Chilaquiles!

Without a doubt, Chilaquiles is now my ultimate favorite breakfast dish in the whole wide universe!  Chila-what?  Don't you just love the name?  You can check it out in Wikipedia, but in a nutshell, it's a typical Mexican breakfast dish made of left over ingredients, including stale tortillas, salsa, and eggs.  I don't know why I was only introduced to Chilaquiles a few months ago, but it all started in XOCO.  And my life has changed forever. :-) I've tried it in several restaurants (as you can see in photos below) and the best I've had so far is still XOCO's version.  I know I won't be seeing this in restaurant menus back home, so I attempted to create this dish for myself.  After all, I am Miss Leftover-turn-into-a-whole-new-dish kind of gal... And I must say, I don't need to panic when I'm back in Manila!

XOCO

Tweet                         Eggsperience  

My Version of Chilaquiles

Ingredients:

- 2 Tortillas Cut into strips

- 2/3 Cup Salsa (Tomatoes, Onions, Cilantro, Lime Juice, Salt & Pepper)

- 2 tbsp Minced Onions

- 1 Egg

- Jalapeño Slices

- Mexican Blend Cheese

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

1. Using an oven-safe frying pan, fry the tortillas in vegetable oil until crispy. Set aside.

2. Saute the onions until translucent.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

3. Turn off the fire and add back the tortillas into the pan.

4. Top with salsa, cheese, egg, and jalapeño slices.

5. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until the egg is cooked.

What an Eggsperience!

My posts in the next few days are most likely going to be about my Mom, what we did, and of course, what we ate!:-) Today was uneventful as we just shopped 'til we dropped in Wisconsin, with the intent of escaping the commotion in downtown Chicago where the NATO Summit is being held.  Yesterday, we did a little more of the touristy stuff and we also continued our Saturday routine (with my mom!) - brunch.  We're supposed to go to XOCO, but we were an hour too late as they were already getting ready for lunch.  No more chilaquiles and torrejas - booooo!:-O  Since Eggsperience Cafe is right around the corner, we decided to have our first meal of the day there... I've actually been there once, about a year ago, and it was a great "eggsperience".  Good thing it wasn't too crowded like I expected, but that was maybe because people were trying to avoid downtown for potential protester rallies and God knows what else!  Anyway, the menu was quite overwhelming - they have everything your heart desires for breakfast (with eggs of course).  Pancakes, waffles, fritatas, omelets, benedicts, name it, they have it!  

Thank God they have chilaquiles!  So that's what I had.  It was good, but the serving was way too huge and the salsa verde was way too hot! The eggs were cooked perfectly (they better be!), so I was dancing for joy (in my head) when I had my first bite.  Mom had the strawberry cheesecake pancake - the cream cheese portion was good, but the pancakes failed in comparison with the other pancakes I've tried in Original Pancake House or Maple Counter Cafe.  Or maybe it was too high of an expectation for a place that does not specialize in pancakes!  For hubby's bacon, spinach, and mushroom fritata - hmmm... not to sound conceited (a.k.a. feelingera), I could've done it better (naks X 100)!  But the presentation was top notch though - just look at the photos...

What does chilaquiles look like beneath the eggs?  Here you go - it's a mixture of salsa, cheese, and leftover (potentially stale) tortillas... I'm still a fan.

Was it still a great experience?  No.  It was just a good, safe one.

Tweet! Sunday Brunch

I got sick yesterday (yes, on a Saturday!! :-() and Bobby had to work... what a great way to start a weekend!  So apart from doing mandatory office work (I'll leave it at that), I half-slept the whole day - not the most comfortable situation, and this was mainly due to insanely painful headache with matching slight fever.  I planned to do so many things - create a fabric necklace, bake cookies, attend a birthday party, and go shopping.  None had been crossed out from my list... oh but except one thing which I didn't exactly plan for necessarily - make cheese fondue.  I'll post this soon.

So enough with my whining session as this morning was a little bit better (at least the weather was).  Since our Saturday morning routine had gone kaput, we opted for Sunday brunch at this uptown cafe called Tweet.  If you check out their site, you'll be drawn to the cuteness of it - well I was.  I can imagine my own cafe and have this kind of website - the colors and graphics are very warm and inviting.  And the menu exhibits not only your typical breakfast fare, but also has healthy options - you'll see the words "organic," "vegan," and "gluten-free".  I was definitely sold.

