Someone recently asked me if I could share a nacho recipe since I love Mexican food. I can share a Nacho recipe, but it has nothing to with loving Mexican food. Nachos are a distinctively Tex-Mex dish; a blending of southwestern style American food and Mexican food. While in Mexico, you might find fried tortillas to use as chips for dip. . .you’d find them paired with pico de gallo, mashed avocado, or salsa fresco–not layered under tons of gunk.
With that said, it doesn’t mean that piling up tons of gunk on your Nachos doesn’t make them delicious! This recipe requires substantial preparation but it is oh so worth it. (Hint: If you want this for dinner you’ll have to start in the morning.) To start you have to make the beef. I should note that if you’re in a hurry you can add the seasoning to ground beef–but in my mind that’s someone else’s lesser nacho recipe.
The Meat
To make the meat, you will need 2 pounds of beef. I use the crock pot for mine and so really you can get away with a cheaper cut of beef. In a bag, blend together 1 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of ancho chili powder, 1 tbsp of cumin, and 1 tbsp of cayenne pepper. Mix together and rub on your beef.
Place in a crock pot with one can diced tomatoes, 1 large Spanish onion, and 2 cloves of garlic. Cook the meat all day on low–about 8 hours. To prepare it for Nachos, you’ll need to shred it. Keep it warm on the ‘warm’ setting on your crock pot.
The Cheese
Again, you can probably just melt Velveeta and slather that all over it and it’s okay. . .but it does make it someone else’s lesser nachos. The cheese has to be made pretty much right when you’re ready to serve the nachos. To make the cheese, mix together in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, 5 cups of shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese with 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 to 2 cans of diced green chilies. Continue cooking on low and stirring frequently until the cheese resembles a smooth sauce.
Other Goodies
I like to top the nachos with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced avocados and sliced olives. Then I always include a couple big dallops of sour cream. We don’t like jalapenos but of course you can do that as well.
Putting It All Together
Spread the tortilla chips out on a large platter. (Hint: If you get varying hues of chips, for example, blue tortilla chips and regular tortilla chips–it makes for a beautiful presentation.) Ladle the cheese sauce over the chips. Then spread the beef mixture on top of that and finally top with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, avocados or other vegetables of your choosing!
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Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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