This protein-packed power brunch could probably be called a “deconstructed” version of Mexico’s classic huevos rancheros. In this Mexican quinoa and eggs ranchero recipe, the whole beans take the place of the refried version, and the fresh salsa is used in place of a cooked sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons corn oil
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup cooked pinto beans
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 eggs

For the salsa fresca

• 3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• 2 jalapeño chiles, finely chopped (remove seeds for less heat if desired)
• 2 ½ tablespoons minced cilantro
• 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours to blend flavors. Makes 1 ½ to 2 cups.

Heat the corn oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until wilted and transparent. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, another minute. Add the quinoa and beans, stirring carefully so as not to mash the beans. Cook another few minutes, add salt and pepper to taste, cover to keep warm.

Fry the eggs to desired doneness. (“Sunny side up” makes the best presentation.)

Divide the quinoa mixture among 4 plates. Top each serving of quinoa with an egg. Spoon 2 tablespoons of salsa over the top. Pass the remaining salsa. Serves 4.

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This recipe is adapted from Larousse de la Cocina Mexicana by Alicia Gironella. It contains ground flax seed, an ingredient once found only in health food stores here in Mexico, but now sold in supermarkets, called semilla de linaza. If you don’t see it ground, buy the whole seeds and grind them in a spice grinder. High in Omega 3 acids, it is a very healthy ingredient to add to cereal, baked goods, pancakes and waffles.

Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 ounces ground flax seed
• ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon each: ground allspice, ground cinnamon and ground cumin
• pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a saucepan, heat the honey and butter until melted. Pour this mixture into a mixing bowl and beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. When it has cooled to room temperature, beat in the eggs.

Sift together all dry ingredients- flours, baking powder, flax seed, spices, salt- and add them, little by little, to the liquid ingredients, beating at low speed after each addition.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt cake mold and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake on a wire rack, and unmold after it has cooled. Serves 8.

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This stovetop custard is not as thick as one baked in the oven. It is no longer necessary to use a flaming wooden paddle to caramelize the surface, a process that can be successfully carried out using a small butane kitchen torch, sometimes called a crème brulee torch.

Ingredients:

• ½ quart whole milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 eggs, beaten
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• light brown sugar for ¼” layer of topping

Preparation:

In the top of a double boiler, scald the milk. Add the sugar, salt and cornstarch and stir to dissolve. Add the eggs and stir constantly until the custard thickens. Remove from heat and beat with a wooden spoon to release the steam. Add the cinnamon. Place the custard in a baking dish or individual heatproof custard cups. Spread ¼” layer of light brown sugar on the top surface and caramelize, following the directions with the butane torch. Alternatively, the chilled custard can be placed under a hot broiler just long enough to caramelize the sugar topping. If the broiler method is used instead of a kitchen torch, the custard must be very well chilled before placing under the broiler. Serves 4.

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This is another Yucatecan favorite that makes use of leftovers from the day before. Chayas fritas from the afternoon meal are repurposed for breakfast the next day in this quick yet nourishing dish.

Scramble the quantity of eggs desired, adding chayas fritas just as the eggs are beginning to set. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately. If you wish, you may serve these topped with Cebolla frita con frijol* and garnished with slices of Plátano frito.*

As a taco, mound the scrambled eggs with sautéed chaya atop a fresh tortilla; as a torta, serve it on Pan francés. *

Garnish tacos and tortas with Cebolla frita con frijol. Diners add chile sauce to taste.

(recipes in Chef David Stirling’s Yucatan: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition)

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Perhaps the classic Mexican dessert, flan is found all over the country, and in Mexican restaurants the world over. This variation, Mexican chocolate flan, is a festive change from the usual egg custard.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablets (about 4 oz.) Mexican chocolate, ground
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 eggs plus 2 yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon almond liqueur (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325º.

Combine the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is caramelized (dark brown and syrupy, but not burnt.)

Pour the mixture into 6 ungreased individual custard cups or a flan mold, moving the bottom so that it is evenly covered.

Place all three kinds of milk, with the ground chocolate and the cinnamon stick, in a medium saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture has the consistency of a smooth custard.

Remove from heat and cool 15 minutes.

Beat the eggs and yolks together, and add to the milk mixture, blending well.

Add vanilla extract and almond liqueur, if using, and remove the cinnamon stick.

Pour custard into prepard mold and place in a large pan filled with 1″ of water.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours (less if using individual cups) or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool then refrigerate overnight.

Unmold and serve chilled.

Serves 6.

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Spring and summer mean berry season, and this Mexican strawberry flan, made in individual custard cups, look festive garnished with a few slices of strawberry and sprigs of fresh mint.

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 2 cups sliced strawberries, plus extra for garnish
• 1 can condensed milk (14 ounces)
• 6 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Melt ½ cup sugar in a saucepan over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the syrup darkens. Pour the syrup into six individual custard cups or ramekins.

