The Easy Mexican Cookbook

The Easy Mexican Cookbook has recipes that are quick and simple to make, as the title implies.

Traditional Mexican food is about bringing families together; it is creative act. Traditional Mexican food uses fresh ingredients and cooks take the time to prepare a laborious dish.

But, today we have it all. We can make quick and simple “Mexican” recipes that will taste good (just not as authentic). 

Here is a recipe I found in the cookbook that caught my eye: 

Huevos Rancheros 

“super-easy, super quick, go-to recipe”

Ingredients:

•  2 eggs
•  ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
•  2 corn tortillas
•  4 slices of bacon cooked crispy then crumbled
•  ½ cup of refried beans
•  1 tablespoon of oil
•  Salsa

Directions:

1.  Heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Fry each tortilla for about 20-30 seconds each. You want them to get soft, don’t let them get crispy. Place them on a paper towel to dry off some grease.
2.  Heat the beans in a sauce pan.
3. Wipe most of the oil out of the frying pan, leaving enough to fry the eggs. Cook the eggs over easy in the pan.
4.  Place the tortillas on a plate, cover them with a layer of the beans. Next, lay the fried eggs on the tortilla, top with the bacon, cheese, and salsa.

Options:

•   Some people like to add a little butter to the re-fried beans as you are heating them up.
•   Consider a side of guacamole. 
•   You can omit the beans altogether if you want a lighter breakfast. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mexican food is so diverse. There are a variety of omissions and additions to recipes. However, traditional Mexican food includes fresh ingredients, but modern recipes have found new ways to make recipes more simple and easy. The recipe above, for example, uses cheddar cheese rather than traditional Mexican goat cheese; it uses canned beans versus freshly cooked beans off a pot, and it makes use of bacon, an ingredient not common in a traditional Huevos Rancheros recipe.