Huevos Rancheros

“MEXICAN STYLE SUNNYSIDE UP EGGS AND SALSA”

When you need a hearty breakfast, you can’t beat authentic huevos rancheros, a dish prepared with two sunny side up eggs on fried tortillas covered in a spicy tomato salsa with refried beans on the side. This dish is served throughout Mexico, and for good reason. It’s delicious! The name huevos rancheros translates as “ranchers eggs.” When preparing, keep it simple and traditional.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

3 Roma (plum) tomatoes

1 or 2 Serrano chiles

½ of a medium white onion

1 clove of garlic

1 large spring of fresh thyme

In Mexico, the salsa is made very hot. This recipe calls for 1 serrano chile which makes a milder salsa. Add 1 or 2 more chiles is you want it hot.

Directions:

The first thing you need to do is prepare the salsa for the HuevosRancheros. The salsa makes the dish. Bland salsa means bland eggs.

To make your salsa, roughly chop the vegetables and add them to the blender jar. You don’t need to seed the tomatoes or serrano chile. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and blend until smooth. At this point, it will have an unappealing pink color. But don’t worry, as it cooks it takes on a beautiful dark red color that looks spectacular on the plate.

Simmer the salsa for about 10 minutes. When the salsa has developed a deep red color it is ready. If the salsa is too thin, simmer for a few minutes to thicken. If it is too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Add salt to taste.

While the salsa is simmering, fry the tortillas. You will fry them lightly for about 20 seconds per side in about 1/4 inch of medium hot cooking oil. You want to fry each tortilla until it is just becoming crispy on the edge but the tortilla remains pliable. The process of frying adds flavor to the tortilla and keeps it from getting mushy from absorbing the salsa and runny egg yolk.

Set aside the tortillas and cover them with a napkin to keep them warm while you prepare the eggs.

By cracking the eggs into a bowl before putting them into the frying pan you are less likely to break the yolk. You use the bowl to gently slide the eggs into the pan. Heat the oil in a medium sized frying pan. Non-stick is best. You will use the same oil to fry the tortillas and the eggs.