I had to produce a vegetarian brunch this morning.
It also had to be a hearty one as my daughter and her vegetarian boy-friend are good healthy eaters.
I got a notion to make some Huevas Rancheros, this being a Mexican dish of eggs on a bed of tomatoes on a tortilla.
Having decided to produce this dish I then set about thinking about how I could change it to suit my ends.
As I love a touch of potato for breakfast the tortilla quickly became a potato pancake, a bit of a marriage between the Swiss Roesti and our own Boxty.
The tomato part of the dish, just onion and tinned tomatoes, with a touch of chilli peppers seemed a bit aggressive for breakfast (given that one would not have spent several hours rounding up steers prior to eating it) so I decided to make this element more of a Ratatouille, in the French style and add some sweet Peppers and Aubergine and to use fresh tomatoes instead of tinned.
Of course there was no way I was going to find Monterey Jack cheese so a block of our own vintage Kilmeaden seemed a good substitute
At this stage I began to realise that I was no longer making Huevas Rancheros. In fact I was in severe danger of making a fusion dish with traces of Switzerland, France and Ireland imposed on a fast disappearing Mexican base.
However I decided to live with this, and the end result was so good I now realise I made a good decision.
To acknowledge the shift away from Mexico I have also changed the name.

Ranchhouse Eggs
(for 4)

6 medium Potatoes
Bunch Chives, finely chopped
2 Eggs
Olive oil for frying
2 Medium Onions
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Aubergine
450 g (1 lb.) Ripe Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
110g (4 oz.) Vintage Cheddar.
4 Large Free Range Eggs
Salt and Pepper

First make the potato pancakes.
Peel the potatoes and grate them coarsely.
Chop the chives, beat the eggs and add these and a liberal seasoning of salt and black pepper to the grated potato.
Have ready a good frying pan oiled with a little olive oil.
When the pan is very hot drop about two tablespoons of the egg and potato mix on the pan and then flatten with a fork or a spatula.
Let this cook until it is brown and crisp at the edges then flick it over and cook on the other side.
If your pan is big enough you should be able to cook two or three of these at a time.
This mixture should give you eight or more pancakes.
As they are cooked put them on a baking sheet to be reheated later in a hot oven.

Chop the onion into little cubes and do the same with the green and red peppers.
Fry these together in a little olive oil.
In a separate pan fry similar cubes of aubergine in oil until they are tender.
(They take longer to cook than the other vegetables and are not good if undercooked)
Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water to remove the skins then halve them, scoop out and discard the seeds and dice the flesh.
Add this to the peppers, add in the aubergine also and season with salt and black pepper and the vinegar.

Before the brunch.

Reheat the potato pancakes on the tray in a hot oven.
Have the ratatouille hot in pot on the stove.
Coarsely grate the cheese.
Put on a large frying pan of water with a tablespoon of vinegar to poach the eggs.
When this water is simmering slip the eggs in gently(it makes this easier if you break these into a cup first)
Poach these for no longer than two minutes.

Put one or two of the pancakes on a warmed plate.
Put a mound of the ratatouille mix on the pancakes and make a hollow in the centre of this with a spoon and slip a drained egg into this hollow.
Sprinkle over the cheese and serve.