SIMPLE huevos rancheros

[navegator]

A very simple way to make "huevos rancheros" (ranch eggs) as they are known in Mexico and offered for breakfast.

The simple ingredients are corn tortillas and eggs, the "salsa" can be bought in the US or made at home.

Store purchased salsa made by ROTEL, diced tomatoes and green chiles, mild or hot your choice or if they have the brand HERDEZ, salsa casera or salsa verde.

Made at home salsa is not too hard to make, use the Roma tomatoes if possible "better taste", one small yellow onion if you want not all of it, no ajo (garlic), the white onions are to strong in taste and of course one Jalapeno diced or two depending on your tolerance for pain and suffering.

Heat the 2 corn tortillas in a "comal" ( real ones are made from clay and cured with "cal" (lime), otherwise they are a round flat and made of thick sheet metal, if you do not have one a frying pan works with no oil or grease until the tortilla is nice and hot do not over heat they have to be pliable, or heated with the microwave oven (DO NOT use flower tortillas).

At the same time fry one or two eggs with a bit of salt not too much, no pepper, once the eggs are done place one hot tortilla on a plate and the egg(s) on top and the salsa on top, the other tortilla is rolled and used to push the eggs on the fork and you have a good simple breakfast, and enjoy with a good cup of coffee if it is "café de olla" even better.

Buen provecho

navegator

[moisheh]

For ready to eat Frijoles try Isadora brand peruanas. They come in a microwavable pouch and are awesome!! Way better than pinto beans.

Moisheh

[RayJayco]

Crema de mantequilla makes it all taste good! Frijoles, huevos revueltos, tortillas de mano, que mas!

You have to go to a latin store in the states as typical grocery stores won't have it. Far more common a bit further south in Centro America.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Frijols from the campo of Juanito and elotes from the campo of Hector.

Shuck, dry, soak in cal, rinse, dry, grind on a mano y metate, pat by hand then cook the cakes over a lumbre de guixache wood on a comal de barro, while frijoles de la olla are cooking alongside in a olla de barro will satisfy me three times a week -- just as it has for fifty years when I can find the food.

Tortillas de la tortillaria are wonderbread twinkie gag-o-rama. The inequality of mano y metate grinding, the patting by hand that leaves one end of the disc thinner than the other, and wood smoke affects the flavor of the tortilla.

Genuine frijoles de la olla cooked unevenly where some of the beans are cooked dry and crusty and then vary all the way to runny but thoroughly cooked is unparalleled. Again wood smoke blends into the food.

Machine made. Yeah it's like comparing TANG to fresh squeezed orange juice, a loaf of farmhouse fresh from the oven bread to Wonder/Bimbo.

What has degraded Mexican food is disgusting. My daughter and oldest granddaughter agree that if pester them too much about this I may end up with a plastic bag over my head. La femme de Mexico are violently militant about not returning to a back breaking chore.

[navegator]

Food is very regional and there are many variations to the recipe, as I stated it is very simple and quick, I am glad that all of you are contributing with the local or other ways of preparing the "huevos rancheros", I could go with the real complicated version and that will be boring, starting with how to prepare the ground to plant the corn .......... ETC, ETC.

I am not a chef, I do not know how to cook, but I can cook, "anything that comes in a CAN I can cook"

navegator

[Cloud_Dancer]

Mexican food is regional. For example, In northern Chihuahua state, and in the Las Cruces/El Paso Rio Grande valley,... in order to make authentic casera huevos rancheros you must use roasted and peeled (medium hot)long-green chile from Hatch NM. AND, the chiles, the tomatoes and the onions are NOT chopped. AND, the small amount of cheese that is used has to be asadero cheese from Licon Dairies in San Elizario. Nothing else will do,... for those of us who were born and raised there.

[bighatnohorse]

moisheh wrote:
Forget playing with a knife. Go to any flea market and get one of those salsa makers. Sort of a manual food processor. Takes a bout 20 seconds to cut up an onion into fine pieces.

Moisheh

The one with curved blades works best. My first one was $17. new and delivered. Price is up to $24. now!
Sold at Amazon

[navegator]

Herdez is one company and the other one is Del Monte, they have good products another product that I like is the Atun en chipotle from Tuny, some times they are hard to find but well worth the money with the Gamesa Salasditas crackers.

Other good products that are ready made are La Costena chipotles en adobo, la Costena also has bags of frijoles fritos ready to eat, the other ready to eat frijoles are Isadora also frijoles ready to eat.

There are a number of foods that are ready made that save time when being made at home for a party or entertainment, otherwise food at the fondas (restaurants) is good and reasonable, there is a lot to choose from.

navegator

[chindog]

Herdez is the best, in my opinion. I like the hot salsa casera. It's as good as restaurant salsa. I've not traveled south of the border, but have been told that Herdez is a large food company in Mexico along the lines of Kraft here in the US. They have a lot of good products.

[moisheh]

Forget playing with a knife. Go to any flea market and get one of those salsa makers. Sort of a manual food processor. Takes a bout 20 seconds to cut up an onion into fine pieces.

Moisheh

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Sharp sharp knife.

Cut off stem end of tomato to it will stand upright
Carefully cur criss-cross eight cuts each on 45 degree angle 16 cuts total.

Lay tomato on side. Squeeze bulk of tomtato cut cross ways into cubes.

Cut off stem and tip of tomato to allow it to sit flat.
Use heavy sharp knife whack fifteen parallel cuts across onion

Turn onion sideways and do it again.
45 degrees and do it again
90 degrees and for the final time
Total 60 cuts

Lay on side like tomato and saw dozens of onion chips.
Redo when necessary the upright chops.

Put two heaping tablespoons in a pan and stir fry limp. Add to mix.

Chili serrano for authentic bite.

Yellow patches limones are ripe, all green are not.

Fresh cilantro. Whack it hard on a cutting board and release that flavor.

Want to-kill-for salsa?

Toast tomatoes over a flame until the skin blackens.

Pound into pulp with a molcajete. Stone mortar and pestle.
Yummy

[Old-Biscuit]

I like to spread smashed black beans on tortilla then fired egg (slightly runny yolk) and then salsa