Huevos Rancheros

I love huevos rancheros. Years ago in New Mexico I had them for the first time. The waitress asked if I wanted red chili sauce or green chili sauce. I was nearly tossed out when I didn't have an opinion. Now I've decided that I love them both.

I have a reasonable version of huevos rancheros. It's simple to do. I start with Hatch green chilis. Here in Missouri I can't get great fresh ones so I just buy canned ones. They are fine. I open the chili and grill it till just starting to brown and warm. I use two chilis for me and one for my wife. I put the chilis on top of a soft grilled corn tortilla.









Next I add black beans. Yeah, you can make them from scratch. I open a can into a pan, warm them up, just start to mash them up a little, adding a little water or stock to make them kind of like refried beans, but not quite so mashed. Next layer is fried potatoes and onions.

Finally, I add eggs, scrambled or over medium, some sharp cheddar cheese and of course chili sauce, green or red. I make my own green chili sauce, but you can find reasonable sauces in your local store. I like ones with tomatillos in them.

If it isn't a mess, toss it out and start over.
Be sure to salt all the layers and get some browning on the tortillas, green chilis, potatoes and onions. Loosen your belt and dig in.

Hot Pepper Sauce

I love hot pepper sauce. I get lots of compliments on my sauce. I've never found any like mine. My secret? Smoke. I smoke my peppers for 8 hours on a light to medium smoke.
I use mulberry wood usually, or oak or hickory. Really I use whatever is handy. Maybe the wood makes a difference, but not to me.
Here is how to make my hot sauce--follow the Red Hot Sauce in the Ball Canning Cookbook. It calls for 1.5 cups of chopped hot peppers (about 24). I just toss 24 habaneros in the smoker for each batch (I made a quadruple batch the first time so I used 100 peppers). While they are smoking, feel free to also smoke a huge chunk of mammal or some cheese or whatever--the peppers won't mind. Take the peppers from the smoker after 8 hours and let them cool a bit.
Put on gloves (yes, even if you are really tough. this is concentrated!) and pull the stems from the peppers and discard the stems. Be very careful! If you rub this stuff in your eyes (or, ahem, other sensitive areas) you will go to the emergency room. This is a really hot pepper that has been concentrated over a long period of time and will give you chemical burns if you aren't careful.
I run the peppers through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins. I would be interested to know if anyone has a better way. I've thought about just adding the entire pepper to the tomato sauce, simmering for a while, chopping with a blender or immersion blender, and then straining. Seems that I would retain more flavor and I wouldn't have to clean up the food mill. Cleaning the food mill is a bother and all the stuff I'm cleaning off of it is good to eat.
Then just follow the Ball Canning Cookbook recipe.
Man, it is good! The pepper with the smoke is divine.
Want it hotter? More peppers. Milder? Less peppers or vary the pepper variety. I've made it with jalapenos and it is still really good. Want some subtle flavor differences? Use a mix of peppers. I've added some bell peppers and it sweetens it a little.
Anyone have any other methods of making hot sauce?