Like a Rhinestone Cowboy

I'm a morning person. Coffee + puttering are my kind of thing.

In fact, I feel like I actually own the entire hour between 7 and 8 am (and anytime before noon on weekends). I think that the morning sun is legally owned by me somehow and I'm just gracefully letting the rest of the world enjoy it. Whenever someone's actually awake during my morning hour, I consider it an owner's responsibility. It's as if I'm giving a tour of my house, making sure to point out all the small little nooks. But instead of being in a place, I'm in a time of the day and it seems so silly, in the end, when I ask myself how can I show the rest of the world that this is the best hour out of the 24?

Here enters breakfast.

Pancakes, waffles, French toast, cereal, cream of wheat, grits, oatmeal, eggs, bacon, you name it. All of it is wonderful. I was lucky to grow up with a mom that makes the best breakfast, even on a random day in the middle of the week.

But it wasn't until I moved to San Diego that I discovered huevos rancheros, or cowboy eggs. The combination of eggs (with a runny middle), tomatoes, beans and avocados is genius. I recently tried to do it myself (thanks to a really wonderful egg poaching pan), going off of a recipe from the Joy of Cooking and Epicurious. Here's the recipe I came up with. It's really good, so enjoy.

Huevos Rancheros de Carolina
serves 4 (if you want 2 eggs each)

1/4 c olive oil (maybe a little less)
2 crushed cloves garlic
1 medium-sized chopped onion
1/2 finely chopped green pepper
1 cup seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes (seeded = taking out the juicy, seedy center)
1 15-oz can black beans, juice and all
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp powdered cumin
8 eggs, either poached or cooked over easy
8 corn tortillas, warmed in a small pan
2 avocados, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over low to medium heat (let's say a 3.5 out of 10). Saute the garlic for 5 minutes and then remove from the pan.
2. Add onion and green pepper and saute until soft, about 7 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, black beans and seasoning and let it simmer until thick and well blended, about 15 minutes (at the most).
4. Layer your breakfast like so: warm tortilla + cooked egg + the sauce + avocado + green onions + cilantro.