I’ve realized that part of why I love eggs is because their gentle blandness — with a little richness from the yolk — is a good excuse to be assertive with the seasonings and sauces. I’m thinking of the soy sauce I pour on my four-minute onsen eggs, the hot sauce that gets caught in all the crevices of my scrambled eggs, the chile crisp I use to fry my fried eggs. When I was little, I loved a hard-boiled egg dipped in Lawry’s seasoned salt, the orange dust clinging to the shiny white like glitter. Writing this now, I’m not sure why I ever stopped eating them.
So yes, I love making huevos rancheros because it means I can go all out on that ranchero sauce, enlivening that fried egg on top of those creamy refried beans and that warm corn tortilla. If you’ve never made huevos rancheros before, Kay Chun’s recipe is a brilliant place to start (not least because it includes step-by-step images and a video). Her easy homemade salsa does triple duty as the simmered ranchero sauce, the seasoning for your beans and the final topping. Eat this for breakfast, brunch (ahem, Mother’s Day), lunch, dinner, afternoon snack, midnight snack. Huevos rancheros, always.
Featured Recipe
Huevos Rancheros
Today’s specials:
Pure jalapeño salsa: Rick Martínez, a.k.a. “Salsa Daddy,” has shared with us five tricks to make amazing salsa every time. And of course there are salsa recipes: aguacate ahumado (spicy avocado salsa) and this pure jalapeño salsa, which simmers the peppers until tender then mashes them with salt and garlic powder. I can’t wait to try it.
Tostadas de tinga de pollo (shredded chicken and salsa tostadas): Oh, and Rick provides a landing pad for those salsas. Add this one to your list of recipes that start with a rotisserie chicken.
Pan-seared salmon: Sometimes, when you have a really beautiful piece of fish, you want to do as little to it as possible. Here’s Lidey Heuck’s minimalist recipe for maximally lovely fish.
Roasted cauliflower salad with halloumi and lemon: Spring is the season for big salads that have some sort of roasted component; hearty, warm bowls of greens before we move onto the chilled, no-chop salads of summer. I’ve bookmarked this beauty from Alexa Weibel, which combines squeaky halloumi, roasted cauliflower and a tangy, shalloty, preserved-lemony vinaigrette.
Hong Kong-style French toast: The peanut butter in the middle of these golden, shallow-fried sandwiches can be swapped for kaya (coconut jam), marmalade or chocolate-hazelnut spread. But I’d argue that the sweetened condensed milk drizzled over this Cybelle Tondu dish is nonnegotiable.
Cherry-almond scones: No rolling pin is needed to make these treats from Yossy Arefi — just one bowl and a baking sheet. And maybe a cherry pitter if you’re using fresh cherries. (You can absolutely use frozen; just be sure to chop them while they’re firm and before they start leaking juice.)
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