Natalie Wood’s Huevos Rancheros

Classic Hollywood movies, I’ve missed you!

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the entire Columbo series on rotation in my kitchen.  I plonked my old laptop on top of the kitchen record player, and had an episode of Columbo on DVD keeping me company every time I cooked…

But as the second draft of the Columbo Cookbook is DONE, and I only have a few episodes left to fact check, there is space for other things to be playing in the corner…

This weekend, I got the ball rolling with a box set of Natalie Wood films, so it seemed only fitting that I should have a portion of her Huevos Rancheros to kick off my two days of cooking and movies.

Natalie’s eggs have become my default Saturday breakfast since I got a copy of the fabulous Recipes for Rebels cookbook.  I must branch out!  Lots of other brunch type goodies in this book to try…

Splendour in the Grass was probably my favourite of the selection of 4 films in the box set.  Wowee Natalie was sexy in that film, and Warren Beatty wasn’t bad either!

I wasn’t that keen on all the shouty vaudeville stuff in Gypsy, but when they got to the burlesque halls I loved it.  I got quite a few belly laughs out of the girls, especially Faith Dane’s great line: “If you wanna pump it, then pump it with a trumpet” – ha ha!

If you have 5.5 minutes to spare and you’ve never seen Gypsy, here’s the best bit – you might need to turn the sound down a bit!

I loved Ruth Gordon in Inside Daisy Clover:

and Tony Curtis was gorgeous, even though his character was super annoying in Sex and the Single Girl.

All in all, an excellent start to winter hibernation classic movie watching I reckon.

Here’s Natalie’s simple but delicious recipe for Huevos Rancheros.  Easy to adapt for a spinster’s Saturday brunch…

Natalie Wood’s Huevos Rancheros

4 tortillas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, mashed
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 small serrano or other chile pepper, chopped or 2 teaspoons red chili powder
1 cup fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 1 cup canned tomato sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter

Fry tortillas quickly in hot oil; drain on paper towel. 

Keep oil hot; add garlic, marjoram, chopped chili, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer tomato mixture for a few minutes until flavors are well blended and sauce has thickened slightly. 

Fry eggs in a small amount of butter in separate pan, or poach in the hot tomato sauce. 

To serve, place one egg on each tortilla, cover with sauce. Serve at once.

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