When I was younger, I remem­ber my Aunt Deya help­ing my Bampa in the kitchen while he was mak­ing break­fast.  She intro­duced me to some­thing that I thought was so amaz­ing – that being huevos rancheros.  Sadly, she lived in Cal­i­for­nia or you know I would have been pes­ter­ing her to teach me the recipe on the daily.

Lately, I’ve been toy­ing with dif­fer­ent styles of cui­sine, namely Mex­i­can & Span­ish.  It was only nat­ural that I attempt some­thing that is syn­ony­mous with Mex­i­can cui­sine right?  Now, I do have a quick con­fes­sion – eggs and I have a love/hate affair.  Can I make a over hard fried egg – sure, with my eyes closed.  Scram­bled eggs and I have kissed and made up after learn­ing how to FINALLY cook them cor­rectly.  Poached Eggs and Sunny Side Up eggs and I are still on the outs but I resolve this year to learn how to do both types of eggs perfectly.

I decided to per­fect my own take on Huevos Rancheros and I’m happy to say that after mul­ti­ple kitchen exper­i­ments, this ver­sion just sang.  The addi­tion of chipo­tle and smoked paprika left some heat that hit the back of the throat.  The fire roasted toma­toes add a earthy qual­ity along with the cumin and the lime adds bright­ness, just tying every­thing together.  Cou­ple that with the yolk from the eggs that moist­ens the crispy corn tor­tilla and you have a new take on break­fast that, quite sim­ply, can be great for din­ner as well.

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HUEVOS RANCHEROS, MY WAY

Ingre­di­ents:

• 1 15 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 or 2 cloves of gar­lic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. smoked Span­ish paprika
• 1/4 tsp. Mex­i­can oregano
• 1 tsp. Worces­ter­shire sauce
• 1 tsp. of minced chipo­tle in adobo (you can add more but yes, I admit – I’m a wimp)  Alter­na­tively, you could add 1/2 tsp. of chipo­tle chili pow­der or chili powder.
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• Diced Green Chiles (optional)
• Salt & Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
• 4 eggs
• 4 corn tortillas
• But­ter
• Olive Oil

Direc­tions:

1. In a sauté pan, sauté the onion over medium heat in olive oil until translu­cent. Gen­tly salt the onion to make sure the mois­ture is released.
2. Add the gar­lic and let the fra­grance develop.
3. Add the fire roasted toma­toes and allow it to bub­ble for a minute or two.
4. Add the Worces­ter­shire sauce, Mex­i­can oregano, smoked Span­ish paprika, cumin, and chipo­tle and stir gen­tly.  (You can add the diced green chiles.  I made an exec­u­tive deci­sion to omit them.)
5. Add the lime juice and add salt and pep­per to taste.
6. Allow to sim­mer gen­tly while you move onto the eggs & tortillas.
7. Toast the tor­tillas until lightly browned and crispy on a non­stick skil­let.  Keep warm while you make the eggs.
8. Melt a tea­spoon of but­ter in the same non­stick skil­let that you used for the tortillas.
9. Crack the eggs into the pan and fry until the yolks are runny and the whites are set.
10. Plate with tor­tilla, a small amount of the fire roasted salsa, the egg and top with a driz­zle of the salsa on top and enjoy!

Gather Your Ingredients

Sautéing the Onions and Garlic

Sim­mer­ing the Sauce

Paula Dean – back away

The per­fect egg… for now

The tor­tillas have a bit of color

The end result – so good.