Huevos Rancheros Recipe
Huevos rancheros is Spanish for "eggs ranch-style." This Mexican breakfast dish is essentially scrambled eggs with a hard spicy kick. Traditionally, huevos rancheros was served for "almuerzo," the large mid-morning meal on rural farms in Mexico. (A much smaller breakfast would have been served at dawn). This is a very basic recipe. To make it more interesting, experiment with additional ingredients, like refried beans, avocado, olives, salsa, and fried potatoes.
Huevos Rancheros
makes two to three servings
Ingredients:
- 1 jalapeno
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1/3 cup red pepper (optional)
- 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or regular tomatoes, cut small)
- 1/2 cup soft Mexican cheese (or jack cheese), grated
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- salt to taste
- Optional: serve with lightly fried corn tortillas.
Preparation instructions:
1. Wash all of the vegetables.
2. Chop the jalapeno into thin rounds. Peel the onion and dice it up. Cut open the red pepper, remove the seeds and stem, then dice. Halve the cherry tomatoes.
3. Prepare the cheese. A soft Mexican cheese is best, but jack cheese will work if you can't find Mexican cheese. If it's really soft, melt the cheese. If harder, grate the cheese.
4. Start warming the pan on medium heat (medium-low for a gas stove). If you have one, use a cast iron skillet. A well-seasoned cast-iron pan is an excellent non-stick surface. Cast iron is known for its even heat-distribution and durability. In addition, cast iron is also especially complementary to eggs (which are a great source of iron) because a very small amount of iron leeches out of cast iron into the food cooked in it. The body uses iron to produce red-blood cells.
5. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl with the milk. Add all of the other ingredients except the cheese, stir, and then set them aside until the pan is hot.
6. When the pan is hot, pour the egg mixture into the pan. Sprinkle the cheese over top and stir and turn them occasionally to insure that they cook evenly and break up (you don't want any overly large chunks). Treat them similarly to how you would cook scrambled eggs.
7. Cook the eggs to your taste. We like to leave ours just a little creamy. Serve immediately on warm plates. To be traditional, serve with lightly fried corn tortillas. Enjoy!
This recipe also goes very well with fried green tomatoes and Chipotle and Smoked Cheddar Cheese Grits.
