Angela Major Pellerin

All of the laughs about "'70's Food" earlier today made me a little nostalgic. Here's one of my old (OLD) stand-by favorites from that era. Alas, no "Cream-of-Anything" soup included, nor aspic'ed mystery substances, and not a fondu pot in sight. Nothing authentically culturally correct...just simple, good ol' '70's fare. Nothing fancy. *Dead easy* to make. It's simply 'got a good beat, and I can dance to it.' That's all 8-).



2 Tablespoons butter

1 lg. can whole, or 2 large cans of CHOPPED green chilies, drained

3-4 cups grated mixed cheeses (sharp Cheddar, Jack, Asiago, Pepper-Jack, Parm, WHATEVER)

2/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (believe Brits call it "coriander leaves?"

1 large ripe Roma tomato, seeded, juiced, chopped

1 small or large (to taste) can sliced black olives, drained

1 sweet onion, diced (Saute' if you have time)

4 eggs, separated - yolks in a small bowl; whites in a large bowl

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. chili powder

¼ cup milk

¼ cup flour (or corn masa flour)

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 SMALL can red enchilada sauce, MILD (medium or hot will overwhelm other flavors). I use Victoria. You just go crazy with WHATEVER. If you have to buy the large can, don't use the whole thing, it will make casserole too loose.

¼ cup Parmesan, grated

¼ cup sour cream

Extra fresh cilantro for garnish



Preheat oven to 350º. Spray a 9 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick vegetable spray (Pam) - especially the SIDES and top edges. Place butter in the bottom, and put the dish in the oven, to warm and melt the butter, while oven is preheating. If using whole chilies, split them open. Either way, cover the bottom of the buttered dish with chilies.



In a bowl, toss together the grated cheeses, tomato, olives, onions, and 3/4 of the cilantro. Place in the casserole dish, over the chilies. Drizzle about 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce over this.



Separate eggs yolks from whites. Beat the egg whites until very frothy, but not too stiff and meringue-like. In a separate bowl, combine yolks, milk, flour, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Fold egg whites into the yolk mixture, and pour this combination onto the casserole.



Drizzle with remaining enchilada sauce. Bake 20 minutes. Top with Parmesan. Bake another 15-20 minutes, until top is golden-brown-and-delicious. Cool for 10+ minutes before serving. Top with dollops of sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro. Generously serves 4.
about 11 months ago · Report

Barry Mantelli
THIS IS THE RECIPE I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR FOR 5 YEARS!!! (granted it's been here for 2 months and I'm only now happening upon it) with a slight variation of adding the enchilada sauce - I think I prepared a homemade green chile sauce instead however...

ahem, allow me to compose myself. Thank you for posting! This is a brilliant dish and so easy to prepare, even though it looks like you need to be a chef.
about 9 months ago · Report

Angela Major Pellerin
My pleasure 8-)) Nah, really, it's dead-easy....one step at a time. ENJOY!
about 9 months ago · Report

Chile Monster
Yeah!

This is why we're here!