Big Dirty Huevos Breakfasts

About author / Josh Gunn

Bachelor chef; southern cooking; mixologist; university professor. Josh's recipes will delight (and sometimes terrify) you.

That Australian font of lyrical wisdom---the rock band AC/DC---had some dirty deeds done dirt cheap, and then bragged about the how big their huevos were. Although they're from Down Under, no doubt Angus and family were singing about Huevos Rancheros on that classic 1976 album.

Translated roughly as "eggs country-style," Huevos Rancheros is a Mexican dish that seems to have completely taken over the breakfast tables here in the Republic of Texas. Apparently this dish originally was developed to feed farmhands a rather large and filling brunch to sustain an afternoon of hard labor. Today, however, this country-style eggs dish is huge and growing, and I predict in a decade they'll be common even on breakfast menus in Kansas! Ten years from now Spanish will be our unofficial second language, and Huevos Rancheros will be our unofficial breakfast yummy-ness.

So what are Huevos Rancheros? Well, that depends on where you make or order them, as there are many versions. Here in Austin the dish is usually and disappointedly served as a kind of make-it-yourself breakfast taco: you're presented with some flour tortillas, some fried eggs, beans, and guacamole and supposed to throw it all together yourself.

Now, if I may be permitted a mini-rant at this juncture, we'll do so after a tidy colon (here comes the colon): I don't know about y'all, but when I order food I don't want to have to assemble it myself. What's the point of paying for food if you have to do all the work? I've noticed in restaurants this do-it-yourself food is becoming popular, almost as popular as the all-you-can-eat Chow-Marts where people eat so much sub-standard food---most of it fried---that over half the patrons are riding those "I-can't-walk" scooters that are supposed to be for the elderly.

I reckon this explains the super-wide aisles at a restaurant I absolutely despise. Let us call this restaurant the "Gilded Enclosure." At the Gilded Enclosure you pay something like twelve bucks to dodge children and large people in scooters at a buffet with mounds and mounds of overcooked, deep-fried nastiness. Who invented this place? It's absolutely terrifying.

To wrap-up this rant, then, a summary (and another colon): our "food service" capitalists have figured out ways to make more profit by (a) making you assemble your own meal and by (b) serving yourself. I say let's just make our own food at home and avoid getting run over by a cholesterol-crazed buffet surfer.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes: Huevos Rancheros! When I moved to Texas I researched the dish and discovered that the true Mexican version consists of lightly fried corn tortillas, layered with beans, fried eggs, cheese, and drenched in enchilada sauce. Okay, okay: I just got finished with a rant about cholesterol-rich buffet foods. I admit this dish isn't heart-healthy either---but it's really good! This recipe is a real winner, and if you have any overnight guests, this'll please 'em somethin' fierce, especially because they don't have to assemble their own food! And hey bachelors: this stuff is delicious and cheap to make!

Serves/Makes: 4

• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 can (15 ounce size) black beans, juice drained
• 1 can (10 ounce size) red enchilada sauce
• 4 corn tortillas
• 8 eggs (depending on servings and egg size)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (more if desired)
• sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole
• cilantro to garnish