Huevos divorciados

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For anyone who can’t decide if they want salsa roja or salsa verde with their eggs, Huevos divorciados is for you. This whimsically named breakfast features two different salsas, red and green, which separate — divorce — the eggs to make a colorful breakfast plate. With just the two of us, I don’t usually keep more than one salsa on hand, but with some salsa roja in the fridge, leftover from queso fundido a few days ago, and a bag of tomatillos waiting to be turned into salsa verde, this was a good time to make huevos divorciados. Serve with beans for a heartier breakfast.

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Salsas can be fresh or cooked. Cooked salsas are made by grilling, broiling, simmering, or toasting the veg ingredients in a dry skillet, then blending. Or you can blend first, then “fry” the ingredients in a skillet. The salsa verde used here is a “fried” salsa, but you could use any cooking method.

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If you can corral a helper, one of you can cook the eggs while the other spoons the two salsas on the tortillas. That way, eggs, tortillas and salsa all come together still warm. Runny yolks are best so that the yolk pools into the salsa, creating a visual and palate pleasing desayuno (breakfast). Russ’es unprompted assessment: This is very good!

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Huevos Divorciados serves 4

• 2 cups salsa roja, warm
• 2 cups salsa verde, warm (or see recipe below)
• 8 home-made corn tortillas or good quality store bought tortillas
• 8 eggs
• 3 – 4 cups cooked black beans (optional), warm
• cilantro for garnish

1. Fry eggs over-easy or sunny-side-up.
2. Place 2 warm tortillas on each of 4 plates. Spread one tortilla on each plate with salsa roja, and the remaining tortillas with salsa verde.
3. Top with 1 egg per tortilla.
4. Serve with optional beans.

Salsa Verde

• 14-16 large tomatillos, quartered
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3-4 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or lard)

1. Purée all ingredients in a blender, except olive oil, until mostly puréed, but with some little chunks remaining.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet, and add tomatillo mixture. The skillet should be hot enough that the tomatillo mixture sputters when poured in. Stir down the sputter.
3. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water if too thick.
4. Adjust for salt.

Notes ~

~ Tomatillos originated in Mexico and have been used since the pre-Columbian era. Providing a fruity-acid flavor to sauces and stews, they are most commonly used for making salsa verde. Their high pectin content can thicken leftover salsa (thin with water if this happens). They have a papery husk which is removed before cooking. The name is derived from the Nahuatl word, tomatl, and is pronounced toh-ma-TEE-oh.

~ Cilantro is an annual herb much more common on Mexican plates than parsley. All parts of the plant are used, including the tender stems which are as flavorful as the leaves. The dry seeds are the spice, coriander. In some parts of the world, the fresh herb is also known as coriander, or Chinese parsley. For about one-quarter of the population, cilantro has an offensive, soapy taste. To all who can’t enjoy cilantro, take my word that its unique taste gives Mexican dishes an unparalleled flavor.

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