Hatch Chile Egg Puff with Roasted Hatch Chile Salsa

It’s hatch chile season! I don’t know if hatch chiles are a big thing outside of the southwestern United States, but they have been on my radar for several years now, and their popularity only seems to be growing. Fine by me!

I absolutely loved this egg dish. The flour helped make it super light and fluffy (or puffy I guess) almost like a soufflé, which made breakfast feel kind of fancy. Plus, it was super easy to make! I liked using the cottage cheese in it too since it gave the dish a creamy texture and an extra dose of protein. 

I rarely buy salsa, but I was super intrigued by a jar of roasted hatch chile salsa I saw at Costco and decided to just go for it. Excellent decision. It was so good, I had to make an additional trip to Costco and get two more jars the next day, but at $7.99 a pop, it was turning into a rather expensive habit. Naturally, I decided to try to make my own! I used a pound of hatch chiles, a pound of jalapeños, around four pounds of tomatoes of various shapes and forms, one extremely large onion that weighed nearly two pounds. Of the five heads of garlic pictured, tragically only four just four of them made it into the salsa. I roasted everything over the flames on my stove (using this method, it’s super simple), except the garlic, which I did in the oven. You could definitely do everything in the oven if you wanted. Once everything was peeled, I threw them in the blender and spun everything around a few times until I go the consistency I wanted and proceeded to use this salsa on absolutely everything. It was delicious.

Hatch Chile Egg Puff with Roasted Hatch Chile Salsa

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used Better Batter)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2+ teaspoons garlic powder
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 roasted green hatch chiles, peeled, veined, seeded and diced -OR- 1 (7 ounce) can diced green hatch chilies, drained

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly spray a 7×11 inch casserole dish.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and garlic powder. In a separate bowl, beat eggs well. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Blend in cheeses, green onions, and chilies. Pour batter into prepared casserole dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until firm and a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes.

 

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo, which is a pretty ridiculous holiday. It’s hardly celebrated in it’s country of origin, but any excuse for Mexican food and tequila is okay with me. In preparation for Cinco de Mayo, it’s time to share some excellent Mexican recipes for any and all of your celebratory needs.

These eggs were inspired by on of my favorite breakfasts at one of my favorite diners/bars, Joe’s. You can get the best drinks and the best breakfast in the same  exact spot all in the span of a few hours, it’s great. The Huevos La Mexicana at Joe’s are simple and tasty. This is an extremely easy and  flavorful dish. It’s quick and simple, making it great for a quick breakfast or a brunch with a crowd. I served mine with some restaurant salsa and tortilla chips with a bit of cilantro and a lot of hot sauce on top.

Mexican Scrambled Eggs
Serves 2

• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tomato, diced and seeded
• 1 jalapeño, diced and seeded
• 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 2 eggs
• shredded cheese

1. In a small bowl or coffee cup, crack both eggs and beat together with a small dash of milk or water until yolks and whites are well mixed.
2. In a large skillet, heat extra virgin olive oil until shimmering. When heated add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in jalapeño and half of the chopped cilantro, cook an additional 2 minutes.
3. Pour eggs into skillet and allow to cook until slightly hardened. Stir eggs and add tomato. Cook until eggs reach desired consistency.
4. Divide eggs between 2 plates. Top with remaining cilantro and a sprinkle of cheese.
5. Serve and enjoy!

Portobello Mushroom Baked Eggs

Baking eggs in things is super trendy right now. Bake them in avocados, tomatoes, bread bowls, bacon, it’s all the rage. Never wanting to be left out of what the cool kids are doing, I hopped on this craze myself.  Well, actually, it was more like, I opened my fridge one morning and had a bunch of portobellos in their use it or lose it stage and a bunch of eggs about to go the same. As I like to say, expiration dates are the mother of invention.

Baking just the eggs in the portobellos sounded a bit boring and kind of dry, so I decided to add some flavor and color with some tomato sauce and onion.

 Portobello Mushroom Baked Eggs

• olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 jar pasta sauce (I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Sauce)
• 6 eggs
• 6 portobello mushrooms, cleaned with stems and gills removed
• Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 375F/190C.  Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Place mushrooms cap-side down.
2. In a small sauce, add a small amount of olive oil. When heated add onion and cook until softened. Remove from heat and stir in pasta sauce.
3. Carefully spoon in a bit of pasta sauce into each mushroom making sure to leave enough room for the egg. Then crack one egg into each mushroom. Place eggs in oven and bake 25 (runny yolk) to 30 (not so runny) minutes.
4. Serve with remaining tomato sauce and top with Parmesan cheese.

Baked Huevos Rancheros

After eggs benedict and chilaquiles, huevos rancheros is probably my 3rd favorite breakfast of all time. I like ranking things, so this is definitely a statement I can say with confidence. For those of you not familiar with huevos rancheros, it’s a Mexican breakfast dish made with fried eggs, lightly fried tortillas and a tomato-chile sauce and usually served with beans, sometimes rice and a bit of avocado. There are a million different variations, but it’s all the same basic concept. The only down side to huevos rancheros, is that it can be a bit time-consuming to make. I generally hate breakfasts that require a lot of work, so it is a dish saved for ordering at restaurants. Baking the dish helps eliminate a lot of the hands-on work time that the dish usually requires.

