Huevos Rancheros

Nothing hits the spot on a lazy Sunday morning like a savory, spicy brunch of huevos rancheros. (Especially if it follows a Saturday night of fajitas and margaritas with friends.) Frankly I've never consulted a real recipe on the subject- but my impromtu version is pretty tasty if I do say so myself. We had some amazing homemade salsa left over, (prepared by a real live Texan I might add), some black beans, corn tortillas, and guacamole- all we needed was the huevos.

Quick Refried Black Beans:

1/3 cup diced sweet onion

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1/2 of a jalapeno pepper, minced

2 cloves of garlic, grated/minced

1 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of chili powder (chipolte or ancho if you like a smokey flavor)

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

I sauteed the veggies in some olive oil until tender and then added the spices, cooking for one minute longer. Next went in the black beans and liquid. I cooked it 3-4 minutes until warmed through and then pureed it with an immersion blender. You could use a food processor or standing blender too.

Next I shallow fried some corn tortillas in vegetable oil. I used just enough oil to completely cover the bottom of the pan and then fried the tortillas one by one over medium high/high heat until toasted and crispy on both sides.

Lastly, I fried the eggs. I am very picky about my fried eggs and I have a new fool proof way to ensure a perfectly set yet tender white with a warm runny yolk- no flipping necessary. I fry the eggs over medium high heat in a non stick skillet sprayed with Pam. (In this case I wiped my tortilla fry pan almost clean and used residual oil.) As soon as the white is almost totally white in color with just a layer of translucent white on top, I turn the heat off and cover the pan with a lid and let it set for 60 seconds to cook the white all the way through. This time, I sprinkled the eggs with a Mexican blend of grated cheese before covering- the cheese melted a bit while the eggs finished cooking.

To assemble, I spread the refried black beans onto the crispy corn tortillas, I then placed the cheesy fried egg over the top and drizzled the whole plate with the spicy salsa. I added a generous scoop of guacamole on the side though you could serve freshly sliced avocado too.

The only thing that could have made this better was a Bloody Mary or perhaps a tequila sunrise... but we were able to make do with plain old O.J.