Huevos Rancheros (The Breakfast Bible version)

I know I've made a few different versions of huevos rancheros ("farmer's eggs") before and there's at least one recipe for them already posted on this blog. But, as noted, I can be a bit of a completionist sometimes and there was a different recipe for them in one of my breakfast cookbooks, so of course I had to give that a try as well.

This is actually quite different from what I think of as typical huevos rancheros. Rather than making a saucy bean-and-tomato stew (possibly with peppers and other veggies mixed in) and poaching the eggs in the stew, these eggs are fried and then topped with a puréed tomato sauce and beans. (Ideally black beans, but I already had a tin of chickpeas opened, so I just used a few of them for this rendition.) You still get a lot of the same elements, they're just combined in a different way.

Huevos Rancheros

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. canola oil (or bacon grease), divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 chipotle in adobo + 1/2 tsp. adobo sauce
• 8 corn tortillas
• 8 large eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 c. cooked black beans, warmed
• 1/2 c. crumbled queso fresco or feta¹
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook for ~2 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Remove from heat and transfer to blender.
5. Add the tomatoes, chili powder, chipotle, and adobo sauce and purée until smooth.
6. Pour the sauce back into the pot and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened slightly (~30 minutes).
8. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. of the remaining oil over medium heat.
9. Add a tortilla and cook until warmed through and slightly crisped on the outside, flipping once. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer the tortillas to a plate as they come of the the pan and keep warm.
10. Once the tortillas have all been warmed, begin cooking the eggs. Fry sunny side up, over easy, or however you'd prefer using any remaining oil (if any) to cook them and seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Place an egg on each tortilla, top with a generous portion of sauce and a few of the warmed beans.
12. Top each egg with ~1 Tbsp. each of cheese and cilantro.
13. Serve as is or add a bit of avocado, sour cream, and/or thinly sliced radish if desired.

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¹ I didn't have any feta (or queso fresco), so I just used a bit of grated mild cheddar for this version. Feta would have been great, but the cheddar still worked well. ^Back