherever I go. The best: from Los Braceros in Acapulco.

Chilaquiles are obviously unlike burritos, nachos, and fajitas. The former is not something one sees at Applebees or Taco Bell. If you think that the chilaquiles served at places such as Nuevo Leon are inauthentic, that's cool. But, to use a similar example, just because the "real" posole at Zorrito in Acapulco is markedly different from the ubiquitous red, oily Jalisciense style found in Chicago doesn't mean the Jalisco style is a gringo thing.