For me at least, all the ingredients in this meal are things I always have on hand, so it’s the perfect recipe for a last-minute brunch (or even dinner). The next time I make this, the only thing I would change would be the amount of cheese. The original calls for 12 ounces, I would half that and only use the cheese sprinkled on top and not bother mixing it in with the bean mixture. That said I did you an awesome combination of pepper jack and garlic jack from the Sonoma Cheese Factory. They are a California company, so I’m not too sure what their distribution range is, but if you can get your hands on some garlic jack, I would highly recommend it.

Baked Huevos Rancheros (from 20 Something Cupcakes)

• 3 tablespoons Olive or canola oil
• 1 large onion, diced (emphasis on large, or 2 medium onions)
• 6 – 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2-14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes with chilies/jalapeños
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 canned chopped chipotle peppers
• 6-8 corn tortillas (I could only fit 6, original recipe called fo 8)
• 8 large eggs
• 12 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Guaca-Salsa:

• 2 avocados, pitted and diced
• generous sprinkling of garlic powder
• good dash of cayenne pepper (to taste)
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1/4 cup pico de gallo or favorite chunky tomato salsa
• Handful chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 small red onion, minced

1. Combine avocados, garlic powder, cayenne and lime juice in a bowl. Mash together (a potato masher works perfectly). When mashed, add in salsa, cilantro and red onion. Stir to combine.

For serving (all optional):

• hot sauce (I recommend Cholula (original) and/or Pepper Plant (Chunky Garlic or Original California Style)
• black olives, sliced
• green onions, chopped
• salsa
• sour cream

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; stir 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes with juice, beans, and chipotle chiles; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Stir in half the cheese.
2. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with spray. Overlap tortillas so that they cover the bottom of the baking dish. Spread tomato mixture over tortillas. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and, with the back of a spoon, make 8 indentations in the dish. Crack an egg into each indentation.  Top with remaining cheese. Return the dish to the oven and bake until whites are set and yolks reach desired runniness;  about 15 minutes for yolks that are still runny, 20-25 for harder yolks.
3. Dish up eggs on individual plates and top with salsa, olives, onions, sour cream if desired.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Boursin Baked Eggs with Tomatoes & Spinach

Yesterday was a lazy Sunday on a Monday. It was nice. I didn’t really feel like doing too much work in the kitchen after all the cooking I did over the weekend. This was the perfect lazy dish. I basically opened the cupboard and the fridge and just grabbed whatever sounded good at the moment and ended up with a delicious (and easy) breakfast/brunch.

This would be perfect to make for breakfast on New Year’s day. Anyone could manage to pull this dish off, even if they have had a bit too much New Year’s merriment the night before.

Boursin Baked Eggs with Tomatoes & Spinach

• olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• garlic powder, to taste
• 2-14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
• 2 huge handfuls of baby spinach, rinsed
• 1 package of Boursin cheese of choice (I used Shallot & Chive)
• 6 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add onion and sauté until lightly caramelized.
2. When onions are starting to caramelize, add in garlic powder and tomatoes. Stir to mix together. Add in spinach and allow to wilt.
3. Add in Boursin and stir until melted. Remove pan from heat and pour contents into a large baking dish with tall sides.
4. Crack eggs one at a time, keeping yolks whole.
5. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. (I don’t like runny yolks, so I baked mine for 25 minutes.)
6. Serve and enjoy!

Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise Sauce

I really like eggs benedict, even though I don’t much care for eggs or bread or Canadian bacon, but nevertheless I really like eggs benedict. It’s usually my go to when it comes to breakfast or brunches out, but I had never made it before. Poaching eggs and hollandaise just seemed like way too much effort. I was totally wrong about that. Poaching eggs and hollandaise sauce could not be easier. Seriously. You could totally make this for breakfast right now and it would be ready in about 15 minutes. Do it.

Hollandaise sauce was always some big mystery to me. I assumed it would be super complicated to make, but I was most pleasantly mistaken; it seriously could not be easier. Now, if I had my way chipotle would be in every where, in everything, all the time. It would be good. This hollandaise is not just good, it’s great. It really needs to become part of your life as soon as possible.

I ended up using Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Multigrain Bread instead of english muffins because the super expensive ones I got at Whole Foods went moldy within 2 days of buying them (still a little annoyed about that…), but the bread totally worked. I also served this with some delicious home fries. It made for the perfect breakfast.

Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise (adapted from Cassie Craves)
Serves 2

• 2 English muffins or 4 slices of toast
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 avocado
• Juice of half a lime
• Salt and pepper
• 4 eggs
• Chipotle hollandaise sauce (recipe follows)

1. Heat a sauce pan with 2 inches of water to a simmer.
2. Split the English muffins in half and toast until browned.
3. Cook the bacon to a crisp and set aside.
4. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and lime juice and mash with a fork.
5. Spread the avocado over the toasted English muffin halves and top with the bacon.
6. Crack 1 egg at a time into a separate small bowl or cup. Stir the simmering water with a spoon and gently pour the egg into the swirling water. Repeat with additional eggs.
7. Cook the eggs for 2 1/2 minutes, until the whites are cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain for a minute before placing on top of the bacon. Season each egg with salt and pepper, and top each serving with chipotle hollandaise.

Chipotle Hollandaise

• 2 egg yolks
• Juice of 1 lime
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon chipotle in adobo puree
• 1 stick of butter, melted

1. lace egg yolks, lime, salt, chipotle and adobo sauce in the blender. Blend for 30 seconds before streaming in the melted butter. Serve immediately.