Huevos Rancheros- Mexican Eggs & Tortillas

I had the worst Huevos recently when I went out for breakfast with some friends...  so bad, in fact, that I felt the need to share my recipe to help stamp out mediocre Heuvos of the World.  I considered doing a Huevos post a long time ago because it's such an awesome brunch, or even dinner, dish and I took the picture for this a long time ago, and just never posted.These are really easy to make and a yummy way to start your day, unlike the abomination I had today at an unnamed restaurant in Edmonds.

Originally, what hung me up on posting this recipe is the Ranchero Sauce.  I always use the leftover cooking broth from my Ranchero Shredded Pork and blend it up and reduce to use for the sauce for the meat, AND a nice side benefit is having the sauce in the fridge to whip up some HUEVOS in the morning.  Since I know most of you aren't going to make the pork in order to make the Huevos, I'm going to give you a couple of ways of making the Ranchero sauce separately.

A couple of other ideas for Heuvos, use some black beans (mashed) or refried beans on the tortilla before the egg, and also top with avocado slices.

(Yep, not sure why I used GLADWARE to photograph the sauce in either....  )

Ingredients for EACH serving.
1-2 corn tortillas
1 egg (or 2 if you are hungry...)
1/4 cup Ranchero Sauce
1/4 cup shredded cheese, Mexican blend, Cheddar, Monteray Jack... whatever you got!
Chopped Cilantro
Minced Jalapeno
Chopped white onion
Chipotle Sourcream (recipe below)

Ranchero Sauce 1 -
1 jar of Salsa
1 Tbsp of chili powder
Blend a jar of salsa until it's smooth in a blender, or food processor.  Heat over medium heat and reduce to thicken.  Adjust flavorings adding chili powder or salt to improve flavor.

Ranchero Sauce 2 -
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp oil
1-2 jalapenos, diced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 can tomatoes
1-2 Tbsp chili powder
Salt & Pepper
Saute onions, jalapenos and garlic until soft, add to a blender (or food processor) with the tomatoes and blend until smooth.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, reduce to thicken.  Adjust flavors as needed.

In a small nonstick frypan, heat up the sauce, adding the corn tortilla into the sauce.  This softens the tortilla and infuses it with flavor.

Flip the tortilla over, making sure it's completely covered in sauce. Remove from pan, and place tortilla and any sauce on a the plate you're going to serve it on.

Fry the egg in the same pan, (sometimes I just fry it in the leftover sauce) wiping the pan out with a paper towel, if you like.  

When the egg is cooked to your liking, add on top of the tortilla on the plate, and immediately top with some shredded cheese.  It usually melts pretty quick, but you could throw it in the microwave for 15 seconds if you want it super melt-y.  Top with the cilantro/jalapeno/onion relish and a dollop of chipotle sour cream.

Chipotle Sour Cream

I love having this in the fridge... it's fantastic on everything!  Especially good on Chicken Tortilla Soup! It's easy to make a half batch too. If you don't like it too spicy, just use one pepper until you are sure of how hot they are.

2-3 chipotle peppers with sauce

1-16oz tub of sour cream

1 tsp. salt

Add the chipotle peppers in the bottom of the blender, add in the sour cream and salt.  Blend until it’s a nice soft peachy color.

Give it a taste test… if you like it hotter, go ahead and add another chipotle pepper. Best to warn others when serving this… as not every likes it spicy and this can really pack a punch.  So easy, we have this on hand in the fridge at most times.  Try this on your eggs, or even on your sandwich instead of mayonnaise!



Indian Butter Chicken

I know, I know... BUTTER Chicken???  Really, there's not a ton of butter in this recipe, but there is cream, so I am aware this is not a low calorie dish.  I made this at the request of my husband, who loves to go to the Indian Buffet lunch places near his work and loves this dish the most.   

This has intense spicy flavors with lots of garlic and ginger too, but not as hot as you might expect especially when served on plain white, or basmati, rice.  Traditionally it's made with white chicken meat, but I think it would be great with chicken thighs too. Don't be put off by the list of ingredients, it's mostly spices.  I was tempted to combine the two marinades to save time, but I did it the way I read up on the internet... figuring if millions of Indians do it that way, I better too.



Serves about 4-5
Ingredient:

Marinade 1:

1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tsp salt

Marinade 2:

1 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp garlic paste

1/2 Tbsp garam masala

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 Tbsp chili powder

2 Tbsp ginger

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

Sauce:

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 Tbsp ginger

1 Tbsp chopped garlic

1 Tbsp jalapeno, chopped 

2 cups tomato puree

1 Tbsp chili powder

salt to taste

1 cup water

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

In a ziploc bag, place chicken with lemon juice, 1 tablespoon chili powder and salt. Toss to coat; cover dish and refrigerate to marinate for 1 hour.

Add yoghurt, salt, garlic paste, garam masala, butter, chili powder, ginger paste, lemon juice and oil to ziploc bag of chicken and Marinade 1. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, refrigerate and marinate for another 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Bake on a rack over a baking sheet in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until almost cooked through.

To Make Sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garam masala. When masala begins to crackle, mix in ginger paste, chopped garlic and jalapeno peppers.

Saute until tender, then stir in tomato puree, chili powder, salt and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring in honey.

Place chicken in sauce mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside. Stir in fresh cream and serve over steamed rice.

If you like Indian Food, you might also like:
Turkey Keema Curry
Spicy Shrimp Curry