My latest food addiction

I love Mexican food -- real Mexican food, as opposed to the more Americanized versions available at chain restaurants where everything tastes pretty much the same. Good, but not inspired.

When I was in Bucerias, MX about 5 years ago, the American owners of the little hotel where I stayed sent me to their favorite breakfast place on my last morning there, and told me what to order. Tiny place, lots of cop cars outside (apparently also a favorite of the local gendarmes), patrons a good combination of locals and tourists. I cannot remember the name of the dish I ordered, but it was eggs cooked in a really hot sauce -- your choice of red or green sauce. After I ordered it, a man who I assume was the manager came to me and asked if that was really what I wanted, as if  he wasn't sure I knew what to expect. Guess not a lot of gringas order that dish. I assured him I wanted it and when it arrived, it was delicious, and yes, the sauce was rather spicy, but I love spicy foods. Naturally, refried beans were also on the plate.

Lately, as part of trying to seriously cut back the cost of food, I've been cooking and eating a lot of pinto beans, which thankfully I really like. One morning a week or so ago I decided to semi-replicate the above breakfast, although without the hot red sauce because I've never seen anything in the stores that would fit the bill, other than possibly enchilada sauce. But, home cooking in Mexico is the same as home cooking in this country -- you use what you have and experiment.

Now, I'm just addicted to this, although I don't have it every day because I'm also trying to cut back on eggs. Since it's cool here in the mornings now, I turn my oven on low, put the dish in there to heat. Then, I take pintos I've cooked, toss them into a skillet with a little sunflower oil, make good use of an old-fashioned potato masher and in mere moments I have refried beans. I try to get the egg to come from another skillet at the right time, but don't stress over it since it all goes back into the oven anyway. The red sauce is a jarred casera salsa that works, but isn't right. A few more moments in the oven to melt the cheese and heat the refrigerated salsa, and it's ready to eat. I don't always use cheese, and don't use much of it ever. Sometimes I even have it for lunch or dinner. Yum.

I've got the stuff to make a real Mexican sauce, courtesy of my online 'friend' Rolly, at his wonderful website. Maybe I'll try it today, see how it works. I'll be using a combination of the salsa recipes on this page, to get a smooth sauce that also has some good heat to it. These recipes are the real deal -- from his landlady, I believe it is, in Lerdo, MX. Maybe I'll post photos of my own experiment with this sauce. Juggling the peppers to get the right amount of heat will be the big test.