This place has always been on my list of breakfast places to try and so after a 20 minute commute, ahhh... we finally meet.  Okay... so, the exterior and interior design did not actually live up to the cuteness (almost Winnie-the-Pooh-like) of the website.  It was rather rustic and eclectic - too many colors going on and odd paintings filled the walls.  But it was not bad - it' just not what I expected.  Staff was very friendly and our waiter, Rex, had this "small-talk" thing going on -- I probably only understood half of what he said but I smiled (and sometimes made small laughs) politely.

Now for the food review.  Coffee - typical refillable taste.  They are very attentive to your coffee mug, refilling it so often even if you've just had a sip or two.  They have complimentary breakfast bread (so they call it), but it's actually cake-ish - sort of corn muffin but with blueberry flavor.  I liked it.  Bobby ordered the Denver Omelette - as you can see in the photo below, it was overflowing.  And I thought we're eating healthy haha!  It was good - you can't go wrong with ham, bell peppers, and onions, but what made it a little different and sinful is that it had cream cheese inside and out.  A lot of it.  It was also served with a cup of fresh fruits and english muffins with butter and jam.  Not bad for $11 because you can share this meal as it was a definitely large portion.  But of course we didn't share, tsk, tsk.

I had my usual Mexican selection... Chilaquiles.  Again, large portion and bursting with colors - definitely a feast for the eyes with all the cilantro, avocados, cheese, and sour cream.  I decided to go vegetarian on this and did not get chorizos with it.  Good idea.  I wasn't able to finish the whole thing!  It was okay for me, loved the first few bites, then it got overwhelming.  Too many tortillas, and the black beans were a little bland.  Would've wanted more salsa or mole, but the eggs and cheese made up for it.  XOCO still reigns supreme.  

And if those weren't enough, we also ordered a short stack of buttermilk pancakes for dessert.  Probably since it came with the main course, it already got cold and dry, but then freshly whipped butter saved the day!

I'm not jumping up and down (ala Randy Jackson of AI), but overall it was a good brunch.  The ingredients all looked and tasted fresh and unpretentious.  If there would be a next time, I'll make sure to just share with hubby, or cut back on the second main course.

XOXO to XOCO!

This weekend was an oddly busy one, but I could not resist posting my thoughts on XOCO.  My friend Mia, actually prompted me to try this Mexican restaurant which I pass by every bus ride to the office for more than a year now.  Ok, so there was actually one failed attempt back in Winter of 2011 (due to insanely long lines), one successful attempt about a week ago (for dessert).... and finally yesterday, breakfast!  I've come to realize that I'm more and more drawn to mexican breakfast food, and I think it all started with breakfast burritos (beef or chicken, eggs, salsa wrapped in burrito wrapper - darn, I don't know what they're called... "wrap"?).  McDonalds has them and I've never ordered anything else since I tried it - I will definitely miss breakfast burritos when I fly home to Manila because they don't carry this in their menu (now if only Mr. Yang reads this).  Then I discovered Huevos Rancheros (tortilla, salsa, refried beans, rice) which apparently is a breakfast staple not only in Mexican themed restos, but also available in many Chicago breakfast/brunch places.  Again, none in Manila - ugh.  And finally, what this tribute of a post is for... the one I've lost sleep for (not exaggerating, but maybe a little bit).  Chilaquiles!  Tortilla chips, roasted tomato-serrano sauce, cheese, scrambled eggs - yummy.  I like that it's somewhat a casserole/fritata and it's served in a sort of cast-iron plate.  Though you might think it's like Mexican left over resurrected in a pretty (intimidating) plate, it's d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.  Be careful though and don't burn your tongue out of low EQ like I did!  But it's definitely worth it.  

XOCO is a relatively small place and you'll have to stand in line to order your food.  We ended up sitting at a long bar with high chairs, so like I usually do while waiting for food... take pictures!  I like their decor - not in-your-face Mexican fiesta theme, but very subtle and stylish.  And yes, they used dark blue for their walls!

We ordered Ham-Cheese-Mushroom Empanada for appetizer which I thought they'd just serve as is - not even in a plate but just a plain brown paper bag.  But no, they topped it with cheese and served with this thick sweet chili-tomato sauce.  Best empanada I've ever had in my life.  Great first impression.  And for our morning coffee, we had chocolate cappuccino and latte.  The chocolate flavor is a little strong, almost like they put a shot of liquor.  And for the main course - Chilaquiles and Torreja.  Torreja is Mexican for French Toast (so I guess they should call it "Mexican Toast"?), topped with bacon and walnut bits.  It was the creamiest french toast ever that I'm guessing they used condensed milk (idea light bulb flashing)!

Chocolate Cappuccino and Stack of Napkins (why not? :-))

Ham, Cheese, and Mushroom Empanada

Torreja a.k.a French Toast

My new love - Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles' plate handle and yes... it was a gloomy Spring morning.