Place the strawberries, milk and eggs in a blender container and blend until the mixture is smooth and the strawberries are in small pieces. After any foam produced by blending has settled, pour the mixture into individual cups. Cover the cups tightly with foil.

Steam in a water bath in the oven, checking one of the flans with a knife after 30 minutes, and every five minutes thereafter. (The individual cups will require a shorter time in the oven than a large mold.)

Cool, then chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour and up to one day. Uncover and unmold onto serving plates. Garnish with additional sliced strawberries and mint sprigs if desired. Makes 6 servings.

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I first tasted this dish several years ago, prepared by Doña Gloria of the Hotel Bar Reforma in Cholula. It was the first time I had seen the purple-fleshed variety of sweet potatoes other than in their raw state in the market. It made for a dramatically colorful presentation, although it is just as good with the orange or yellow-orange variety.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 2 ½ cups shredded sweet potatoes (use a food processor, grater or shredder)
• 1cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Whisk the milk and eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place mixture in a greased 1-quart baking dish and bake 1 hour in a 350º oven. Serves 6.

Link to Source Article

Published or Updated on: November 1, 2006 by Karen Hursh Graber © 2008

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This beverage was first made by the colonial-era nuns at the Convent of Santa Clara in Puebla, and the Santa Clara brand is still one of the most popular. It is fun and very easy to make at home. Unlike north-of-the-border eggnog, rompope already contains alcohol, although in a small proportion, so it does not require the addition of rum or brandy, as is the custom in the US.

Ingredients

• 2 quarts milk
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 12 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup grain alcohol (96 proof) or 2 cups rum
  

In a large saucepan, bring the milk to a boil with the baking soda and cinnamon. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Boil again, remove from heat, and cool again.

Stir in sugar, vanilla and beaten egg yolks. Return mixture to the heat and simmer over a medium flame, stirring constantly, until the bottom of the pan can be seen when stirring. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Stir in grain alcohol or rum.

Makes 8-12 servings.

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This dish is served in the Central Valley region of Oaxaca on the morning of big fiestas, especially weddings. For this reason, it is also called higaditos de boda, “little wedding livers.” Though it is often made with cut up pork liver, and sometimes with no liver at all, I prefer the chicken liver version. This recipe, with its fresh salsa, is adapted from Seasons of My Heart by Oaxacan cooking expert Susana Trilling.

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 4-5 plum tomatoes, roasted and peeled
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 fresh green chilies (in Abaca, chilies de ague are used) seeded if desired
• Salt to taste
• 3 sprigs cilantro
• ½ cup water

For the higaditos

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 pound tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 pound tomatillos (tomate verde) husked and finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• ¼ pound chicken livers, boiled and finely chopped
• ½ cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 15 eggs

Preparation:

Grind all sauce ingredients in a molcajete or food processor, leaving the sauce a bit chunky.

In a large, deep non-stick frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, tomatoes and tomatillos, and cook until soft. Add the garlic, livers, parsley, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for10 more minutes.

Beat the eggs well and add to the pan, mixing them in gently. Push the eggs away from the sides of the pan as they set. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until the bottom is set and browned.

Using a spatula, divide the egg mixture into quarters and flip each quarter. Continue cooking until set and remove the eggs section by section, draining any excess oil. Cut into smaller pieces to serve. Serve with sauce and warm corn tortillas. Serves 8.

Link to Source Article
Eggs: A Mexican Staple from Soup to Dessert

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This dish takes advantage of Veracruz’ abundant variety of seafood. It is quite adaptable, in that just about any other kind of seafood or fish can be added, including squid, shelled oysters, clams or mussels. The cazón, or baby shark, used in Veracruz can be substituted with any firm-fleshed white fish. Most fish markets in Mexico sell the small cocktail shrimp called pacotillo already shelled and cooked, as well as cooked, shelled crabmeat. This recipe is from Doña Carmen Titita Ramírez, Veracruz native and owner of Mexico City’s El Bajío restaurant.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces octopus, cooked until tender
• 4 ounces shrimp, cooked and shelled (or use cooked pacotillo shrimp)
• 4 ounces cooked crabmeat
• 4 ounces cazón or any firm-fleshed white fish, such as grouper, poached
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• 2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 jalapeño chiles, chopped (remove seeds for less heat if desired)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preparation

• Cut all seafood and fish into uniform size pieces, place in a bowl and toss lightly with the flour.
• Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan, add the tomatoes, onion and chiles and sauté until soft. Add the seafood mixture and toss gently to combine.
• Add the egg, salt to taste and parsley, shaping and flattening the torta with a spatula and pushing the eggs away from the sides of the pan as they set. This will take up to 10 minutes over low heat.
• When the bottom of the torta is firm, invert it onto a large, flat plate and slide it back into the pan. Cook over low heat until the other side is set and lightly browned, up to 10 minutes more.
• Slide the torta onto a large plate, allow to cool for a few minutes, and cut into serving size pieces. Serves 8 as an appetizer.

Link to Source Article
Eggs: A Mexican Staple from Soup to Dessert

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