Recreating green eggs from La Cocina Taco House?

[Mosca]

We ate a lot of breakfast tacos in Houston, at La Cocina Taco House. (Recommended tacos: all of them!) And they were all great, but 58limited and I were really taken with the green eggs. We asked Mario what was in them, but he wouldn’t dish, except to say, “Jalapeños. And green peppers.” David and I talked about it yesterday, and we both think it is some-kind-of-pepper crema, maybe poblano or Anaheim.

I googled “Mexican green eggs” to get some ideas; the internet says it’s salsa verde, but that wasn’t what we had. Neither of us thought it was salsa verde. But since 1) I eat a lot of eggs for breakfast, and 2) I have poblano peppers, crema, salt, and garlic in my refrigerator and pantry, I figured I’ll give this a go.


I thought I still had a serrano pepper, but I don’t. So, poblanos, crema, and a small garlic clove. This poblano was really gnarly, so I cut it into pieces to roast it better.




This much salt,




This much crema.





Immersion blender for the win!




I LOVE these HEB tortillas. Loogit that puff!




Eggs, mixed with bacon,



(In the interest of science I probably should have skipped the bacon, but I like bacon more than I like science.)


Mix in the poblano crema until it looks about right,




Load all that stuff onto the tortillas, and top with cheese! TACOS!




Okay then. This was EXCELLENT.

It also wasn’t the same. It’s in the ballpark, but not the same.

I’ll work on it. I’m not sure what’s different, and the further and farther I get from having had them, the harder it’s going to be. It definitely needs the little shot of jalapeño or serrano; Maybe I’ll add a tablespoon of salsa verde? IDK. I made something really freakin’ good, but not what La Cocina Taco House makes.

[CaptainMike]

Perhaps a tomatillo or two, too.

[Mosca]

I’m not sure, though. Neither of us tasted any tartness. But I’ll give that Tsp of salsa verde a try, I only used half the poblano crema.

[CaptainMike]

Yeah, I was really just going for the alliteration.

[barelfly]

Looks like a great way to start off the day….on TACO TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SheilaAnn]

Mosca I was gonna say it had to be the creamy green sauce they passed at the table. Or some version of it.

[Michael_in_TX]

I wonder if the missing element is the emulsifier in the sauce?

Here are some things I've tried in green sauces to get closer to a restaurant sauce: crema (as you used), crema + sour cream, neutral oil (with enough peppers, the sauce will stay quite green), and avocado.

(Avocado is probably not what was used as, of course, it tends to discolor and is also expensive.)

[Mosca]

I’m not sure. I agree, not avocado. The longer it is, the less likely I’ll get the same thing; but really, who cares. As long as it’s good, right?

[texastweeter]

A little bit of mustard powder is a great emulsifier, it's in my Mac and cheese

[Mosca]

Also, I was thinking that it might be the same thing that is green spaghetti sauce.

[58limited]

That looks like a good attempt, Tom.

I was wondering if maybe he added a little of the white cheese to the eggs too but the eggs were not cheesy. They weren't tart or citrusy like tomatillos in salsa verde would make them. That pretty much leaves crema and peppers, maybe some milk. Just gotta find that proportion....

[barelfly]

Do you have Hatch Green Chile, or something that is similar to New Mexican Green Chile? I don’t know if that is the flavor profile you are trying to match - we made almost this exact meal last night for dinner, with ham being the difference - but the green chile really adds a flavor that is completely different to the poblano or jalapeno. I know you say you can’t really determine what the difference is, but just a thought.

[Mosca]

58limited and I were talking about that, he thought maybe Hatch or Anaheim. Poblanos are what I had in the kitchen this morning! I was at the grocery store today; the Anaheims (and poblanos, and bell peppers, and jalapeños) looked beat so I didn’t get any.

[58limited]

barelfly I definitely tasted poblanos in the eggs and Mario told us that there were jalapenos. There could be some canned green chilies or fresh Anaheims too but will need to experiment to see. I doubt there are actual Hatch chilies due to their seasonality which is why I thought maybe Anaheims instead. I have lots of Hatch in the freezer so I'm going to try a version with them. Wish i could source fresh Chimayos but they are unobtainium.

