An alternative take on Huevos Rancheros

This is a serendipitous discovery that sounds odd at first, but believe me it works.

My favorite weekend brunch dish is Huevos Rancheros: a corn tortilla topped by refried beans, a fried egg, and grated Jack, some salsa in there somewhere (I mix it into the beans), a little crumbled chorizo if you like, all baked in the oven for a few minutes. Lately I started making a variation that replaces the tortilla with a pancake containing baked winter squash or sweet potato.

Last summer, I came across a recipe for corn pancakes. Strip the kernels off an ear of corn (for each serving), and whiz half the kernels in a food processor. Add one beaten egg and combine. Add enough flour to turn the mix into a paste; then add enough milk to turn the mix into batter. I throw in some baking powder for lightness, and a touch of salt.

When the colder weather hits, we don’t have local fresh corn anymore. But I often have some baked winter squash or sweet potato in the fridge. So I tried the corn pancake recipe with both. It works pretty well; the pancakes aren’t as light as “real” pancakes, but they’re perfectly fine.

I think my wife had the next idea: Use the pancakes as a base for Huevos. Now, I have several quarts of home-canned tomatillo salsa that’s a nice combination of heat and deep flavor with a sweetish edge. It goes really well with the squash/sweet potato pancakes; but I imagine any salsa with a bit of sweetness would do the trick.

I’ve never done any measuring on this recipe. If I’m serving two, I might be using about 1/2 cup of squash/sweet potato, one egg, and “enough” flour and milk. Ditto “enough” beans, salsa and cheese.

Okay, from start to finish. Preheat oven to 350. Grate some Jack cheese. If you want chorizo, cook it and crumble it. Put refried beans and salsa in a frypan on low heat.

Prepare batter as in corn pancake recipe, substituting baked and pureed squash or sweet potato. Make pancakes, and set the finished ones on a cooling rack.

After the pancakes are done (two per person), fry your eggs in the same pan, one egg per pancake. I make ’em sunny side up or over easy.

While eggs are cooking, begin assembly on a cookie sheet or baking dish. A tiny bit of canola oil on the cooking surface; pancakes; beans/salsa (and chorizo if any). Then put one egg on each pancake. Top with more salsa (if desired) and the grated cheese.

Put dish in preheated oven, and bake for 5 minutes.

That’s it. Magic brunch. Enjoy!