Migas Madness

About author / Josh Gunn

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

One combination that goes particularly well together is "leftover" and "bachelor." Unfortunately for this single guy, leftovers remind me of feet: they might be fun to fondle after they're given a good wash, but in general, they're nasty and smell funny. With the exception of some choice Cajun/Creole dishes like Gumbo and Jambalaya, two-day old leftovers just don't taste good, and in five days, they're downright gross. I must admit, however, that there is a delicious, Tex-Mex dish that requires leftovers—and more specifically, leftover tortillas: Migas!

Last week I introduced my recipe for Huevos Rancheros, which requires---wait, owwwwwww, I have a headache behind my left eyeball. I hate those. Oowwwwwww---where was I? Oh yes, now that I can see again: last week I introduced my recipe for Huevos Rancheros, which requires some corn tortillas. The groovy thing about corn tortillas is that they're cheap cheap cheap. The problem with corn tortillas is they don't keep keep keep (they go stale in a few days).

What's great about this situation, however, is that Migas is another great breakfast dish that you make with stale tortillas! As an added bonus, Migas pleases any vegetarian buddies you might have; you make it with stale stuff but serve it with fresh vegetable stuff—like cubes of avocado. Vegetarians everywhere love avocado. Unless, of course, they are allergic to avocado. I've yet to meet a vegetarian or vegan that was allergic to avocado. I know a vegetarian who is allergic to gluten, another to shellfish, and yet another to my cat, but not a one who turns up his or her nose to avocado. Therefore, Migas is a perfect dish.

Migas apparently means "crumbs" in Spanish, and was created to avoid wasting any stale bread products in Spain. In Spain and Portugal today, the dish is made with all sorts of things mixed in with breadcrumbs or leftover tortillas: got some bread scraps and almost-awful offal lying around? Why not make Migas for breakfast? As the dish traveled to the states, however, somehow fried eggs were added along with fresh tomatoes and onions, so that Migas became the "Tex-Mex" dish we know today: eggs with a bunch of yummy, leftover stuff in it.

For the Fourth of July weekend I hosted five friends at my place. Although we went out for dinner, I was responsible for breakfast for three mornings. The first morning I made my famous Eggs Benedict recipe. The second morning I made last week's recipe, Huevos Rancheros. The last morning together I used my leftover corn tortillas to make Migas, and my guests were thrilled and stilled (that is, immobilized because they ate too much).

There's something about the mixed texture of the crunchy, fried tortillas with the soft and cheesy egg that makes eating Migas fun. This recipe is especially good for morning crowds, as an ample quantity is fairly easy to make. Just remember it’s the contrast between freshly made salsa and the eggs that makes Migas so good.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, half chopped, half sliced
• 1 yellow or white onion, chopped finely
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, washed and chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 8 corn tortillas (more or less, depends on size and taste), cut into narrow slivers
• 4 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 large eggs
• 1 dash hot sauce, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons milk, cream, or half-and-half, as needed
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or to taste)
• 1 diced avocado
• sour cream (for garnish)