Huevos Rancheros

For a breakfast that hopes to carry over some spice from the bedroom to the kitchen, but without a big production. Even if you weren’t planning this, ahem, sleepover, you can still whip this dish up if you haven’t seen the inside of a grocery store in ages. 

Ingredients

• 4 corn tortillas

• 4 eggs

• 1 jar of salsa

• 2-3 tbsp oil (olive or neutral)

Prepare

Put salsa in blender. Blend until smooth, but not watery. Grab your frying pan and drop in two tbsp oil. Slowly add blended salsa. Cook for about 5 minutes. Keep the heat low so it doesn’t dry out. Add hot sauce if you want more of a kick. Stir occasionally. 

While the sauce is simmering, crack four eggs into an oiled frying pan. Cook sunny side up. Once the eggs start to sizzle, cover for about 30 seconds (until the whites right around the yolk don’t jiggle). Take the cover off and turn off the heat. Heat up the tortillas over an open flame and toss until to your liking.  

Serve eggs layered on tortilla, topped with salsa.

Breakfast Tartines

These look great, are seasonal and easy to prepare with ingredients you might already have. Another option? If you live near a market—and trust your lover enough to leave them alone in your place—you could run out to grab a few of these fresh ingredients. (It will also give them time to freshen up in case there is an encore performance.)

Ingredients

• 1 good quality, fresh baguette

• Salt and pepper to taste

Ricotta Toast Tartine

• 4 tablespoons fresh ricotta

• 1 pint fresh strawberries (or another seasonal berry/stonefruit) 

• 1 teaspoon sugar 

• 1 lemon

Scrambled Egg Tartine

• 2 eggs

• ¼ cup grated cheese (any kind, I prefer a good cheddar, jack or goat)

• 2 slices of good quality prosciutto

• A few sprigs of watercress or micro greens

Caprese Tartine

• 2 balls (ovaline) fresh mozzarella

• 10 cherry tomatoes (the reddest you can find), halved

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 4 leaves of fresh basil

Prepare

Slice baguette into pieces about a quarter of an inch thick. Spread olive oil on top. Broil for two minutes. Slice the berries to combine with lemon juice and one teaspoon white sugar in a bowl. Let it marinate, about ten minutes, so the berries soften.

Next, scramble two eggs with cheese. Take the eggs off the stove and place to the side. Slice the mozzarella about one-fourth of an inch thick. Separately slice cherry tomatoes in halves. Mix them in a bowl with torn fresh basil and a nice helping of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Lay the six slices on a long plate (or nice wooden cutting board if you have one) and start building. First, place a little ricotta on the toast but not all the way to the edge, then some marinated berries. On the second slice, add scrambled egg, plus a slice of prosciutto and watercress. On the third, add mozzarella slice on the bottom with the tomatoes overflowing, adding the oil that the tomatoes were marinating in on top. Repeat so you have two of each.

Buckwheat Dutch Baby with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche

This is for the person who understands time spent in the kitchen can be rewarded in the bedroom, no matter who the chef may be. The preparation of this beauty justifies wearing an apron, which sparks a whole other set of naughty thoughts. Who doesn’t love a lover in uniform?

Ingredients 

• 3 tablespoons buckwheat flour 

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon table or fine sea salt

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 2 large eggs

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toppings

• 4 slices of smoked salmon

• 1 avocado, sliced

• 2 tablespoons of crème fraiche

Prepare 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine and whisk sugar, both flours, salt, milk and eggs in a medium bowl. Melt butter on a 12-inch cast skillet (or heavy oven proof skillet). Pour in batter and transfer skillet to the oven. Make a big announcement when it goes in the oven to build some anticipation. Bake for 15 minutes. 

Slice avocado and have your crème fraiche and salmon ready. Once pancake is ready, add  salmon, drizzle crème fraiche, and scatter avocado slices and chives. Serve in the skillet with some side plates to share.