morning after is a monthly hangover newsletter from Ashlie Stevens. It arrives the first Saturday of the month with recipes for a chef-inspired hangover cure — from plays on the traditional breakfast sandwich to Dungeness crab mofongo — and a hydrating drink, as well as specially-curated media recommendations for a morning best spent on the couch.
Eat: Molletes
Molletes are essentially open-faced Mexican sandwiches that are built by just slathering a series of ingredients on a toasted bolillo roll: refried beans, avocado, a f🍳ckton of cheese and hot sauce. Top it all off with a fried egg and it’s a gorgeous mess — which, you know, is a relatable mood. This recipe is from Jackie Alpers’ new cookbook, “Taste of Tucson” (which also has some other great hangover cures like menudo and bacon-wrapped Sonoran hotdogs).
You should be able to find bolillos, the crusty-on-the-outside-pillowy-on-the-inside rolls used for tortas, at your local Mexican grocery. But if you can’t, Alpers says that * cue my best Ina Garten impression * sweet French rolls are fine.
2 bolillo rolls or demi baguette, halved lengthwise
1 cup refried beans warmed
½ cup crumbled queso fresco
4 fried eggs
1 medium avocado, sliced
Hot sauce to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Chile powder to taste
Preheat the broiler.
Toast the bread until golden brown and then place on a foil-lined baking sheet or toaster oven pan. Heap the beans on top of each bread slice, dividing evenly, then cover with the cheese, again dividing evenly.
Place the sandwiches under the broiler or in the toaster oven until the cheese is melted.
Remove the sandwiches from the oven and layer each with one fried egg and a few slices of avocado. Season with hot sauce, salt, pepper and chile powder to taste.
Hydrate: Cucumber and Ginger Agua Fresca
Agua fresca — “fresh water” or “cool water” — is a traditional Mexican beverage made by pulsing fruit and water with a little lime juice and sweetener. After a night out, you’re probably wanting two things: hydration and something that’ll ease any digestive wonkiness you’ve going on. Enter this cucumber and ginger agua fresca (Cucumbers are basically 95 percent water and ginger can help soothe an unsettled stomach).
A note: on most weekend mornings, ease is paramount for me, so I’ve built this recipe around a heavy dose of extra-strong ginger beer — Reed’s is readily available choice — instead of fresh ginger juice. Feel free to substitute it in, though, if that’s your jam.
⅔ cup of water
1 cup of extra-strong ginger beer
1 cucumber, peeled and rough-chopped
2 tablespoons of lime juice
2 teaspoons of agave or honey (optional)
Add water, cucumber and lime juice to a blender and pulse until completely smooth. Add to a large pitcher over ice, and stir in the ginger beer and the optional agave or honey to taste.
Listen: morning after — issue 1 playlist