Natalie Woods’ Huevos Rancheros

Natalie is in the news at the moment.  Will we ever know what really happened on that boat?  I doubt it.  It’s making me very sad reading about it.  

I’ve written here before about how much I love Natalie, and I always think about her when I have Huevos Rancheros made to her recipe.  This Saturday I made an extra special version with HOMEMADE TORTILLAS.  Ain’t I the fancypants? 

This was purely and simply because I was making Chilaquiles for my cookbook club on Sunday, and I’d bought a tortilla press specifically for this.  

Note to self and others who might have the book…  Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe for tortillas in the World Vegetarian Cookbook makes exactly enough tortillas for her Chilaquiles recipe with two left over for Natalie.  Perfect!

Will I ever make tortillas again or will that tortilla press go into a cupboard with all my other gizmos never to be seen again?  I’ll let you know.

I always love the way eggs look when they are cooking in a tomato sauce, so perty!

and the finished dish is delicious…

I found this recipe in my chum Greg’s Recipes for Rebels cookbook which is FAB.  He’s just let me know about this brilliant event that is happening on Thursday night…

I absolutely LOVE the Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en and if you’ve never dropped in, you absolutely should.  Here’s the link to their Facebook page:

Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en

and their YouTube channel 

It’ll be super late here in the UK but if I can stay awake I will definitely be watching!  It’s to celebrate James Dean’s birthday.  Here is that gorgeous man, fooling around with Natalie…

Greg has done soooooooooooo much for me in the last few months in the run-up to publication day for the Columbo cookbook, not least, loads of amazing artwork to promote the chili cook-along…

Greg just amazes me with his creativity and generosity, he is an absolute STAR.  Natalie agrees with me, she’s thinking about you with much appreciation too Greg!

Sometimes when you start something in motion, you have no idea the JOY it is going to bring.  I am getting so many brilliant photos of Johnny Cash chili via my phone, email, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  WHAT FUN.  My friend Peter Fuller even did a LIVE cooking demo on Facebook.  Soooooo brilliant.  Here’s a preview of the chili he made…

I am going to do a round-up of everything very soon with links, but until then, just feast your eyes on this piece of pure genius.  Thank you Greg, for EVERYTHING you do!  So proud to know you, and so happy that Sal Mineo’s Quick Pizza Snacks set in motion a million wonderful things just because you decided to drop me an email about them!  I thank my lucky stars for Sal.

Still plenty of time to join in with the Chili Cook-along – absolutely everyone is welcome and there are prizes to be won.  Recipes (meat and veggie version) are to be found here… 

and here is Natalie’s much-loved recipe.

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 the sauce has thickened slightly. 

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

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