The Griddler Strikes Again

The griddler awaits with open jaws.






Above is the Cuisinart griddler. It is marketed as a sandwich press and panini maker, but it shouldn't be limited to such pedestrian duty. I have used it to make quesadillas, breakfast burritos, and even little toasts for appetizers. Today, the griddler was pressed into yet another task, and though the task was small, it was invaluable. Today, griddler showed itself to be a true team player.

I wasn't sure what I was doing when I pulled all of the ingredients out of the fridge. I had bacon, eggs, shredded cheese, tortillas, and left over green chile stew. How to put this all together?

First thing was to plug in the griddler. I didn't know where this was going, but having the griddler at the ready was a must. Glancing at the loaf of bread I wonder about a sandwich, but that wouldn't work with the stew. No, bread, you'll have to sit this one out. Must use the tortillas. A natural fit with the stew.

The hungry griddler's jaws were growing tired of this indecision. It was time to act. The next thing to do was to get an egg going, but scrambled for a burrito, or fried? Then it hit me. Fried. It had to be fried. I could put green chile stew over the fried egg just like they do in New Mexico. Perfect.

But what's the griddler to do now? It's been patiently warming and waiting. Surely you can't press an over easy egg. The griddler is a machine. It can't play like a bear cub or a puppy just gently nipping and exploring the new world.

I toss the griddler a bone. I throw on a tortilla to let it warm. Ok, now, how do the Mexicans (New or otherwise) get the tortilla to the bottom of a plate of huevos rancheros and still get the egg to cook? Ah, the griddler strikes again. It says that it would be happy to put its jaws into service as a staging area. Just slide the sunny side up egg onto the warming tortilla, and then slide the tortilla back into the frying pan. Brilliant, griddler! Good work.


Now spoon the green chile stew around the perimeter to allow it to come up to temperature as the egg continues to slowly cook on top of the tortilla. Covering the pan creates a poaching effect to help get the egg finished.




With a large spatula, move the egg and tortilla to a plate.

Then, just scoop the green chile goodness all around.

Throw in a splash of your favorite hot sauce, and you're good to go.




Note: It would probably have been much easier to just throw a fried egg on top of a tortilla and just cover it with green chile from the microwave. But ask yourself? Where is the adventure in that?