One of my favourite breakfast themes is Mexican, especially after a late-night party. The need for greasy eggs that pop with familiar flavours is what I crave. These breakfasts need to be hearty, satisfying and bold in flavour and should help you recover from your hangover and loss of sleep. These are those eggs!
The recipe is quite simple but the results are very unique. The pasilla chillies are bold and yet not overwhelmingly spicy and the eggs should be soft and moist. Tossed over crispy tortilla chips they are the perfect balance of fun and flavour. The recipe is unique as the eggs are cooked with the salsa, rather than the salsa added on top later which is more common. Cooking the sauce with the eggs brings out the deeper flavours of the chillies and integrates the aromas better. Although I use plain salted tortilla chips, you can use any flavoured variety that you may prefer.
Diana Kennedy is the queen of Mexican cuisine. She has received heaps of awards, including the Order of the Aztec Eagle (big in Mexico), and a James Beard Foundation Award (big in food land). In 2002, Prince Charles visited Kennedy at her home to appoint her an MBE, for “furthering cultural relations between the UK and Mexico”. Every cookbook of hers is massive, filled with fantastic recipes and keeps me very happy in the kitchen. This is one of her early cookbooks and one that is filled with authentic recipes and flavours.
For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.
Ingredients:
For the chile pasilla chilli salsa:
3-4 pasilla chillies
1-2 cloves garlic
Salt, to taste
3/4 cup water
For the eggs:
1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt, to taste
3-4 tablespoons chilli pasilla sauce, from above
1/4 cup cream
Scallions, sliced for garnish
Oaxaca or cheddar cheese, grated
Tortilla chips
To make the salsa, heat the pasilla chillies on a dry frying pan pressing down on them till they start to smoke. Flip and repeat. Cool completely.
Add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz till you have a sauce with small flakes of the chilli. Set aside.
Heat a pot with the oil and pour in the beaten eggs and cream, add the salt. Whisk continually on a low flame till the eggs begin to start firming up, about 4-5 minutes. The continual stirring makes the eggs form a small crumble that is delicate and soft. Add the pasilla sauce and continue to mix in till the eggs are just set but still soft. Do not dry out the eggs completely unless you like them that way.
Add the tortilla chips to a shallow bowl. Add the eggs on top and quickly top with the scallions and cheese. Serve immediately while hot.