Huevos Rancheros!

A big hearty Mexican ranch style eggs breakfast entree !

   
     Mexican ranch style eggs is one of my favorite breakfasts.  This is not a wimpy gringo style huevos rancheros recipe!
     Many second rate restaurants offer a huevos rancheros that consists of two eggs that are smothered with a really poor quality canned tomato sofrito sauce accompanied by rice and refried beans.  I recently had a poorly crafted huevos rancheros version at a Chicago Mexican restaurant.  That Chicago huevos rancheros breakfast was nothing like the huevos rancheros that I had in Los Angeles as a child.  The huevos rancheros in California was piled high with strips of asado style steak, cheese, Mexican vegetables and salsas!
     Looking on the internet, I found that most recipes for huevos rancheros recipes looked same as what that Chicago restaurant served.  It was like a new cheap standard was established for huevos rancheros.  Huevos rancheros used to be a mucho grande hearty portion of food many years ago!
     My Southern California version of huevos rancheros dates back over 35 years.  California is known for great Mexican food.  My family occasionally had Sunday breakfast at a great Los Angeles Mexican restaurant.  The huevos rancheros was served family style at that restaurant.
     The waitress would set a huge heaping mountain of huevos rancheros on the center of our table for us all to dig into!  More than a dozen eggs, 1 pound of sliced steak, cheese, frijoles, vegetables, tortillas and salsa were all piled high on the family style huevos rancheros platter.  That was how a good huevos rancheros was served back in those days.
     Family style was also how ranch hand were fed.  Just set a big heaping platter of food down in front of the hungry ranch hands, then let them dig in and get their fill.  That was the style of the old west!
     Huevos rancheros was always made with sliced steak and never ground beef.  Rice was never served with this meal.  Fried tortillas or steamed and buttered tortillas accompanied the huevos rancheros.  Huevos rancheros was a big, delicious hearty plate of festive food that was meant to be shared by all at the table!
     Later, when I was a chef at a French cafe, I offered this old fashioned style huevos rancheros platter on the special du jour board one day.  The French chef simply said "Good idea!"  Of course, the big French chef ate the first heaping plate of huevos rancheros that day and he complimented how hearty it was!
     When the first huevos rancheros plate was carried out to a customer in the French cafe dining room, the restaurant manager came back into the kitchen.  The panicky manager said that the Mexican breakfast special was a huge plate of food and he questioned whether we would make a profit on the huevos rancheros.  I stated that the ingredients were very cheap and that we priced the huevos rancheros at $5.95.  I mentioned that the actual food cost was about 12%.  The manager smiled and said "Cook me one of those huevos rancheros.  I'm starving!"
   
     Note:  This old fashioned huevos rancheros recipe makes one big portion!   Home made pork lard is traditional and it adds flavor.  Vegetable oil can be substituted for lard.     
     
     Roasted Chile Poblano:
     When I wrote this recipe, only had an electric range.  The poblano chile can be roasted over an open flame, instead of in an oven!
     Lightly brush 1 whole poblano chile pepper with vegetable oil.
     Roast the chile poblano in a 350 degree oven, till the skin becomes caramelized.
     Cool the roasted chile poblano under cold running water and peel the skin off.
     Discard the skin, seed and stem.
     Slice the roasted poblano into long wide strips.
     Set the roasted poblano strips aside.
   
     Tomato Salsa Recipe:
     Place 1 diced tomato into a mixing bowl.
     Add 1 small handful of diced onion.
     Add 1 chopped green onion.
     Add 10 leaves of chopped cilantro.
     Add 1 chopped jalapeno pepper.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar.
     Add 1 generous squeeze of lime juice.
     Mix the ingredients together.
     Set the salsa aside and let the flavors meld.
   
     Ranch Beans Recipe:
     Place 1 cup of rinsed cooked pinto beans or rinsed canned pinto beans into a sauce pot.
     Add enough water to barely cover the beans.
     Add 2 pinches of garlic powder.
     Add 3 pinches of onion powder.
     Add 2 pinches of cumin.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of ancho chile powder.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of lard or vegetable oil.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Place the pot over medium high heat.
     Bring the liquid to a boil.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Simmer the ranch beans for ten minutes.
     Keep the ranch beans warm over very low heat.
   
