Huevos Rancheros

My boyfriend's family is from Santa Fe and he loves Southwestern food. So, last night I wanted to surpise him with a dish that felt close to home. My mom used to make us 'breakfast for dinner' as kids and we used to love that so I decided that Huevos Rancheros would be perfect. (Mrs. Smith, I know you must have a better recipe so feel free to share or comment!)

Now, there are a lot of varriations out there so feel free to mix it up. You can use canned salsa or add a few more chopped tomatoes. Try adding some chopped jalapenos to add some heat to the sauce. You can use black beans or refried. I choose not to fry my tortillas and on and on and on...

Huevos Rancheros
Olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped (about a half cup)
1 15-ounce can whole tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted, if you can get it (or 1 -2 large fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, when in season)
1/2 6-ounce can diced green Anaheim chiles
Chipotle chili powder, adobo sauce, or ground cumin to taste (optional)
4 corn tortillas
Butter
4 fresh eggs
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
1 can of beans (blk or refried)

1 Make the sauce first by softening the onions in a little olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Once translucent, add the tomatoes and the juice the tomatoes are packed in. Break up the tomatoes with your fingers as you put them in the pan. If you are using fresh tomatoes, chop them first, then add. Note that fresh tomatoes will take longer to cook as canned tomatoes are already cooked to begin with. Add chopped green chilies. Add additional chili to taste, either chipotle chili powder, adobo sauce, regular chili powder, or even ground cumin. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and let simmer while you do the rest of the cooking, stirring occasionally. Reduce to warm after it has been simmering for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste if needed.

2 Prepare the tortillas. Heat the oven to a warm 150°F, place serving plates in the oven to keep warm. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large non-stick skillet on medium high, coating the pan with the oil. One by one (or more if your pan is big enough) heat the tortillas in the pan, a minute or two on each side, until they are heated through, softened, and pockets of air bubble up inside of them. Then remove them and stack them on one of the warming plates in the oven to keep warm while you continue cooking the rest of the tortillas and the eggs.

3 Fry the eggs. Using the same skillet as was used for the tortillas, add a little butter to the pan, about two teaspoons for 4 eggs. Heat the pan on medium high heat. Crack 4 eggs into the skillet and cook for 3 to 4 minutes for runny yolks, more for firmer eggs.

To serve, spoon a little of the sauce onto a warmed plate. Top with a tortilla, then a fried egg. Top with more sauce, sprinkle with cilantro if desired. Serve either one or two eggs/tortillas per plate, depending on how much you want to eat. I'm a 2-egg 2 tortilla person myself.
Makes 2-4 servings, depending on your appetite.

Huevos Rancheros