migas-ish

The word migas comes from the Spanish for 'crumbs', I learned today on Wikipedia. It was originally a dish made from leftover bread or torta, mixed with other stuff. I don't know when eggs got added to the mix, but the standard Tex-Mex migas include egg, tortilla, tomato, onion, and peppers, cheese, and chorizo, if you're adding meat.

Migas have risen in popularity in the past few years. Last year in Austin we noticed that every restaurant breakfast menu included some version of migas. They show up on quite a few menus around these parts as well. They're super quick and easy to prepare, and we've made them several times in the Leaven household. My go-to recipe is from, surprise, surprise, Smitten Kitchen.

Today we tried a variation that has been my favorite so far. It involved emptying our produce drawer and augmenting the eggs with some barbecued beans left over from our bbq feast last night. Instead of tortillas, we used some Indian flatbreads - papadums - because that's what we had on hand.

 I believe that Mr Leaven was inspired by the rabbit on the packaging to select this particular product.

While we did enjoy the papadums in the dish, I wouldn't say that they are requisite in any way. Good, old-fashioned tortilla chips will do just fine. Our papadums were salty and very peppery, so you might need to augment the final dish accordingly.

Migas

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, from Sue Torres at Sueños Restaurant, NYC

Tomato-Chipotle Coulis
2 large, round tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 white or red onion, chopped
1 chipotle en adobo, from a can
1/2 fresh jalapeno, chopped
Handful of cilantro
1/2 lemon or lime
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Puree all of the above except lemon in a blender jar. Heat a saucepan over high heat. Add oil to coat. Once the oil is hot, add the sauce. Cook for 15 minutes or so and squeeze lemon or lime over the sauce. Season to taste.

Migas
6 slices bacon
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1/2 cup barbecue beans (optional!)
8 eggs, lightly beaten
20 corn tortilla chips or 4 pappadums (!), broken into tortilla chip-sized pieces

Sour cream
Fresh cilantro for garnish

First, cook the bacon over medium heat. Remove the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and crumble when cool enough. Discard (or save for another purpose) all but 1 Tbsp of bacon fat. Add the jalapenos and saute for 1-2 minutes, then add the beans (if using) and bacon. Add the eggs and after a minute, the chips/papadums. Use a wooden spoon to crush the chips as you stir to cook the eggs. Cook for about five minutes (mine took less) or until almost cooked through. Remove from heat.

Set up four (ha! try two!) plates for serving. Ladle some coulis in the bottom of each dish, top with some of the egg mixture and sprinkle with the cilantro. Top with a dollop of sour cream. Serve immediately.