Huevos Rancheros Recipe

Preparation

Huevos Rancheros

1. Brush both sides of tortillas with olive oil. Place on baking pan; bake at 400ºF 6 minutes or until crisp.
2. If using canned beans, coarsely mash canned beans with back of fork; some whole beans should be visible.
3. Place one tortilla on each serving plate and top each with 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese. Top with a second tortilla. Place 1/2 cup beans on each tortilla. Top beans with third tortilla.
4. Meanwhile, prepare sunny side up eggs. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until melted. Gently slide 2 eggs into skillet. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until whites are set and opaque and yolks begin to firm. Gently remove from skillet; repeat with remaining butter and eggs.
5. Top each tortilla with 2 cooked eggs. Spoon 1/2 cup salsa around the eggs on each of the tortilla stacks. Sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese and 1 tablespoon minced cilantro. Spoon equal amounts chorizo around eggs. Place 3 slices avocado on each plate. Garnish with jalapeños and olives, if desired.

Frijoles Negro de Olla (4 servings)

1. To roast poblanos, place on lightly oiled baking pan. Place pan about 2 inches from preheated oven broiler. Broil 3 minutes, turning frequently until skins are blackened. Remove chiles from pan; wrap in damp towel. Let stand 30 minutes to steam and cool. When cool, peel away blackened skin; remove stems and seeds; dice 1/4 inch.
2. In Dutch oven or other large pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat until hot. Add onion and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until onions weep, stirring occasionally.
3. Add black beans, broth, diced poblano chile and salt to pot. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
4. Remove beans from heat. Mash several times with potato masher to break up beans and release starch. Allow beans to sit 5 minutes to thicken slightly. (Beans should have a “chunky” appearance, not completely smooth.)
5. Cool beans. Place in food-safe container; cover and refrigerate.

Notes

It is always best to prepare these beans a day or two before need and reheat just before serving. They should be moist with some liquid remaining in the reheating pan…if they appear too dry add 1/4 to 1/2 cup broth or water.

Roasted Salsa Ranchera (4 servings)

1. Preheat oven broiler to high.
2. Cut tomatoes in half. Place cut-side-down in lightly oiled baking pan. Place pan about 2 inches from broiler. Broil 15 minutes or until skins begin to blacken; do not turn or peel tomatoes; reserve tomatoes.
3. Place whole chiles on baking pan. Broil about 6 minutes, turning several times to blacken all sides. Remove chiles from pan; wrap in damp towel. Let stand 30 minutes to steam and cool. When cool, peel away skin under cold running water; remove stems and seeds. Dice chiles into 1/2 to 1/4-inch pieces; reserve.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in Dutch oven or other large pot over medium heat until hot. Add tomato paste and salt. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until tomato paste is browned and softened, stirring frequently. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and diced onion; continue cooking, 2 minutes or until onions weep, stirring constantly. Add roasted diced chiles and garlic; continue cooking 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients to pot. Mash tomatoes into large pieces with back of spoon (tomato pieces should be about 1/2 inch). Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
6. Cool sauce. Place in food-safe container. Refrigerate 24 to 36 hours to allow flavors to develop before heating and serving.

Notes

The roasted tomatoes are very important for this sauce and using the tomato paste early on in the recipe adds both color as well as a deeper tomato flavor to the sauce. If your sauce appears too chunky, remove one-third of the sauce and puree it in a food processor or blender. Then add it back into the sauce so that the finished sauce has some “smoothness” as well as the chunky texture.