Recipe Huevos Rancheros on a Polenta Cake

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Huevos Rancheros is a Mexican breakfast consisting of a fried egg on a corn tortilla, with beans, salsa, and avocado. flyinglentris started a thread about breakfast polenta, and I immediately thought of this: polenta, after all, is cornmeal.

I realize there are ways to elevate this. I could have done more with the beans than just dumping them out of a can. Other recipes referred to use of refried beans. The ones I bought looked horrible, so I used a tri-bean blend. This is the number one thing I want to do better next time I make this.

I also could have made my own salsa instead of using one from a jar. But, I was hungry, and I really wanted to try this. I was really happy with the results. The polenta cake was a terrific replacement for a corn tortilla...I think I might actually like it better. And, after making the polenta, it was maybe 10 minutes from when I started to when I was enjoying my breakfast.


Ingredients

1 cup cornmeal
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground chili de arbol
4 eggs
oil
1 can black beans
salsa
guacamole
cilantro for garnish

Directions

1. Bring water and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, then whisk in cornmeal gradually until smooth. Lower heat to medium-low, and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Enjoy some of your polenta!

2. Roast cumin in a pan for about a minute, then grind to a powder. Blend cumin and chili di arbol into the polenta.

3. Heat a nonstick pan to medium, and add oil. Add polenta to the pan to form a disc shape, pressing it down to make sure it's a uniform thickness. NOTE: I have no idea why there are white flecks on the surface....it was a weird artifact of the lighting. This is what happens when I cook things during the daytime!

4. After a few minutes, go around the edges, and lift slightly to see if the underside is browning. Once it’s browned, use a spatula to loosen all the way around, then carefully flip over. Cook until browned on both sides. Repeat for remaining polenta.

5. Fry the eggs to your liking. In a separate pan, heat up the beans. Assemble the components on the pan, with the egg on top of the polenta cake.

 

[medtran49]

Love your idea of making a corn cake. I have a recipe we like that uses a chipotle salsa and a Mayan spice mix using cacao nibs. We need to make this again.

BTW, not sure if you know this, if you make a batch of polenta up the day before and refrigerate, it will firm up and you can slice it, then fry in butter/oil/lard. Just a do ahead to save time when making breakfast. That's what I like about my recipe. The salsa can be premade, as well as the spice mix, and we usually make extra black beans when using them for a meal and then use leftovers for huevos rancheros. Not so much to cook that way when you aren't far from just waking up.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

BTW, not sure if you know this, if you make a batch of polenta up the day before and refrigerate, it will firm up and you can slice it, then fry in butter/oil/lard. Just a do ahead to save time when making breakfast.

Thank you for that! I realized it was starting to solidify as it was cooling, but it was still gloppy. I only made one, and I do have remaining polenta that I put in the fridge, so I can preform the cakes later today (and separate them with wax paper) so they will be ready for tomorrow's breakfast.

 

[rascal]

View attachment 58736

Huevos Rancheros is a Mexican breakfast consisting of a fried egg on a corn tortilla, with beans, salsa, and avocado. flyinglentris started a thread about breakfast polenta, and I immediately thought of this: polenta, after all, is cornmeal.

I realize there are ways to elevate this. I could have done more with the beans than just dumping them out of a can. Other recipes referred to use of refried beans. The ones I bought looked horrible, so I used a tri-bean blend. This is the number one thing I want to do better next time I make this.

I also could have made my own salsa instead of using one from a jar. But, I was hungry, and I really wanted to try this. I was really happy with the results. The polenta cake was a terrific replacement for a corn tortilla...I think I might actually like it better. And, after making the polenta, it was maybe 10 minutes from when I started to when I was enjoying my breakfast.


Ingredients

1 cup cornmeal
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground chili de arbol
4 eggs
oil
1 can black beans
salsa
guacamole
cilantro for garnish

Directions

1. Bring water and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, then whisk in cornmeal gradually until smooth. Lower heat to medium-low, and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Enjoy some of your polenta!

2. Roast cumin in a pan for about a minute, then grind to a powder. Blend cumin and chili di arbol into the polenta.

View attachment 58734

3. Heat a nonstick pan to medium, and add oil. Add polenta to the pan to form a disc shape, pressing it down to make sure it's a uniform thickness. NOTE: I have no idea why there are white flecks on the surface....it was a weird artifact of the lighting. This is what happens when I cook things during the daytime!

View attachment 58735

4. After a few minutes, go around the edges, and lift slightly to see if the underside is browning. Once it’s browned, use a spatula to loosen all the way around, then carefully flip over. Cook until browned on both sides. Repeat for remaining polenta.

View attachment 58733

5. Fry the eggs to your liking. In a separate pan, heat up the beans. Assemble the components on the pan, with the egg on top of the polenta cake.

I love the addition of an egg, I recently enjoyed polenta chips and loved them. I have printed a recipe to do them in the near future.

Russ

 

[medtran49]

Thank you for that! I realized it was starting to solidify as it was cooling, but it was still gloppy. I only made one, and I do have remaining polenta that I put in the fridge, so I can preform the cakes later today (and separate them with wax paper) so they will be ready for tomorrow's breakfast.

You can do grits that way as well, at least long cooking grits. I'll readily confess I'm a snob and will not use quick or instant grits. LOL

 

[flyinglentris]

BTW, not sure if you know this, if you make a batch of polenta up the day before and refrigerate, it will firm up and you can slice it, then fry in butter/oil/lard. Just a do ahead to save time when making breakfast. That's what I like about my recipe. The salsa can be premade, as well as the spice mix, and we usually make extra black beans when using them for a meal and then use leftovers for huevos rancheros. Not so much to cook that way when you aren't far from just waking up.

Good to know.

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

Cool recipe, as I was reading this I thought about how could I bring taste into the polenta cake (the only way I learned to flavor polenta is with a strong gravy). What do you think about polenta balls made from polenta cooked in chicken broth, caramelized onion, some added crispy bacon cubes and a filling with feta cheese, deep fried or baked?
Stay healthy

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Cool recipe, as I was reading this I thought about how could I bring taste into the polenta cake (the only way I learned to flavor polenta is with a strong gravy). What do you think about polenta balls made from polenta cooked in chicken broth, caramelized onion, some added crispy bacon cubes and a filling with feta cheese, deep fried or baked?
Stay healthy

This sounds like a terrific idea! I thought at first that I might want to blend in an egg, but I don't think it would need it. Once the mixture has cooled, it does hold together very well. I look forward to seeing your recipe.

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

Next week is a good time for polenta, I should make a note.
Stay healthy