Mexican Steak and Eggs

I’ve been slightly obsessed with Mexican breakfasts ever since the day I had my first encounter with chilaquiles in Puerto Vallarta four years ago. I’d been to Mexico on several occasions prior, but I think my main priorities on those visits were getting at least eight hours of sun and seeing just how early I could consume my first Corona with lime versus getting up in time to actually eat breakfast. (Note: Those are all still very much priorities, they’re just in different orders these days.)

There’s just something I love about pairing a little bit of zip and spiciness with eggs, and since my first chilaquiles breakfast encounter, I’ve been whipping up all kinds of Mexican-inspired breakfasts from ranchero eggs to breakfast enchiladas and beyond. On the days I require a little bit more sustenance and want something that’s going to tide me over until dinner, I lean more towards hearty dishes like today’s steak and eggs.

The base of the dish starts with my homemade enchilada sauce, something that you may assume to be completely unnecessary to make from scratch, but trust me, this sauce is incredibly versatile and it’s hands down one of the items I use most in my Mexican cooking. Not only is it super simple and quick to throw together, but the ingredients should be items almost every cook has loitering in their pantry.

A couple tablespoons of finely diced onion and a little bit of garlic are sautéed in just a touch of olive oil and then tomato paste, water, chili powder, oregano and cumin are added in. The entire mixture is simmered for just a few minutes until it’s thick, and bam… enchilada sauce.

For the steak portion of the dish, you can really use whatever cut you like, but I happen to love beef tenderloin for its innate leanness, but also because it’s perfectly proportioned for breakfast (I said I wanted something hearty, not artery clogging) and endlessly tender. Because so much flavor comes through in the enchilada sauce, I just seasoned the beef simply with a little bit of salt, pepper and chili powder, then threw it into a screaming hot pan to sear until it medium.

To make this truly an ensemble, I serve the steak and enchilada sauce with a quick sauté of some garlicky black beans and then topped the whole thing off with a perfect sunny-side up egg.

If you want the full recipe and post, head on over to Laura’s Lean Beef!