Hombre & Bad Hombre Eggs

“Hombre” is Spanish for “man.” The term is usually used with adjectives, such as “bad hombre” and “one tough hombre.” These terms were used in boxing in the 1910s, especially for Mexican fighters.
 
“Bad hombre eggs” appeared in The Only Texas Cookbook (1981) by Linda West Eckhardt. These are fried eggs on tortillas, often with avocado, salsa and cheese.
 
 
     
Frommer’s: Texas, in Depth
Even readers who don’t cook will enjoy The Only Texas Cookbook by Linda West Eckhardt. Interspersed among its 300 recipes—including classics such as Fuzzy’s Fantastic South Texas Road Meat Chili and Bad Hombre Eggs—are numerous humorous anecdotes on food-related subjects.
   
Colavita Recipes
Bad Hombre Eggs & Waffles
“This is a breakfast/brunch dish that is essentially cornbread waffles (made with COLAVITA EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL) layered with black beans, two poached eggs and garnished with salsa, Mexican cheese and scallions.” 
 
Ingredients:
0 WAFFLES
1 1/2 cup COLAVITA EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
0 EGGS
1 Tbsp. COLAVITA VINEGAR
1 quart water
8 eggs
1 can black beans
1 salsa
0 1/2 to 1 cup grated mexican cheese
0 sliced scallions
0 salt and pepper
4 flour tortillas
 
Preparation:
WAFFLES 1. Preheat waffle iron and spray with non-stick cooking spray. 2. Beat milk, Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until just moistened. 3. Pour 1 cup of batter into the center of the hot waffle iron and close the lid of the iron. 4. Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops. Carefully remove waffle. Keep waffles warm in oven until ready to assemble the dish. EGGS AND ASSEMBLE: 1. Place vinegar and water is a big saucepan and bring to a boil. Crack two eggs into a cup and then gently slide the eggs into the boiling water. 2. Let eggs cook for 3-5 minutes. While eggs are cooking, layer 1/4 of the black beans on 1 waffle. When eggs are done, remove eggs carefully with a slotted spoon, allowing them to drain for a few seconds, and place on top of the waffles/black beans. Repeat process with two more eggs. 3. After all the eggs are poached, top the eggs with salsa, cheese and scallions. Season with salt and pepper and serve with warmed four tortillas. Serves 4
 
Campbell’s Community
Bad Hombre Eggs
Oct 3, 2003 5:04 PM
 
Are you like me, occasionally wanting eggs for dinner? This is a spicy and tasty dinner idea or, if you prefer, a hearty breakfast.
Serves 2

1 tomato, sliced thin
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 thin slices of red onion
1/2 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese
2 tbsp. salad oil
2 corn tortillas
2 tbsp. butter
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper
Pace Salsa - your favorite kind
 
Slice tomato and avocado. Squeeze lime juice over avocado. Slice onion and shred cheese. Set these ingredients aside in a row near the stove along with the salsa, salt and pepper. Warm 2 oven proof dishes in the oven. Heat salad oil in a 7-inch skillet. Using kitchen tongs, cook tortillas, turning once, one at a time, until lightly brown and crisp. Remove to warmed plates. Pour out any remaining oil. Melt butter in skillet and break eggs into skillet. Cook to order either fried or scrambled as you prefer. Place cooked eggs on tortillas, salt and peppers to taste. Then add toppings of tomato, avocado, salsa, onion and cheese. Run under the broiler just until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Great side items with this are grilled (or pan fried) chorizo (Spanish sausage) and/or refried beans topped with some melted cheese. I like to put the refried beans under the eggs. 
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
hombre
Chiefly U.S.
[Sp.; cf. OMBRE.] 
A man of Spanish descent; by extension, a man.
1846 S. S. MAGOFFIN Down Santa Fé Trail (1926) 93 Not only the children, but..hombres (men) swarmed around me like bees. 1851 N. KINGSLEY Diary 2 Feb. (1914) 172 had a fine sing in the evening with three or four other ‘hombres’.
     
February 1893, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, “Among the Diggers of Thirty Years Ago” by Helen M. Carpenter, pg. 153:
Hoping to learn something of their religious belief, I have asked many questions, but the only information elicited was that there is a “Good Hombre” above, and a “Bad Hombre” down in the earth; that good Indians go up, and bad ones go down; and then they invariably confessed their ignorance of the whole matter in the simple sentence, “No hay sabe me.”
 
22 June 1896, Los Angeles Times, “Los Angeles Woman Killed by Heat in Phoenix,” pg. 9:
On his return to the livery stable, Brawley remarked: “I’m a bad hombre.”
 
20 July 1898, Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ), pg. 3, col. 2:
A Mexican went on the warpath at a ranch near the Solomonville depot last Tuesday and proceeded to carve a woman with a corn knife. Sam Watson was at the depot at the time and gathered in the “bad hombre.”
     
3 December 1903, Weekly Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ), pg. 7, col. 3:
The sheriff did remember the prisoner, however, and said that he had been here two or three years ago, and was “a bad hombre.”
   
17 July 1905, Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ), pg. 8, col. 2:
But the proper thing to do of course is not to have anything to do with the blowfly, for he is a bad hombre.
   
28 November 1911, Los Angeles Times, “Fast Rounds Show Men Fir for Great Fist Play,” pg. III1:
He has met every exigency of his career with some new punch or style and for this reason is counted a bad hombre.
 
8 January 1918, Los Angeles Times, pg I6:
We all stepped politely aside, everyone but Tad, who leaped forward and nailed the tough hombre so decisively that the latter’s efficiency was sadly impaired for the rest of the day.
     
22 February 1919, Oakland (CA) Tribune, pg. 10, col. 6:
Mr. Knock-Out Kruvosky wants more time to train for a tough hombre like Battling Ortega so the pair will not meet at the local auditorium until one week from next Wednesday, according to announcement made by Matchmaker Tommy Simpson last night.
     
8 March 1921, Washington Post, pg. 4, col. 6:
One of O. Henry’s most appealing stories, presented as the latest Goldwyn starring vehicle for Jack Pickford, under the title “A Double-Dyed Deceiver,” is the main attraction of the photo-dramatic portion of the program. The story tells of the Llano Kid, known throughout Texas as a “bad hombre.”
 
28 December 1925, Los Angeles Times, pg. 11:
TOUGH HOMBRE
This gentleman of pugilistic parts will not have things his own way, however, for Farr is one tough hombre.
   
14 July 1926, Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV), pg. 5, col. 1:
This fighter with the tough moniker is one tough hombre and it looks like Johnny will have his hands full.
 
6 December 1981, New York Times, “Cooking” by Mimi Sheraton, pg. BR4:
THE ONLY TEXAS COOKBOOK
By Linda West Eckhardt.
Illustrated, 284 pp. Austin:
Texas Monthly Press. $15.95.
(...)(Pg, BR82—ed.)
Pheasant Madeira, prune and bourbon cake, Jalapeño cornbread and “bad hombre” eggs—fried and placed on crisp tortillas, then glazed with a topping of avocado, spicy sauce and cheese—are among the most inviting.