One of the many things I often miss from my hometown is the cafeteria-style restaurants that we call “cafes”: A place where you can sit literally for hours and hours with your friends over a cup of coffee. A popular phrase in Latin America says: “todo se arregla con un café”, (everything can be fixed over a cup of coffee).
Molletes... or Should I Say The Mexican Bruschetta?
You can spend a really good time with your friends, your family, or classmates like I used to do in my old school days. I really enjoyed having “Molletes” with a cup of coffee for breakfast, or as a mid-afternoon snack with my friends while working on a school project
Some customers will have all 3 of their daily meals at a place like this. The meals are home-style dishes very similar to a dinner here in the USA. The prices are all affordable where a regular cup of coffee will cost less than $1.00 and a Latte will cost $1.25. The waiter will bring you a small basket with “pan de dulce” (sweet breakfast rolls) to enjoy with your cup of freshly brewed coffee. Other things that people have as a snack to go along with their coffee are biscuits with butter or “molletes'”. At noon the menu offers traditional Mexican-style meals like “milanesa” (breaded beef steak) served with rice.
My hometown has a historic downtown where some of the old Café’s from my school days are still open after many years of serving the local community. Tampico, Tamaulipas used to have heavy maritime commerce trading with the City of New Orleans for many years, hence the influence in the Downtown Architecture. I used to go to undergraduate school just one block away from the plaza in the picture above.
Above two pictures courtesy of the Facebook page: Tampico Hermoso
Now, to the recipe for this simple but fulfilling snack or light meal.
How to make Mexican Molletes Recipe
Instructions:
- Preheat your broiler. Cut the bread in half lengthwise. Remove some of the inside crumbs. Spread the bread with the softened butter and place on the baking sheet. Broil for about 4 to 5 minutes until they are golden and crispy. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Remove from the baking sheet and spread the refried beans on the bread
- Top the bread rolls with the cheese. (Add the cooked crumbled chorizo if using now). Place back into the broiler until the cheese has melted. Serve with the Pico de Gallo Salsa or the salsa of your choice.
HOW TO MAKE MOLLETES RECIPE
Ingredients
- 2 Crusty rolls or French bread cut in 6 inch length sections each.
- 2 Tablespoons of butter softened
- 1/ cup warm refried beans
- ¾ cup shredded Oaxaca Cheese or grated Muenster cheese*
- ½ cup of Pico de Gallo Salsa**
- Optional: 1 Crumble cooked chorizo
Instructions
- Preheat your broiler. Cut the bread in half lengthwise. Remove some of the inside crumbs. Spread the bread with the softened butter and place on the baking sheet. Broil for about 4 to 5 minutes until they are golden and crispy.
- Remove from the baking sheet and spread the refried beans on the bread.
- Top the bread rolls with the cheese. (Add the cooked crumbled chorizo if using now). Place back into the broiler until the cheese has melted. Serve with the Pico de Gallo Salsa or the salsa of your choice.
Notes
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
More recipes:
Restaurant Style Red Fried Salsa
Shredded beef for tacos and more…
loves2spin
Oooooooooo that looks SO good! I enjoyed the story and pictures, Mely! Yolanda
Mely
Hello Yolanda,
So nice to heard from you. Have a great weekend!
Mely
Nancy Gomez
Love them
Byte64
Mely,
viendo tu buenísima entrada me dio ganas de hacerlos así que en la noche nos echamos tres chiquitos cada uno y aproveché para sacar nuevas fotos como las que tenía antes en mi vieja receta eran espantosas 😀
Me encanta como los hacen en el Sangrons, los bolillos los tuestan con mantequilla hasta aplastarlos y te los sirven en un plato super caliente.
Deliciosos!
Un abrazo querida Mely
Mely
Hola Flavio,
Tengo que ir a ver tus nuevas fotos. SI asi los hago yo, primero tostados con mantequilla y despues los frijolitos.
Un abrazo para ti tambien.
Mely
Swathi Iyer
Mely beautiful clicks and lovely writeup. This is delicious.
Mely
Hello Swathi,
I hope you try this recipe, I know you will enjoy it.
