Tag Archives: lunch

The Nation Has An Appetite

Migas para Mis Amig@s

24 Comments

Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 to 3 Tbsp tomatillo salsa, Hatch/green chiles, chipotles in adobo, or fresh hot peppers & shallots, minced
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • shredded Asadero and/or Oaxaca cheese and/or queso fresco
  • tortilla chips
  • tortillas (wheat or corn)
  • kosher salt
  • black pepper
  • spices (chile powder, coriander, & cumin suggested)
  • hot sauce(s!)

Optional Additional Toppings

  • cilantro
  • crema/sour cream
  • leftover black or refried beans (reheated)
  • lime juice
  • onion relish
  • queso fresco

Tools

  • 8" skillet (well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick)
  • plancha, crepe pan, or other flat-bottomed cast-iron pan
  • fork or whisk
  • plate
  • silicone spatula
  • small bowl
  • small kitchen towel

Preparation

Crack the eggs into small bowl, then beat or whisk them until the yolks & whites are thoroughly combined. Season the ggs to taste with kosher salt, black pepper, and any combination of spices desired. (I typically use chile powder & cumin, and sometimes include coriander. You could get really interesting and use chaat masala...) Break some tortilla chips into bowl and mix with eggs until the eggs are completely covered; the exact amount is personal preference, and something to dial in over time. Let the tortilla chips soak while moving on with prep. Migas are a great way to use up the chip crumbs at the bottom of the bag, too!

Heat the plancha/crepe pan/cast iron skillet over medium heat. Toast tortillas in the pan, one at a time, on each side, until browned & crisped to personal preference. Keep the toasted tortillas warm in a folded kitchen towel. This step can be completed in tandem with the next three steps below.

Melt butter in the skillet until foaming but not browning. Then, add the salsa or any of the following: Hatch/green chiles, chipotles in adobo, or fresh hot peppers & shallots. Sauté until fragrant and some of the liquid volume is reduced, if using salsa.

Add the eggs to the pan and stir to integrate the cooked salsa or vegetables with the eggs. Swirl the pan over heat as if making an omelette, taking care to expose uncooked egg to heat so it begins to solidify.

Add the cheese to the eggs as if making an omelette, then fold the egg in half over the top. Remove the pan from heat and allow the carryover heat to continue melting the cheese.

Place the tortillas on a plate. Using a silicone spatula, divide the eggs into equal parts for the number of toasted tortillas. I find two eggs to three 8" tortillas works well. Fill the tortillas with any leftover beans pulled from the fridge & reheated, then the eggs. Add hot sauce to taste on top of the eggs; my typical mix is Valentina Black Label, El Yucateco Chile Habanero, and Yellowbird Serrano condiment. Finally, top with any additional cheese, cilantro, crema/sour cream, lime juice, onion relish, and maybe a couple broken-up tortilla chips for extra crunch.

Crack open a cold beverage that augments the flavors.

Enjoy!

The Nation Has An Appetite

Brown Bag Nation

79 Comments

Let’s talk about lunch. Yes, you might just be eating breakfast right now, either at home, or at work, or in your car (I hope not). Bear with me.

I love to eat from the food carts on the pedestrian mall outside my institution's main library. Where else can I get loaded beef & plantain arepas, ayam bakar in a luscious peanut sauce (extra sambal kecap, please) with acar, sticky gua bao, fresh fried falafel, and other decadent morsels within a twenty-yard radius? My wallet doesn't love it quite the same way. Since I apparently have horrible career management skills, that doesn't appear likely to change anytime soon.

So, since I'm likely to get hungry sometime between 0930 and 1630, I bring food from my domicile to my roboticile — almost always supper leftovers from the previous night or two.

For years, I've packed my lunch in a small (approximately 2 cup) Pyrex dish & reusable storage bags, but recently I've felt like trying something new, ideally more compact or space-efficient. Part of my motivation is that the Poissonnier has joined Mrs. Hayes & I as a public transit companion. Part of it is the feeling that I keep rolling the dice with the Pyrex, hoping it won't leak. (I've had the occasional dribbles, but nothing catastrophic.)

I've looked at the various Zojirushi Bento products. They seem pretty nifty, but potentially cumbersome. (I suspect they won’t fit in my Tom Bihn Co-Pilot.) I don’t need the thermal capabilities often, but absolutely require spill-proof storage. The Wirecutter likes insulated lunch bags, which doesn't solve the problem of what to put in that bag; also, I don't want to carry a second bag.

Maybe I missed something, but I don't remember us discussing this before. So, I'm curious — how do you transport your vittles from your coolerator to the place where you spend most of your day reading the WGOM? And, more importantly, what [sniff sniff] do you like to pack?