[Smoked Transistors]

Looks yummy, absolutely love any and all peppers chared with eggs, blended or not.

[Mosca]

I took another half a poblano, and a small strip of a serrano (about 1/4 of a pepper), and roasted them up and blended them into the leftover crema from yesterday. I also left out the bacon, so I could taste the eggs by themselves. I kept the cheese, though.



This was really, really good! It’s more concentrated, with a touch of sharpness from the serrano. I think less cream and more pepper. It might even be almost 100% pepper, blended into the eggs with an immersion blender.

[58limited]

gcdmd My recipe is not posted, my hot sauce is a bottled sauce that I started making as a small cottage business. Here is a little info: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...uce-production

[Michael_in_TX]

gcdmd It's his proprietary sauce. 58limited it's a Louisiana-style sauce, right? I like it as it has all those flavors, some good heat, but is less vinegar-forward than many similar style commercial sauces.

[58limited]

Michael_in_TX Yes, I patterned it after Tabasco and Crystal, more body and less vinegar. Plus more complexity from using several different peppers. In the case of the Hatch version some peppers are roasted. All of my sauces are naturally fermented.

[STEbbq]

I don’t see cilantro mentioned yet.

[58limited]

No cilantro in the eggs themselves, great topping though.

[Mosca]

I don’t see cilantro mentioned yet.

Like 58limited said, no cilantro in the eggs.

I’m tempted to roast up a poblano and a serrano and just blend it into the eggs straight up. But the poblanos at the store yesterday were pretty beat. No hurry.

[WI Bubba]

I'm thinking the next Spring Meat-Up needs to be right back at the same place. Maybe then I'll drag my butt out of bed early enough to go try these amazing sounding tacos.

[58limited]

Mosca I tried to duplicate this today: one poblano, one jalapeno, and a 4 oz. can of Hatch brand green chilies with liquid. I did not roast the peppers. I used whole milk - I don't have any crema or sour cream. I forgot the salt which I think would have made a difference. I strained the pureed peppers through a kitchen strainer then added the puree to the eggs before cooking (I think I added too much).

This turned out pretty good, close but not quite there yet. There is a bit of a vegetal taste. On reflection, I might boil the peppers first before processing in the blender. We have a Mexican guy who comes to the clinic daily selling homemade breakfast tacos. He boils the veggies in the salsa that he serves with the tacos.

I didn't make any chorizo beans but will try that in the future.

[Mosca]

The beautiful part is that even if they don’t come out the same, they come out delicious anyhow!

[58limited]

You are absolutely correct!

[Draznnl]

"The beautiful part is that even if they don’t come out the same, they come out delicious anyhow!" Mosca stating the philosophy of the happy home cook.

[58limited]

OK, I'm very close: 2 smallish poblanos, 1 Anaheim, and two jalapenos. Cored all and boiled about 20 minutes. Into the blender with 1/2 tsp. salt and some crema. Strained through a kitchen strainer to get errant seeds and skins out. Very close, maybe a little garlic is needed and a touch more salt and crema but I'm happy with this attempt.

I added some of the pepper mixture to the raw eggs as I whisked them and then cooked them in a cast iron skillet. Again, no chorizo beans and I was out of regular tortillas so I used a burrito-sized flour tortilla.

La Cocina's was a little brighter green if I recall, maybe they used more Anaheims. I'll attempt the red eggs next but I think that will be easy and I already have lots of red sauce in the freezer: 12 dried Hatch chilies (seeded and boiled), 2 cloves garlic, salt, and some of the boil water plus 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano. La Cocina's red eggs tasted a lot like this sauce.





EDIT: Just tried again: added a little extra crema and an extra pinch of salt. It is very close, maybe a little more salt.

[Mosca]

barelfly Two weeks in a row the poblanos around here look pretty beat, and no Anaheims at all. I might try the Hispanic market Tuesday.

[barelfly]

I get raw having a profile that may not be preferred. I guess trying to copy you go this route, just thought roasting would provide a really nice profile.

You both have me intrigued!

[58limited]

I think roasting would be good, I didn't go this route simply because I didn't see any black flecks in the eggs and assumed they didn't roast them.