Mely
Gloria
Great pix Mely. Good to see you. Really looks delish!
Mely
Hola Gloria,
I am happy to see you too. Thanks for stopping by.
Mely
Karen
Nice post, Mely... these sound so good - perfect for a little snack with a cup of coffee!
Mely
Hello Karen,
They are indeed a really good pick me up. I hope you try them.
Mely
yolanda
Sra mely.que bonito es Tampico verdad? Tan rico que se come en el Elite,por las tardes ir con las amigas a tomar el cafeito..esos molletes mmm ricooos...saludos desde por aca,obvio Tampico hermoso =)
Mely
Hola Yolanda,
Y si Tampico tiene su lado bello. Gracias por tu comentario y saludos hasta Tampico.
Mely
Chris
This rocks. Toast, refried beans, cheese and anything else I want? I love it! Nice one, Mely. I'll be making these for sure. In fact, if only I had some french bread I'd make them right now.
Mely
What? No bread! I am surprised Chris. Well, I know you will make them with your own personal touch.
Mely
Nammi
yumm, that would make a great snack or a light lunch. have a nice weekend !
Roz P.
Hi Mely, it is so very nice to meet you over on my blog. I look forward to learning more from you about one of our very favorite cuisines of Mexico! These look so fantastic, so full of inviting color too! I have visited Mexico six times! Nogales, Tijuana (two times), Oxoaca, Mexico City. There are many more places in Mexico that I would like to visit!
Mely
Hello Roz, you are so kind always visiting my blog. It is good to know you had been in Mexico and tasted the real thing.
HAve fun cooking.
Melt
NORMA RUIZ
Me encantan super ricos para desayunar un domingo en familia, linda entrada Mely, besitos.
Mely
Hola Querida Norma,
I love them for breakfast or dinner. They Never disappoint you.
Prieta
Mely, Mexican bruschetta is not bad but I think mollete is perfect for this delicious treat. This has everything I love, name included! Nice post ang great pictures, I hope to visit Tampico some day. Take care.
Mely
Hello Prieta,
I do hope you have the chance to visit my hometown in your next trip to Mexico. It is one of the best places to eat seafood in the East coast.
Mely
Gloria
Hi Mely. I tried sending you email but the email won't work.
Mely
Hey! Gloria. I got your email with the address.
Ziho
Mmmm qué delicia Mely, pues sí, yo diría que sería la bruscheta mexicana jejeje
Qué lindas imágenes del centro de Tampico!
Ya me antojaste para la cena y con este fresquecito rico...
Salu2
Nora
Ah Mely! qué buenas fotos de nuestro Tampico! Yo los molletes los hago igual que tu pero no quito el migajón.
Besos
zerrin
Mely, these look perfect! Love to snack on them!YUM!
Electra Myers
I almost cried reading this blog entry. I just discovered this blog today and I got hooked. Then I saw this entry and immediately recognized the picture from Cafe El elite! These are beautiful photos of Tampico, also my hometown, I haven't been there in 2 years and I miss it so much! Thank you for your wonderful recipes, I hope to be back there soon and enjoy some churros from El Elite.
Saludos Mely,
xoxo Lourdes
Electra Myers
Reading this entry made me almost break down into tears. I'm from Tampico too and I haven't been back for 2 years since I moved to Washington state. Your blog is great! I just found it today by chance, I've been reading as many entries as I can throught the day, and I just came across the picture of Cafe El Elite and I immediately recognized it. Thank you so much for putting your culinary knowledge out there, I sincerely appreciate it <3
Hugs to you Mely,
Lourdes
Mely
Hola Lourdes,
Que gusto saber que te haya traido recuerdos esta entrada, y si se suspira nada mas de acordarse de unos churros o una agua de horchata del Elite. Tambien tengo la receta de las cachetadas y el rollo de fresa. Solo buscalas en el indice de recetas.
Gracias por tu comentario tan amable y ojala visites pronto la pagina de nuevo.
Saludos,
Mely
Edward Jimenez
My mother made this for often, probably cause of 7 boys and quick and easy to make. I will make my bolillos
and make molletes for my grand kids. Its been over fifty years since I had one.