Stir It Up: Heuvos Rancheros

“This is a breakfast you want on a day you know you will need a lot of energy.”

By Chef David “Smitty” Smith

Last week, when I wrote a recipe for fruit salsa, I was just slightly under duress, if you remember, and so when I mentioned some of the dishes it would go great with, I only mentioned using it for lunch and dinner items, as well as using it as a snack dip.

This week, with things settling down at the Tahoe Maritime Museum and having my confidence almost back to full strength, I would like to mention another great use for salsa. Actually, this time, I would tend to lean more towards fruit salsas cousin, the tomato salsa, but fruit salsa also is surprisingly good with this.

As a matter of fact, you can marry a little fruit salsa with a traditional tomato salsa and it is absolutely fantastic. Don’t worry, the two salsas may be cousins, but they are like second cousins, twice removed, so they are allowed to be married and do go great together. The one thing I personally like to do for some reason is to add a little more jalapenos for more heat to this dish. I don’t exactly know why, but for some reason, I like a little more heat in my salsas for breakfast than I do for dinner, especially if I am using straight fruit salsa.

Now, that I have told you this is something you would have for breakfast and it uses salsa, I’m thinking you might have guessed a breakfast burrito, unless of course you happen to read the title. Well, if you did, you wouldn’t be far off. I’m talking about Heuvos Rancheros. Now this is a breakfast you want on a day you know you will need a lot of energy. It contains a little of just about everything including protein, as well as carbohydrates, and unlike a big stack of pancakes that can sit like a brick in your stomach for a while, it is much easier to exercise after this breakfast. Start with a couple of corn tortillas and then top them with beans, eggs, however you like them cooked, a jalapeno red sauce, cheese, salsa, sour cream and guacamole, if you want.

Traditional heuvos uses refried beans, which I like and use sometimes, but I prefer to spice up some black beans a little and use them instead. You also are allowed to use flour tortillas if you like, but which ever tortillas you use, the next time you are looking for a nice hearty breakfast that is going to last you for miles on the trail, fix yourself some heuvos rancheros and enjoy.

Heuvos Rancheros
For 4 people:

8 corn tortillas
2 T oil
12 oz. of black beans fresh or canned, drained
4 oz. vegetable or chicken stock
1 celery stick, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
8 eggs
A few dashes of your favorite hot sauce
8 oz jalapeno red sauce (see recipe below)
4-6 oz. shredded cheese (jack, cheddar or half & half)
4 T salsa
4 T sour cream
4 T guacamole
Jalapeno Red Sauce
2-3 jalapenos
6 oz. tomato sauce
1 roasted red pepper, peeled, seeded & cut in strips
1 t rice vinegar
1 dash chili paste to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 T butter

Start by making the red sauce. Slice the jalapenos into circles and sauté them on medium high in the butter. You want to just soften the peppers, so be careful not to have the heat too high or they will burn. Remember, the more seeds you leave in the hotter it will be. Add the vinegar and let that reduce until it is almost gone, and add the tomato sauce. Add the roasted red pepper and season with salt and pepper. Add a little chili paste, if desired, for both a little heat and flavor.

Next, heat up your beans and all the ingredients, in the stock. If you are using canned beans, rinse them first. Heat until everything is tender. Once the sauce and beans are ready, heat the tortillas in a pan with the oil and place two in a pan. Cover with some beans. Cook your eggs however you like them. For heuvos, they are usually fried, but you also can scramble them if you want. When you put the eggs into the pan, put a few drops of hot sauce on them so the sauce will cook into the eggs. Just remember, you are going to put your jalapeno sauce over this so don’t get too carried away with the heat quite yet. You can always make it hotter later. Place the eggs on the beans and pour some of the red sauce over them. Top with cheese and place in the oven to melt the cheese. Slide this onto a plate and top with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Smitty is a personal chef specializing in dinner parties, cooking classes and special events. Trained under Master Chef Anton Flory at Top Notch Resort in Stowe, Vt., Smitty is known for his creative use of fresh ingredients. He has been a chef for PGA’s “Memorial Tournament” for more than 15 years and ran the main kitchen at the World Games. For more information and archived copies of Stir it Up, visit www.chefsmitty.com. Smitty welcomes your questions and comments at smitty@chefsmitty.com or (530) 412-3598.