Huevos Rancheros

This is a breakfast dish from Mexico that has spread to other countries, especially to parts of the United States. There are likely as many variations in recipes, as there are those fixing the dish, and this is my version. There are also a variety of garnishes and side dishes served with it, but this is just the basic dish.

You can make this recipe spicy hot or mild, by varying the amount of hot chilies you add (some use chipotles and their adobo sauce), but it probably should have at least a little kick to it, so don't shy away from some minimal heat. You can use fresh tomatoes and fresh mild chilies (often pablano peppers are used), but it will then require a longer cooking time. Also you can just buy a jar of good chunky salsa in place of the vegetables. 

serves 6 to 8
1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, with their juice (I used Hunts Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes)
1-4 oz. can diced green chilies, mild (there are many brand names)
2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1/2 small white onion, diced
corn tortillas (can use flour tortillas)
6 to 8 large eggs
1 inch piece of serrano chili pepper, chopped (I included seeds)
hot pepper cheese (I used Belgioioso Peperoncino Asiago)
about 2 tablespoons of olive oil total

To a sauce pan add about a teaspoon of olive oil and the onion. Cook for just a couple of minutes, until the onion softens, add the tomatoes and their juice, the green chilies (drained, if using canned), the chili powder, the serrano pepper (or whatever hot chili pepper you prefer). Keep the heat low enough that the mixture doesn't stick and burn, and stir it often. When the mixture is hot, this step is done. Coat each tortilla with a little olive oil, place a couple at a time in skillet, and let them soften, turning once to get both sides (if you like especially crisp tortillas, which I don't recommend for this dish, naturally you will have to heat them further). Keep the tortillas on a warm plate and cover. In the skillet, add a little more olive oil and fry the eggs, keeping each egg separate. The yokes should not be cooked through, unless you do not feel comfortable eating eggs with runny yokes. Now place a tortilla on a plate, top it with some salsa mixture smoothed over the tortilla, add some small pieces of cheese, and you're ready to go. You can naturally use any number of eggs per serving, but I believe most recipes I've seen call for one egg per tortilla, and you don't want the huevos rancheros police to get you!

I used two eggs for myself, but when I put the eggs on top, the one yoke broke open, as you can see. That's what I get for not using one egg per tortilla!  Hahahaha!

WORD HISTORY:
Ovum-This word, related to both modern English "egg," and the former English word for egg, "ey(e)," but not all that commonly used outside the scientific community, goes back to Indo European "owo/owyo/awyo," which meant "egg." This gave Latin "ovum," which was borrowed into English circa 1700.

"Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte," Good Bette Davis Performance

This is one of those movies where, if you tell about it in just about any way, you give away the story to those who have not seen it, or to those who may have forgotten some parts.

The film, produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, was released in 1964, with Charlotte played by Bette Davis. The story centers around the murder of Charlotte's married lover, John Mayhew (played by Bruce Dern), at a party given by her father (played by Victor Buono). This happens after Charlotte's father had "convinced" Mayhew, through threats, to break off a relationship with his daughter, which the young man then does at the party. Shortly thereafter, the audience sees a meat cleaver disappear from the food area, and not long afterwards, Mayhew is brutally murdered, with both his head and one hand cut off. Charlotte walks into the midst of the party in the family mansion, her white dress covered in blood, and her father proceeds to try to comfort her.

The scene shifts to the 1960s and the now run down mansion and a reclusive Charlotte, who has not aged well. Like with the mansion, Charlotte has let herself go, just going about an existence that involves little personal contact with others, except mainly for her doctor (played by veteran actor Joseph Cotten), and her faithful housekeeper Velma (played by Agnes Moorehead). Her father has passed on, but Charlotte has considerable wealth left to her, although she doesn't enjoy it, as she just goes about her lonely life. The townspeople all believe she is a murderess, and the kids in the area torment her with songs about the killing. The thing is, modern times come calling, as the state (Louisiana) plans to tear down her home for a new highway. Charlotte totally ignores all of the notices sent to her, and the sheriff, an old family friend, tries to persuade her to leave the old mansion peacefully, as she had fired on a work crew sent to prepare the mansion for demolition. Charlotte believes the widow of her former slain lover is behind all of the attempts to evict her, as well as bundles of hate mail sent to her through the years (the widow, Jewel, played by Mary Astor). 

Her doctor tells Charlotte that she'll have to leave the house, and she turns to her one known living relative, a cousin who actually had grown up at the mansion many years before, Miriam (played by Olivia de Havilland). As is Charlotte's wont, she reminds Miriam how she was taken care of at the mansion many years before, just as she had earlier reminded the sheriff how he owed his career to her father. Meanwhile, an insurance investigator (played by veteran actor Cecil Kellaway) has been checking on the old case of John Mayhew's murder, talking extensively with Jewel Mayhew and also with Charlotte, before she becomes upset.

I just don't see how I can go further here, without giving away too much and ruining the movie for you. Agnes Moorehead was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The movie is available on DVD, and I'm sure you will not regret seeing this film, a long time favorite of mine.

Photo from the 2005 20th Century Fox DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Sweet-This common word goes back to Indo European "suwad," which had the notion of "pleasant tasting." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "swotja," which meant "sweet." This gave Old English "swete," which then became "sweete," before dropping the ending "e," to give us the modern version. The idea of "sweetness" being pleasant also led to the secondary meaning of a person or animal being "sweet," in the mild and caring sense, and of course, to the noun "sweetie," a shortened form of "sweetheart." The noun form "sweet" (often used in the plural in this sense) came to be used for candies, cookies, cakes, etc; that is, products sweetened with sugar or honey. The other Germanic languages all have related forms: German "süß," ^ Low German Saxon "sööt," Dutch "zoet," West Frisian "swiet," Danish "sød," Norwegian "søt," Icelandic "sætur," Swedish "söt."

^ The high Germanic dialects underwent a sound shift long ago, with certain sounds often changing. The high dialects eventually became the basis of modern standard German. In this case, the ending "t" sound in the other Germanic dialects of those times changed to double "s." Other examples are: English "kettle," but German "Kessel," and English "better," but German "besser."