Machaca con Huevos

Oh, Mexico.  I love your food, and that surely includes this machaca con huevos.

Oh, Mexico.

Just reminds me of James, Taylor. I mean, who doesn’t love a little James Taylor (the original JT, though I still love the current JT)? I grew up listening to the peaceful strumming of his guitar on every single road trip as a kid, and even now when I hear any of his songs pop up on my iPod, I’m transported back to the backseat of that ugly red Volvo station wagon, driving through the West Virginia Appalachians with the family on summer vacation.

Just like that classic tune implies, this classic Mexico dish sounds so simple…and it is. For my convenience, it’s re-purposed as a slow cooker dish, and rarely does it get any easier. BUT, have you ever used a slow cooker for breakfast?

Now you can! I bring to you machaca con huevos.

When it comes to breakfast, I’m almost always a sweets girl. Perhaps it’s because pre-blog I used to eat (let’s be honest, still eat…) eggs for dinner all the time, and they’ve lost their appeal first thing in the morning. However, lately I’ve been in a more savory state of mind and this breakfast oh so extra appealing.

Machaca con huevos is dried, shredded beef, eggs, onions, tomatoes and chili peppers. In a way, it’s Mexico’s version of steak and eggs. While I can’t seem to get behind a porterhouse at 9 AM, the flavors in this one seem to trick my mind into forgetting that I’m eating a dinner meat for breakfast. Plus, throw anything in a tortilla and no matter the time of day or night, I’ll surely be shoving it in my face.

The prevalence of cattle ranching in the northern Mexican states lend itself lots of meat. According to the Huffington Post, this dish in particular became a staple because in the day of pre-refrigerators, meat was dried preserved into jerky. It kept, and was then subsequently served with eggs to accompany.

While I do love beef jerky (in college I ran into trouble eating only that during exams…and then my jaw was so sore I could only eat soup for a few days after…#chrissyproblems), I found a recipe on Hispanic Kitchen that I adapted for the slow cooker. This beef is also not dried…I left mine on the soft side. I think that if you wanted a crispier, more dried version, bake it in the oven at 450F (like I did with the pulled pork) for that effect. The veggies are pureed into a lovely sauce accompaniment to round out the most important meal of the day.

Lose your load, leave your mind behind, Baby James.

Woh, Mexico, it sounds so simple, I just got to go.

The sun’s so hot I forgot to go home, guess I’ll have to go now.