“I grew up in the Midwest and had never had much Mexican food,” Doty says. “I had never even heard of sausage gravy or Frito pie. When I first moved to the Dallas area, I only ate Mexican food in Mexican restaurants. Slowly but surely, I’ve tried to add some Mexican flair to some of my dishes, and even gotten a little spicier each year. We all liked this breakfast so much…I started calling it Breakfast Campeones—breakfast of champions.”

12 large jalapeño peppers
8–10 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
1 dozen eggs
1/2–1 teaspoon salt, to taste
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons dried cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 slices colby jack cheese

1. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, shiny side down. Cut the jalapeños in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and ribs with a grapefruit spoon. Lay the peppers on the foil, open side up.

2. Fry bacon and remove to drain on paper towels. Remove most of the grease from the pan, then scramble the eggs in the same pan, adding salt to taste.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, crumble the bacon and add scambled eggs, green onions, shredded cheese, cilantro, cumin and oregano. Stir until everything is evenly distributed.

4. Spoon a little of the mixture into each pepper half. Cut slices of cheese in half (making 24). Lay a half slice of cheese across the top of each stuffed pepper. Bake the peppers for 20–30 minutes, until the cheese starts to brown. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 12.