Emeril's Mexican Breakfast Casserole: WOW

[Tom P]

I always make a strata of some kind on Christmas Morning. Prep it the day before, stick it in the oven while presents are being exchanges... easy. I have a couple of standbys I love. This year, we had someone in the house who needed Glute-Free, so I looked for a strata using corn tortillas rather than bread. I found the recipe below. Easily one of the best breakfasts ever (as you can tell by the ingredients!) Wow, this is a keeper and will be the Christmas Breakfast for the foreseeable future... as well as a couple of other times a year!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/em...

[Antilope]

Emeril's recipe sounds really good. I will have to try it with my homemade Mexican Chorizo. I always make my own Mexican Chorizo anyway (and usually serve it with scrambled eggs):

Homemade Mexican Chorizo

1 lb ground lean pork, ground turkey or ground chicken can be substituted
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add more pepper flakes and a little ground cayenne pepper for more heat)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Combine chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, garlic powder, coriander,
oregano, red pepper flakes, ground cloves and black pepper in mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

Add cider vinegar and stir until dry ingredients are moistened.
Add ground meat and knead until spice mixture is well incorporated into the meat.

You can use the chorizo immediately, but for best flavor development,
place chorizo mixture in an airtight container and store overnight in fridge.

Form chorizo meat into small patties or just scramble and fry the meat in a skillet until done.

Use within 2 or 3 days. May be frozen.

[Joebob]

That sounds very good. Will try. THANKS!

[splatgirl]

My latest alterations to the recipe seem to have achieved my ideal non-soupy, tidier portions texture. I used 15-20 tortillas (cooked/lightly toasted over an open flame) and reduced the half and half to 2 cups from three. IMO the extra tortillas sent it into under-seasoned, so i will up that by half a teaspoon next time.
It also required only about 45 minutes in the oven vs. an hour fifteen.

[splatgirl]

I just found this thread (again) when I went looking for the recipe linked and I'm hoping for some advice from others who have experience with it.
I've made this casserole a few times. It's delicious and always well received, but it consistently turns out too liquidy. I've tried increasing the number of tortillas, even doubling, and that made a barely noticeable difference. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same experience and/or has come up with any alterations to fix.
I take "5 corn tortillas" to mean standard ~6" or so tortillas?

[Tom P]

I definitely 'wing it' a little... more tortillas and I cook it longer. Also, I let it sit a bit, which seems to help.

[prima]

I served a version of Mex Breakfast Casserole recipe yesterday, too. Prepared a half recipe on Xmas Eve in a 9 inch square dish, substituted milk for the cream while cutting down on the amount of the liquid, substituted marble cheddar for pepper jack, added fresh chopped jalapenos, refrigerated overnight, and popped into the oven on Xmas morning until it looked cooked. Served the casserole with salsa and guac at the table.

[mcf]

You almost don't need to know it's from Emeril, you just have to look at the long list of ingredients and prep! Sounds delicious, and nice to be able to make it ahead.

[Veggo]

Wow that sounds good - and prepping the day before makes it doable for us slow starters in the morning. A caution to any who are not familiar with the varieties of Mexican chorizo: the inexpensive ones which are most common yield a LOT of reddish fat, and you may want to pour some of it off before adding the other ingredients.

[mucho gordo]

It depends on what you're adding, Veggo. For a quickie breakfast, I'll mix in a few eggs and add the whole mess to a tub of Country Crock garlic mashed potato. The eggs cook nicely and the potato absorbs the grease without being watery or greasy.

[escondido123]

You are so right. The amount of grease there would be in this dish with typical Mexican-style chorizo would be way to much--but Soyrizo would work great as someone already mentioned.

[Barbara76137]

My solution to the fat is that I'm going to use the chicken chorizo I have in the freezer which is really lean. I've already gotten slammed on a paella thread here, since I guess I always use mexican vs. spanish paella.

I'm also going to cut down on the fat in this recipe with a few other substitutions but the flavor will still be great.

[splatgirl]

Thank you! I happened across this same recipe on the FN site earlier today and decided I'd give it a go for our New Years brunch on Sunday. Good to know it's worthwhile.

[Barbara76137]

That DOES sound good. I'm printing out the recipe right now and I think I'll have to try it for New Year's. Thanks.