Solar Huevos Rancheros

This is my other solar egg dish. Coat a small pan with cooking spray, put one corn tortilla in each pan, spoon about half a cup of refried beans on each one making a well in the middle, crack an egg into the well and bake in the Sun Oven for twenty minutes. If you like cheese on your huevos rancheros sprinkle some on about two minutes before taking them out of the oven. After taking the huevos out of the Sun Oven season with salsa verde, sour cream, and a drop of hot sauce. They make a great solar lunch.

A Day in the Life of a Sun Oven

I had every intention of using the minestrone left over from Monday to make a risotto for dinner tonight. I'm still on the fence about making risotto in the Sun Oven. Rice prepared in the Sun Oven, especially when cooked in the same pot as chicken, is delicious; it's texture, however, is not creamy like stovetop risotto. I was hoping that with careful timing I'd get more risotto like results. This meant the Sun Oven would be idle until late afternoon. The weather was also iffy.
For the first part of the morning it was mostly cloudy. I put the Sun Oven out anyway so Martin could bake his daily croissant; how quickly habits are formed. Before leaving for a morning appointment I warned him that he might have to bake it in the indoor oven. He didn't. The sun came out long enough to get the job done.
When I got home there were even more clouds on the horizon, but it was still mostly sunny. I took advantage of the preheated Sun Oven to whip up some huevos rancheros. After lunch I decided to get a head start and cook the onions for the risotto. That's as far as I got. By early afternoon the clouds had taken over; we even got a few drops of rain. I wound up having something else for dinner. I'll give solar risotto another try tomorrow. The weather forecast looks good.

Camping with the Sun Oven

 We went camping for one night, and while there is some debate among my friends as to whether staying in a cabin is actually camping, that's what I'm calling it. So we didn't pitch a tent; we did bring our own linens, cook and eat outside, and use the nearby shower/restroom facilities. Really the cabin was nothing more than a hard sided tent.
Using the Sun Oven in this setting was mostly a question of preparation. The evening before I seasoned a small pork shoulder roast with a spice rub and wrapped it in plastic wrap. I also soaked some beans and chopped a bell pepper and onions. We got to the campsite just before noon, set up the Sun Oven and had our dinner cooking in no time. After an afternoon of hiking and enjoying the cooler temperatures-it's still in the 100's here in Phoenix-we enjoyed a relaxing picnic dinner.

With no t.v. or internet and only a flashlight to see by, we decided to call it an early night. I wanted to get up early to make breakfast in the Sun Oven. I didn't need an alarm clock, at 6:30 a.m. it was time to make a trip to the communal restrooms. When I got back the sun was just starting to peak over the trees. To use the Sun Oven to catch the early morning rays I remove the tray, turn it upside down and place a trivet, or in this case having forgotten to bring one, an upside down square pan, on the floor of the cooking chamber. By 7:00 the Sun Oven had reached 250º. Hot enough to cook some huevos rancheros. I took two small dark metal pans, coated them with cooking spray, then topped a corn tortilla with some beans left over from dinner and two eggs.

Solar Huevos Rancheros

We still have plenty of leftovers from the past two days for dinner tonight so I decided to try making 100% whole wheat bread again today. After a quick trip to the store for some fresh flour I got the dough going in the bread machine. Since it wouldn't be ready to go in the sun oven for a few hours I made solar cooked Huevos Rancheros for lunch. Here's the recipe:

Huevos Rancheros - Serves 2

2 corn tortillas

4 eggs

2/3 cup refried beans

4 TBS prepared salsa (red or green)

2 tsp sour cream

salt and pepper

Put solar oven out to preheat. Spray two small dark metal pans with cooking spray. Place one corn tortilla in each pan. Divide refried beans between the two pans making room in the middle for the eggs. Put eggs in the middle of the beans. Place pans on a dark baking sheet, cover with glass lids and place in preheated oven for approx. 25 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on oven temperature. When eggs are cooked remove from oven, top with salsa and sour cream and serve. To keep this low calorie I don't use cheese but if you like you could add some shredded cheddar about 5 minutes before the eggs are done.