Green Chile Gravy

My guys have this beef and queso dip that they just adore at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Even though it is supposed to be an appetizer, they often order it for a main course. This recipe is inspired by that dip. My carby boys ate it with tortilla chips, but John had his poured over eggs. Even though he usually fusses about the heat of chiles, these canned green chiles are actually very mild. He declared that the Green Chile Gravy was outstanding.

Green Chiles. I do love them, but I have such a hard time paying the prices for those tiny little cans. I can't believe I see them for a dollar these days. I am not willing to give up on that flavor though. Here's what I do. I shop around until I find a big can. I mean a really big can. This one is 99 ounces--over six pounds of peppers. I paid $8.69 for it. That is the same as nearly 25 four ounce cans at a dollar a piece. Yikes. After I open it up, I just spoon the chiles into old ice cube trays and freeze them. After they are firm, I pop them out and put them all in a ziploc bag. That makes it really quick to grab a couple of cubes when I am making Chiles in the Hand or any other dish with green chiles. Such a savings. The brand I got this time is Casa Fiesta. I found it in the aisle with Institutional foods at a local grocery. Haven't found big cans at Walmart yet.

Sorry about that photo. My camera always makes hamburger gravy look purple. I promise it is a nice golden color. If I played around with the hue, the eggs turned green. So trust me on this one, Green Chili Gravy is good, but not on green eggs.

Green Chili Gravy

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground sausage
8 ounces green chiles
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
5 slices American cheese (mine is the white variety from Sam's Club)

Brown meat and drain. Add cream cheese, chiles and half and half. Stir until cheese melts. Add water and sprinkle xanthan gum over. After the mixture is thickened, add cheese slices and melt into gravy. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste. Serve over scrambled eggs or low carb bread. This could also be made even quicker using Minute Beef and Minute Sausage.

Today was our first full day of school. I won't have as much time in the kitchen, but as always, we still will have the Diner open 24/7. They gotta eat!