Huevos Rancheros

Well, I done went and told all the women under 40 in my church how to find my blog, so hi guys! Every time I think someone I know is reading my blog, I have to go back and read it through their eyes. Good thing I don't have too many readers or I'd get sick of myself.

I have been tres fatigue (Rachel! That means "really tired" and it's pronounced "trey fatty-gay!") recently and my kitchen is a wreck. It's very small so it doesn't take much to wreck it, and I get discouraged when it looks bad. When I'm languid I'm lazy obviously so yeah, it's bad.

I have three unbaked pans of this huevos rancheros breakfast casserole that I just sort of made up sitting in the refrigerator for church tomorrow. I am sharing the recipe now, not having tasted it yet, but I will let you know what everybody thinks. I have to confess that most of the time when I post a recipe on this blog, I sit down and write it while the dish is simmering or in the oven or whatever, before I forget what I did. So yes, I usually post the recipes before I taste them. (Unless I say "I made this last night and it was great!") But so far they've all turned out great, EXCEPT for the Lenten Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Don't make that. It was bad. I never went back and told you that.

EDIT: It turned out great!

So here's what I would do to make just one of these possibly really good casseroles.

In New Mexico this would be made with sublime roasted Hatch green chiles. Everywhere else you'll have to settle for the canned stuff. It's not even 1% as good but still, my eyes started to water a little bit with tears of bitter joy when I opened the can and smelled even the hint of Hatch. A glimpse of heaven.

For three casseroles, I mixed three 7 oz cans of chiles in a 12 oz jar of tomatillo salsa that I happened to have around. Tomatillos are bright, acidic little green tomatoes that go very well with the smoky deep chile flavor. You'll find the two paired often in New Mexican cuisine. But if you don't need to stretch your chiles, no need to adulterate!

Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Casserole
6-8 corn tortillas (Our favorite brand in the whole world is Milagro. Mexican grocery stores, in the midwest, at least, seem to have them consistently.)
(2) 7 oz cans green chiles, if you're not in the Promised Land 
8-12 eggs (how hungry are you?)
3 or 4 cups of grated cheese (a big block,) such as Pepper Jack, Cheddar, or a Mexican queso
1 can black beans, drained
a bit of oil to fry the tortillas

Fry the tortillas in lard or coconut oil. Let them cool and then rip them into several pieces each. Cover the bottom of a casserole pan with half of the tortilla fragments. Dump all the beans in the pan and spread them around evenly. Spoon half of the green chiles evenly over the beans, and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Cover with the rest of the tortilla fragments, then the rest of the green chiles and then the remaining cheese.

Whisk up the eggs in a bowl or big measuring cup. Salt and pepper them to taste. (That means to your liking, it doesn't mean taste the raw eggs to see if you like them.) Pour the eggs over the whole thing. Some people don't break the yolks, which is yummy, but I was hoping the beaten eggs would permeate all layers of the casserole rather than just sitting on the top. That seems easier to divide into small portions for many people.

Let it all sit in the fridge overnight.

Tomorrow I'm going to bake the casseroles at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. I'll check back in with you after church.

Also, I would definitely garnish with green onions if they had not been oddly absent from my grocery store today! Cilantro seems like a decent thing to do. Avocado and sour cream are also recommended.