Huevos Rancheros with Frijoles Borrachos

The fact that I do not have to start thinking about my job until mid-day provides me the luxury of enjoying a morning meal, all at the leisurely pace of what feels like a quiet Sunday morning. This doesn't happen every morning, but when it does, I certainly feel like I'm making up for all those years of having to be out of the house for my morning commute long before the chickens were up! Only to be relegated to eating breakfast at my desk. The only thing I miss from those days are some great people I met along the way.

So on with the post of what I savored this morning....Huevos Rancheros...complete with a latte and mellow music playing. Would it be over-the-top to mention the gas fireplace flickering in the background? The morning would be perfect if kitchen fairies were washing the dishes!

I really don't have a recipe for the Huevos. I simply layered 2 sprouted corn tortillas with re fried beans, a few over-easy eggs speckled with fresh cracked pepper, my homemade salsa verde and a few drizzles of Sriracha because I like it hot! I happend to have an avocado so I added a few slices for garnish. You can serve them with black beans, chorizo, fresh cilantro, salsa, sour cream, scrambled eggs, etc....whatever you like and have on hand.

I am going to provide the recipe for the beans I made. This recipe makes quite a bit, so unless you're feeding a "thrashing crew" I'd suggest freezing the finished product into smaller portions for use at a later date.

Frijoles Borrachos

4 jalapeno chiles, stems and seeds removed, cut in half lengthwise
2 c pinto beans, cleaned and rinsed (1 pound bag)
12 oz beer (I go all out and use PBR)
1 onion, rough chopped
6 c water
kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot (6-8qt) and soak overnight. The next morning, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the beans are done. Add more water if necessary.  Everyone is different here, but I prefer the beans tender, but not cooked to mush. Mash the beans using the tool of your choice. I like to use my stick (immersion) blender & puree only a portion of the beans. You can use a hand held potato masher, a food processor, blender, etc. Season to taste with kosher salt & black pepper.

At this point, the beans are ready to be re-fried. Again this is a personal preference. I believe they're perfect now, but some folks like to fry the beans in oil, hence re-fried...could be vegetable, manteca (lard), even better yet, bacon grease. The smokiness from bacon grease imparts a sublime flavor profile...you choose.

This recipe originates from a book entitled The Whole Chile Pepper Book by Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach. The famed editors of Chile Pepper Magazine. I own a few books by Dave...great inspiration for any chile-head!