eat make read

It’s no secret that I love mexican food, so when my friend Jillian sent me this recipe a while ago I kept it bookmarked for the perfect occasion. She visited me this weekend and I thought there’d be no better time to try it out.

I collected all my ingredients over the weekend, modifying the recipe slighty by getting smaller tomatoes and fewer peppers, then stuck them all in the fridge until Sunday morning. After a nice leisurely start to the day, I started prepping to make the salsa. I soon realized that this wasn’t going to be a quick and easy brunch. After chopping up the tomatoes, peppers and onions, then adding a few spices, I popped the whole thing in the oven for 40 minutes. Once my timer went off, I took my salsa out and let it cool, then I prepared some tortillas to go in the oven to get a quick crispiness. After the salsa cooled a little bit, I tossed it in the food processor.

Then things got a little tricky. The recipe says to make wells in the salsa and then crack the eggs into the them. I don’t think I used enough tomatoes to produce the proper amount of salsa, because my wells were quite shallow. When I cracked my eggs into them, they kind of ran over the all the salsa. I just went with it and let the eggs cook until the whites looked opaque. I then split the mixture into 3 parts and topped each tortilla with an egg surrounded by salsa.

I was a little nervous that this wasn’t going to turn out. It had taken a long time to make and the eggs gave me problems, but when I took the first bite I was super relieved. It was fantastic. I think it was the first egg dish I’ve made that tasted restaurant quality. The salsa was very well rounded and complemented the eggs perfectly. I also loved placing it on top of a crispy tortilla because it not only gave the dish a little crunch, but made it a little more finger friendly. The downside of this recipe is that it takes about an hour or so to make and dirties a lot of dishes. That being said, I’d definitely make this dish again, but I think next time I’ll make more salsa so I can save some for the next time. Delicious!

huevos rancheros
based on this recipe, originally from America’s Test Kitchen

Salsa
2 cups cherry tomatoes,  cored and halved
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and halved
1/2 onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt and pepper

tortillas
4 flour tortillas
olive oil
salt

4 eggs

1
For the Salsa: Toss the first 8 ingredients together in mixing bowl, then spread out onto a baking pan and roast in preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.
2
Take out the roasting vegetables for the salsa and let cool for 10 minutes.
3
Raise temperature in oven to 450 degrees.
4
For the Tortillas: brush both sides of the tortillas with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place on baking pan and cook in oven for 5 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Flip over and cook 2-3 minutes more.
5
Continue the salsa: 1st pulse onions and peppers in food processor for 10 seconds. Add the tomatoes and pulse an additional 10 seconds. Add cilantro and lime juice.
6
For the eggs: Heat salsa in frying pan to simmer then turn off heat. Make 4 wells in the salsa crack the eggs into them (or first crack each egg into a bowl to be sure not to get any shells into the salsa). Season each egg with salt and pepper and heat on medium low 3-4 minutes for runny eggs or 5-7 minutes for well done eggs.
7
Place tortilla on plate, top with egg and salsa. Eat up!