     Seared Steak Recipe:
     Cut a 4 to 6 ounce piece of skirt steak.  (Skirt steak is belly steak.  Skirt steak is also used for fajitas.)
     Season the skirt steak with sea salt and black pepper.
     Sprinkle 2 pinches of cumin over the steak.
     Sprinkle 1 pinch of garlic powder over the steak.
     Heat a saute pan or a cast iron griddle over medium heat.
     Add 1 small splash of blended olive oil.
     Place the seasoned steak in the pan.
     Sear the steak on both sides, till it is cooked to your desired temperature.  (Medium to medium well is good for this recipe.)
     Place the steak on a cutting board.
     Slice the steak into thick strips.
     Place the steak strips on a dish and keep them warm on a stove top.
   
     Tortillas:
     Steamed maza tortillas or fried maza tortillas can be served with huevos rancheros.
     Steamed:  Steamed tortillas are usually made by wrapping 5 small maza tortillas in parchment paper, then they are placed in a steamer for about 30 seconds.
     Keep the steamed tortillas wrapped in paper and keep them warm on a stove top.
     Fried:  Cut 2 corn tortillas in half.
     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
     Add 1 generous splash of vegetable oil or 3 tablespoons of lard.  (The oil or lard can be less than 1/4 inch deep.)
     Pan fry the tortilla halves on both sides, till they become crisp.
     Place the fried tortilla halves on a dry towel to drain off the excess oil.
     Sprinkle sea salt on the fried tortillas.
     Keep the tortillas warm on a stove top.
   
     Cilantro Crema Recipe:
     Place a small sauce pot over low heat.
     Add 1/4 cup of sour cream.
     Add 3 tablespoons of cream.
     Add 15 chopped cilantro leaves.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Stir the sauce as it warms.
     When the sauce becomes warm, reduce the temperature to very low heat.
     Keep the cilantro crema warm.
     Add a small splash of milk, is the cilantro crema becomes too thick.
   
     Eggs and Queso with Steak and Roasted Poblano Preparation:
     Place 3 eggs into a mixing bowl.
     Thoroughly whisk the eggs.
     Heat a non-stick saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 3 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add the whisked eggs.
     Cook the eggs flat like an omelette would be cooked.
     When the eggs become a little bit more than halfway cooked, remove the pan from the heat.
     Sprinkle 1 small handful of mixed grated queso fresco and grated cheddar cheese on the eggs.
     Triple fold the omelet so it looks like a long wide flat tube.
     Sprinkle a little bit more more of the grated cheese mixture over the eggs.
     Place the steak strips on top of the eggs and cheese.
     Place the roasted poblano chile strips on top of the eggs and cheese between the steak strips.
     Place the pan into a 350 degree oven.
     Bake the huevos rancheros, till the eggs become fully cooked and the cheese melts.  (Do not brown the cheese!  Melted cheese is the style of Mexican cuisine.)
    
     Huevos Rancheros:
     Remove the pan of eggs and queso with steak and roasted poblano from the oven.
     Carefully slide the dressed eggs onto a plate.
     Use a slotted spoon to place the ranch beans on the plate beside the eggs.
     Use a spoon to place a mound of the tomato salsa on top of the eggs.
     Use a spoon to place the warm cilantro crema onto the open side of the plate.
     Spoon some red chili pepper sauce on one side of the cilantro crema.  (Canned or bottled Mexican red chile pepper sauce is fine for a garnishing sauce.)  
     Spoon some salsa verde on the other side of the crema.  (Canned Mexican salsa verde is fine for a garnishing sauce.)
     Sprinkle some sliced black olives between the eggs and the sauces.
     Sprinkle some thin sliced green onion over the olives.
     Place the crisp tortillas on the plate, so that the tortillas hang over the edge of the plate.  (If you chose to serve with steamed tortillas, serve them on a side plate in their paper wrapper with butter.)
     Garnish with cilantro sprigs.
    
     Mucho grande huevos rancheros!  This is an old fashioned big hearty huevos rancheros breakfast that tastes great!  Yum!  ...  Shawna