It’s easy enough to make a breakfast of molletes north of the border. The heart and soul of the dish is the refried beans. I like to sauté red onion slices in bacon drippings until they’re almost disolved. I then add whole beans and some of their pot liquor, and some water if they seem a little dry. Using my bean masher, I slide along the bottom of the skillet so that the onions incorporate into the beans. I repeat the process until the mass is a glorious mess of refried beans. Be sure and leave some texture for interest.
For the molletes, I toasted a slice of Acme Bread’s Pain au levain and topped it with a spoonful of the refried beans, a spoonful of fresh salsa and then topped the whole thing off with some grated Manchego cheese. The Mexicans make a fair Manchego but I prefer the Spanish. If the cheese and salsa are at room temperature, there’s no need to broil. It’s lovely as it is.
I’m hungry.
Kind of a Mexican version of the old British classic, Beans on Toast, isn’t it?