One more use for chipotles - Breakfast casserole

I am pretty sure I have spoken of my love for chipotles adobados: smokey bearers of flavour and pleasure.


The first time I had one was in a little cafe in Puebla: I was visiting my aunt who at the time worked in Mexico City and I recollect it being a relatively muggy and grey day.
We had walked down side roads, exploring, watching locals go about their daily life, looking curiously at the sheer amount of sweet shops and then we were hungry.


Makes sense because it was lunchtime... Go figure.
So we just peered into a couple of places, studied the menus, counted the pesos we were carrying and settled for a semi-empty place, but with a colourful decor.

I don't know why, we just did.

I ordered a torta (sandwich) with chicken and avocado thinking not much of it and being more excited about the bread normally used in Mexico for sandwiches - slightly crusty on the outside and very doughy on the inside - and when I bit into it a wave of heat overcame me.


I sure was not prepared for that... And I loved it.
I became obsessed with it.

I must say that until then I had avoided spicy foods, hot sauces and chilies like the pest; I just couldn't get myself to enjoy them and I was cause of great mortification to father who  used to hold hot sauce eating contests when he was younger and slimmer.
But the chipotle adobado hidden in my lunch changed all that.


I spent the rest of the trip disappointed whenever I had a dish that did not include the stuff.


I came back to England laden with tins of the stuff and every time I head across to Latin America that's the first thing I stock on.
You can buy them here in London too, but they are quite expensive in comparison.


Anyway, obviously I have a tendency to put chipotles in whatever I can and yesterday morning I was going through the latest posts at Homesick Texan, and found a recipe for breakfast casserole that I quite liked and thought "Oh, I should make that one day".
Then I thought that perhaps "one day" could be straight away, but as usual I lacked most of the ingredients she listed and I had some leftovers in the fridge I wanted to use up.
And, besides, I am more of a chipotles girl than a jalapeños one, so it kind of changed completely with only the basic idea staying the same as the original.
As you do.


Breakfast casserole
Serves 3


4 large eggs
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated red Leicester
1/2 cup mature cheddar
3 tbsp single cream
1 small potato peeled and diced
1 cup broccoli florets (diced courgettes will also work on this)
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 big chipotle adobado roughly chopped
Salt to taste


Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and saute the potatoes on a medium heat for about 20 minutes with the garlic a pinch of salt.
They should be almost thoroughly cooked at the end of it.
Add the broccoli (or courgette) when there are only 5 minutes to go and increase the heat to char them a little.


Let the vegetables cool and in the meanwhile turn on the oven at gas mark 4 (150C) and mix all remaining ingredients in a big bowl.


Add the vegetables to the egg mix, add salt to taste, pour into a baking dish and put in the oven for 20 minutes.


Done. Easy as.


I had it with a super quick pico de gallo on the side: a small tomato and 1/2 small onion finely chopped, a handful of fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped and the juice of 1/2 lime.


Done. Easy as too.