Raise your hands, if you answer yes to the following question -"the best days of my life, were spent with my friends in school/college". I would imagine, most of you have your hands high in the air. There is something about that period in our lives which truly makes us want to reverse the clock! The relatively stress-free phase where our most significant concern revolved around our next get together/birthday celebrations/figuring out a way to sneak into our parents booze/not getting caught smoking.....all bring a smile to my face.
During our recent trip to Minneapolis, we were specially fortunate to have friends come for a visit to our rental cabin from all over the US. DH's friends came over for a weekend and I honestly think that they all left looking a few years younger.....and no, this has nothing to do with my cooking :).
The realization that being co-hostelites (yes, this is a newly coined phrase), brings people together to such a large degree, truly hit home when I saw the interaction between DH and his friends. From the minute they landed, the atmosphere seemed to transform. There was a fair amount of gentle and not so gentle teasing, a lot of discussion over who had the most amount of hair left, a comparison of waistlines and an overall feeling of camaraderie.
Over the course of a particularly long evening of drinks, I was put on the spot by being asked if I thought I knew DH better or if they did. Of course, I told them that I will win hands down. As it happens, I did not know the answers to any of the questions they posed my way!!
So, as any sore loser does, I decided to let them figure out the next day's lunch on their own..to be pleasantly surprised here as well!!
Yep, this is what the boys came up with - a brunch that packed a punch!!! It is what I now call "Sridhar's Version of Huevos Rancheros". When I say that it tasted even better than it looked....I am not exaggerating!!
During our recent trip to Minneapolis, we were specially fortunate to have friends come for a visit to our rental cabin from all over the US. DH's friends came over for a weekend and I honestly think that they all left looking a few years younger.....and no, this has nothing to do with my cooking :).
The realization that being co-hostelites (yes, this is a newly coined phrase), brings people together to such a large degree, truly hit home when I saw the interaction between DH and his friends. From the minute they landed, the atmosphere seemed to transform. There was a fair amount of gentle and not so gentle teasing, a lot of discussion over who had the most amount of hair left, a comparison of waistlines and an overall feeling of camaraderie.
Over the course of a particularly long evening of drinks, I was put on the spot by being asked if I thought I knew DH better or if they did. Of course, I told them that I will win hands down. As it happens, I did not know the answers to any of the questions they posed my way!!
So, as any sore loser does, I decided to let them figure out the next day's lunch on their own..to be pleasantly surprised here as well!!
Yep, this is what the boys came up with - a brunch that packed a punch!!! It is what I now call "Sridhar's Version of Huevos Rancheros". When I say that it tasted even better than it looked....I am not exaggerating!!
Sridhar's Version of Huevos Rancheros
(Makes 12 portions)
12 medium sized soft corn tortillas
For the Scramble:
16 eggs
Some milk
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp. oil
For the Mango Salsa:
2 ripe mangoes chopped
1/2 cup onion chopped fine
1 jalapeno deseeded and chopped fine
1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 pinch of cayenne powder
Salt to taste
For the Beans:
5 onions chopped
8 tomatoes chopped
3 cans of black beans
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
5 garlic cloves grated
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp dry ginger powder
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
3 tbsp. of oil
1 bottle of spicy tomato salsa
1 cup of sour cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Lemon wedges and cilantro for garnish
It starts with getting the accompaniments ready......I was of course the fly on the wall (not willing to help at all) who was surreptitiously taking notes :).
The black beans were drained and rinsed well. The other boys got busy chopping the onions and the tomatoes. Sridhar heated the oil in the pan and cooked the onions and tomatoes with the cayenne powder and garlic. After cooking the mixture for 2-3 minutes, he added the beans, salt, sugar, oregano, cumin powder and the ginger powder. He allowed the mixture to cook at low heat for 15 minutes and added the cilantro to finish.
The mango salsa was prepared next by simply mixing all the chopped ingredients together.....
Here is the picture of the guacamole. The only difference from the original recipe lies in the removal of mango and addition of bell peppers in the mix.
The scramble was made after lightly beating the eggs with the milk and adding salt and pepper to it. It was cooked on a pan using some oil.
And here is the masterpiece! Sridhar lightly toasted the tortilla on a pan and added the beans and egg scramble on it. After adding a generous sprinkle of cheddar cheese, he microwaved the tortilla for 30 seconds to help melt the cheese. Then the tortilla was topped with spicy salsa, sour cream, mango salsa and guacamole. It was finished with a sprinkle of cilantro and a light squeeze of lemon juice.
Ok, I can imagine what you are thinking.....if I was a oh-so-casual observer, how did I manage to take these pictures....well, I cheated a little bit. I took good mental notes, and recreated the dish at my friend Vanessa's place. I got the pictures, managed to test the recipe and Vanessa got to have a tasty lunch - a win-win situation :).
The boys get-together resulted in a lot of bonding over alcohol, exercise, shared experiences and a whole lot of reminiscing. The image that refuses to leave me though, is of 5 friends heading back to their lovely wives and kids, great jobs and beautiful homes.....who seemed to have left wishing for a little bit more.....more time together, more ribbing, more laughter....in short, more of their younger selves.....
