Huevos Rancheros!

It was the British celebrity chef and cookbook author, Rick Stein, who first introduced me to the concept of chili and tomato sauce with eggs and tortillas, long before I had ventured anywhere close to Mexico. In one of his books, he suggested that this breakfast dish was a little too adventurous for him at such a young age and opted for espresso to wake him up instead.

Luckily, I was always willing to try something new and first tried this dish in Mexico at an adult age. This is something I always rely on when I have tortillas to use, satisfying my love of spicy food and something a little different to the usual bacon, eggs malarkey.

In Mexico, this once came with eggs so barely cooked, the yolk was a liquid pool of molten yellow and the white just shy of translucent. I had to send it back, horrified and disappointed. I have only just learned to tolerate what I affectionately refer to as 'squidgy' yolks, only being able to stomach fully hard yolks until quite recently. This has, however, opened up a whole new area of creaminess I had completely forgotten to appreciate. (When I was younger, I would happily dip my 'soldiers' into molten yolk). So, with my Spanish verging on almost non-existent and much head shaking later, the server returned with nuked eggs and I happily ate the dish with sour cream and Guacamole. I enjoyed it very much.

Recipe

2 Tortillas

1/2 large tin crushed tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 chili, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp oil

large handful mixed greens, shredded

4 small broccoli florets, boiled in microwave for 2 minutes

2 eggs

large handful of grated cheese

2 tbsp sour cream

dash of hot sauce

paprika

To make the tomato and chili sauce:

1. Fry the onion, garlic and chili in the oil over gentle heat until soft.

2. Add the tomatoes, chili powder, oregano and cumin, season to taste with salt and pepper and add the greens.

3. Cook slowly over low heat until the greens are wilted and add the broccoli.

4. Stir and allow to heat through.

5. A little sugar can be added to sweeten the sauce or a little extra chili powder.

 

6.Place your tortillas under a grill (broiler) to brown and crisp.

7. Fry 2 eggs in oil and a little butter, turning over if desired and cook to liking.

8. Top each tortilla with an egg, half the chili tomato sauce and sprinkle over half the grated cheese.

9. Brown under the grill until the cheese is bubbling and melted, (take care not to burn the edges of the tortillas.

10. Serve with sour cream, dust with paprika and more chili powder if you really need to wake up or had a particularly good night.