Almost Meatless Monday - Earl Cooks Easy Huevos Rancheros

I started the day off thinking I had never made my favorite breakfast from my 2 years living in Mexico—Huevos Rancheros. I was amazed at the time and care that went into the creation of this dish. I knew I would not be making it in the way the women who made it for me did, but I wanted to try for something close.

I started by looking for recipes online, and NONE of them came close to what I remembered. But I pressed on.

I learned to love, and love to this day, REFRIED BEANS. At that time, lard or bacon fat was always used and of course the beans were made from scratch, washing the beans, removing the small pebbles, cooking, mashing and cooking again (hence refried). They were the perfect base for the eggs. They included fresh corn tortillas from the corner tortillaria. Very few made their own and flour tortillas were almost non-existent in central Mexico. Fresh hot cocoa was often part of the meal, and it was deep, rich, a little bitter, cup of great chocolate, most often made with unpasteurized milk delivered that morning.

 Clearly, things have changed in the 45 years since I lived there, and I am not going to do it the way it was done for me back then, but I think I can do a quick, tasty, version from items I have on hand.

Starting with a hot skillet, I add my bacon grease, followed by some high quality, black bean refried beans. After they heat through, I added 2 eggs and covered it, allowing the eggs to steam until the whites are set and the yolks remain runny, as pictured above. A nice spoonful of sour cream (or crema if you have it), and salt and pepper. They were always great in Mexico and they were great today too! Too bad I don't have a corner tortillaria!