Hearty, huevos-topped breakfast enchiladas make for glorious eye-openers in the hands of talented Valley chefs.
Legend tells us the breakfast burrito was invented in Santa Fe in the mid-1970s. Not long after, the breakfast taco debuted in Texas. And the breakfast enchilada? Well, that one is a bit harder to nail down, because once trailblazing cooks thought to add eggs to the two most popular Mexican-American staples, the third was a bit of a no-brainer. Maybe it even happened here in the Valley, where first-rate breakfast enchiladas are in long supply.
North-Central mainstay Richardson’s (6635 N. 16th St., Phoenix, 602-265-5886, richardsonsnm.com), serves a pair of New Mexico-style enchiladas topped with eggs ($18, pictured) and smothered in your choice of high-octane red or Hatch green chile sauce made in-house daily. It’s hard to pick just two fillings from the outsized list of choices: chicken, house-smoked turkey, green chile pork, shrimp, shredded beef, Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, or a vegetable combo that includes carrots, corn, asparagus and mushrooms. Crowned by three eggs cooked your way, the corn tortilla enchiladas are bundled with sultry, smoky pinto beans and your choice of crusty hashbrowns or breakfast potatoes. There’s even a flour tortilla to help you soak up the sauce.
Hash Kitchen (six Valley locations, hashkitchen.com) puts a different spin on its popular and generous Brunchilada Stack Hash ($18), layering four warm corn tortillas in a piping-hot skillet with mashed potatoes studded with chunks of chorizo, queso fresco and Monterey Jack cheese. Topped with green chile-tomatillo sauce and/or spicy red chile sauce, the stack is finished off with a couple of fried or poached eggs, and for an extra shot of protein, you can add chipotle-bathed chicken tinga, braised pork carnitas ($4) or tender, juicy birria ($6). For heat relief, the plate also sports a mound of iceberg lettuce garnished with lines of crema. “I wanted to create something that really pops in the mouth and that would go good with a Bloody Mary – spicy, but not too spicy,” says chef-owner Joey Maggiore. Mission accomplished.
Also spicy and substantial, Perk Eatery’s (6501 E. Greenway Pkwy., Scottsdale, 480-998-6026, perkeatery.com) breakfast enchiladas ($17.99) started out as a special, but after the Food Network featured the dish on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives in 2013, the hearty devils earned a permanent spot on the menu, says owner Pauline Martinez. To prepare, Martinez stuffs fresh grilled tortillas with house-made chipotle-laced ricotta cheese, slow-roasted organic pork shoulder and spicy black beans blanketed with fiery red chile sauce, made in-house from chiles flown in weekly from New Mexico. Martinez seals the deal with twin fried eggs, cooked any way you’d like, but she recommends sunny side up because the runny yolk adds another layer to the sauce. Some customers like the New Mexico red chile sauce so much that they order a bowl to eat like soup, Martinez says. That’s some serious heat.
