A festive breakfast recipe: huevos rancheros

For a fun weekend brunch, serve this Mexican-style dish of poached eggs and toppings on a warm flour tortilla. The secret to perfectly poached eggs? Add vinegar to the poaching water. It helps to hold the egg whites together.

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 20 min

Serves 4

• 4 flour tortillas (25 cm or 10 in)Salsa

• 5 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 mild fresh red chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped (wear gloves when handling)
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• 30 g (2 tbsp) finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
• 10 to 15 ml (2 to 3 tsp) lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground black pepperEggs
• 5 ml (1 tsp) vinegar
• 4 eggs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 50 g (2 oz) coarsely grated cheddar cheese
• 90 ml (6 tbsp) sour cream
• 4 scallions, chopped
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Lime wedges

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Stack and wrap the tortillas in foil and put them in the oven to warm for 10 minutes.
2. For salsa, place the tomatoes in a large bowl and stir in the chiles, onion, garlic and cilantro. Add the oil and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then set aside.
3. Meanwhile, for eggs, half-fill a large nonstick skillet with water. Heat until ­simmering, but do not boil. Add the vinegar. Break the eggs into a cup one at a time, then slide each into the water and poach for three minutes. Toward the end of cooking, spoon the water over the yolks. When cooked, remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel–lined plate.
4. Place the warmed tortillas on plates. Spoon on a little salsa, then put the eggs on top and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let everyone help themselves to the rest of the salsa, the grated cheese, sour cream and scallions, plus chopped cilantro for ­sprinkling over the top and lime wedges for squeezing.

• To make this a more substantial breakfast, serve the eggs with homemade refried beans.
• Sauté one minced garlic clove and two grams (1/2 teaspoon) ground cumin in 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) olive oil for one minute.
• Drain and stir in one can (400 grams or 14 ounces) pinto beans and 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) water.
• Cover and simmer until the beans are soft enough to mash, about five minutes. Roughly mash them with a fork, then cook, uncovered, for three minutes.
• If the ­mixture is too runny, cook for a few more ­minutes then season lightly with salt.

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