Dilly Dally bassist Jimmy Tony teaches readers how to make his favorite egg recipe, inspired by the band’s travels through Texas.
Here at AdHoc, we believe in building the world you want to see using the materials at your disposal—and it’s a philosophy that applies as much to the world of music as it does to food. In AdHoc Recipes, we ask artists we love to share a jumble of ingredients that tastes delicious and brings them back to a special time and place. This time around, Dilly Dally bassist Jimmy Tony teaches readers how to make his favorite egg recipe, inspired by the band’s travels through Texas.
This article originally appeared in print in AdHoc 27.
Jimmy Tony’s Tex-Mex Migas
We like to treat ourselves to nice meals when we’re on the road. Touring a lot can wear you down, so it’s important to take care of yourself whenever you can. We have a lot of dietary restrictions in the band, so finding a restaurant that can accommodate us all can be trick. Diners are usually the easiest option to find something for everyone, which means we eat a lot of breakfast.
I’d never had migas before touring through Texas, but you find them all over down there, and through the south in general. They quickly became a favorite of mine, so I had to figure out how to make them once I got home. I’m a bit of an egg snob, having worked for years as a chef at breakfast restaurants, but this one’s pretty easy to get right.
Ingredients
- Oil with a high smoke point for frying
- 10 Fresh corn tortillas, cut into strips or whichever shape you prefer
- A six-pack of eggs
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, finely diced. Or more—I usually do three
- 1 bell pepper, finely diced. You pick the color—I prefer red or a mix of colors
- 1 serrano chili, finely diced. Use more if you like spice—jalapeños also work
- 1 large tomato
- 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped, leaves and all
- Some crumbly Mexican cheese, such as cotija, blanco, or añejo
- Chili powder—I like chipotle or morita, but this is optional
- Salt
Method
- Dice the tomato, toss with salt, and leave in a colander to drain the excess liquid.
- Heat some oil in a frying pan over medium/high heat, then throw some tortilla strips in. You’ll want to do this in batches, so you don’t overcrowd the pan and get them evenly cooked. Keep tossing them around every so often, so they don’t stick together or burn. Once they are crispy and lightly colored, remove them from the pan and toss with salt and chili powder. Repeat this process until all the tortilla strips are fried. You’ll have to add oil before each batch, because the tortilla will suck it up. If you’re feeling lazy, you could skip this step and just use tortilla chips, but the flavor of fresh fried tortillas is quite nice.
- Whisk your eggs in a bowl and season with some salt.
- Heat some more oil in your pan over medium/high heat. When it’s hot toss in the onion, pepper, and chili, and keep them jumping till the onions are soft and translucent. Throw in the garlic and sauté for another minute or so, but don’t burn it. Then throw in the drained tomatoes and sauté for another minute, so the tomatoes are slightly soft but not mush.
- Lower heat to medium/low. Push all that veg over to the side of the pan, then pour in the eggs on the other side. Let the eggs cook until they are mostly set, stirring them around gently while they cook to keep the bottom from burning.
- Throw in the tortilla strips and scramble them up with the eggs and veggies, and let it all cook a little longer till the eggs are done to your taste. I like them to be a little wet still.
- Divide onto plates and sprinkle with crumbled cheese and the chopped cilantro. You can serve it with salsa, guacamole, avocado, hot sauce—whatever you like with Tex-Mex. I like a green salsa with migas.
- Enjoy and be good to each other.