Are you a breakfast person? I am unequivocally on team breakfast/brunch. I can muddle through an early morning meeting or workout on an empty stomach, but if 10 rolls around and I haven’t had anything but coffee – clear a path to the kitchen and give me plenty of space until the chewing subsides. I usually go for sweet breakfasts – oatmeal, smoothies, pastries (I will do literally anything for cinnamon rolls) – but some mornings I wake up and crave something super salty and savory. Lucky for me, living in Austin was the best possible situation to find oneself in on those mornings.
Austin is probably best known for its breakfast taco culture – they’re self-contained! customizable! portable! – but that is just the tip of the Texas breakfast iceberg. In my opinion, some of the best Tex-Mex breakfast dishes are those served fresh on a big plate, accompanied by bottomless Folgers coffee, and enjoyed while lingering over the morning news, or nursing a hangover and reliving the previous night’s escapades with friends.
Huevos rancheros is one of my favorite things to order when dining in for breakfast at a Mexican or Tex-Mex cafe. There are lots of variations, but the basic architecture is a flash-fried, crispy corn tortillas, topped with sunny-side-up eggs and smothered in fresh salsa. Sometimes sliced avocados, creamy refried beans, and salty, crumbled queso fresco get in on the action. It’s not a dish to grab and go on the way to work, as the tortillas will be soaked by the time you get to your desk. Sad.
I haven’t found a place to get my huevos rancheros fix since we moved to Seattle, and this past weekend I was jonesing pretty hard for a crispy, eggy, spicy breakfast, so I came up with this version and loved it so much I had to share it here. While I do love a cooking project, I am also of the opinion that deep-frying anything requires serious justification for the ensuing clean-up. You can find pre-fried corn tortillas, usually sold as tostadas, in most supermarkets (with the regular shelf-stable tortillas) and they are honestly a pretty darn good swap, especially since they enable you to make huevos rancheros with barely a moments notice.
I made these huevos into an extra rich (and extra easy) version, layered with sliced avocados, store-bought salsa, and a roasted poblano-lima crema. The crema is definitely not traditional, but it adds a beautiful creaminess and the roasted poblanos add a deeper umami flavor to the whole dish. Any leftovers work great as a salad dressing – but I’ll confess I’ve been eating it straight out of the fridge with a spoon.
Start by roasting your poblano under the broiler – this should take about 20 minutes, with a flip about halfway through. Take of the skin/peel, remove some or all of the seeds depending on your spice tolerate, and blend with sour cream, salt, lime juice, and cumin. (Many recipes say to let the peppers steam in a plastic bag to make the skins easy to remove, but I never find that necessary if its sufficiently blistered). Meanwhile, pop the tortillas in a low oven to crisp and heat them up. Slice your avocados and get your salsa at the ready. Heat up a frying pan and make some sunny-side up eggs. Take a hot tortilla, and start layering – the order is totally up to you! Pour yourself some coffee, and linger over your hearty, saucy breakfast as long as you want.
Huevos Rancheros with Avocado and Roasted Poblano Lime Crema
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sour cream or Mexican-style crema
- 1 large fresh poblano chile pepper
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 pre-made fried corn tortillas (tostadas)
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil or butter
- 1 medium avocado
- salsa of your choice, homemade or store-bought
- green onion, chopped, for serving
Directions
- Make the poblano crema. Preheat your oven broiler to high, and broil poblano pepper at least 6 inches from the broiler element for 10 minutes. Carefully flip with tongs, and continue broiling. Your broiler may be stronger/weaker, so watch closely and stop once the pepper skin is blistered, dark, and puffy. Remove and let cool until you can safely handle.
- Put the cream/crema, salt, lime juice, and cumin in a food processor and blend to combine.
- Remove the chile stem and some or all of the seeds (more seeds=hotter salsa), and slip off the blistered skin. Its totally fine it some stay on, it will add a smoky flavor to your salsa! Add to the creama and blend until smooth.
- Turn your oven to its lowest possible temperature (mine is 220F) and place tortillas on rack for maximum 15 minutes while you prep the avocado, onions, and salsa.
- Heat oil or butter in a small skillet on medium heat. Fry eggs until edges are crispy and whites are set (you can totally flip if runny yolks aren’t your thing).
- Place tortillas on a plate, and layer avocados, salsa, and egg in the order of your choosing. Top with poblano crema and chopped green onion, and serve with more poblano crema on the side. Enjoy!
