Nachos

Oh tasty nachos, they are based on a type of food formula I love to make and eat: ingredient layering. This same formula can also be found in waffles, ice cream sundaes, hobo pies, lasagna, you get the idea. I usually find myself eating nachos during a pub happy hour, or perhaps when Lauren makes her chili nachos, but I rarely find myself making nachos myself. If I am craving a taco inspired meal, I usually fall back on my favorites: taco salad, stuffed quesadillas, or tortilla soup (a hidden benefit of all these is they are very inexpensive meals).

On a recent ski trip to Mammoth, we made taco salad, and after having it a couple nights, ended up taking all the leftover ingredients and making nachos for the Super Bowl. A couple nights ago we made tortilla soup, and again found we had some leftover ingredients, which were perfect for whipping up a batch of nachos. Moral of the story? Make up a dinner of your favorite mexican theme, and instead of having leftovers of the same dish for a week, save ingredients to make nachos later in the week.

Nachos are an incredibly flexible dish. They can be made with any toppings you choose, or you have on-hand. They can be made single serving or for a crowd. It takes minimal preparation, and is incredibly affordable. Plus, your nachos will taste so much better than the local pub! The recipe below is merely a guideline, feel free to experiment and add different types of fresh ingredients you have on hand. I would recommend keeping it simple though, so you don't end up with soggy nachos.

What's in it

Tortilla chips or totopos (homemade tortilla chips)

cooked chicken (perhaps leftover from enchiladas or tortilla soup)

cooked ground beef

can black, kidney or refried beans

can jalapenos

can chile

chopped fresh vegetables - bell pepper, chile, onion, green onion, tomato, olives

grated cheese (I recommend colby jack)

sour cream or mexican table cream

lime

avocado or guacamole

salsa

chopped cilantro

tapatio or hot sauce

get crazy - pineapple, cooked squash or potato, peaches, grilled shrimp...

How it's made

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet or oven proof plate/platter with foil (for easy clean up). Make totopos (using Alexis' recipe linked above) or use ready made tortilla chips. Layer about a third of your tortilla chips on your pan/plate. sprinkle cheese on top and a few other ingredients like meat and beans. Layer half remaining chips and sprinkle with more cheese and half remaining ingredients (but not salsa, avocado, cream, cilantro, lime). Layer rest of chips, sprinkle cheese, add remaining ingredients (except salsa, avocado...) then top with remaining cheese. Put in oven and bake until cheese is melted and veggies are at least warm, if not broiled a bit. Turn up the heat if need be. It will probably take 7-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with remaining fresh ingredients.

Pictured above: (made from leftover tortilla soup) totopos, colby jack, chopped tomato, chopped green onion, shredded cooked chicken, sour cream, avocado.

Pictured below: (made from leftover taco salad) tortilla chips, cheese, olives, salsa, sour cream, avocado, bell pepper, cilantro, green onion, black beans.

Chilaquiles

I remember very clearly the first time I had chilaquiles, a staple in Mexico not frequently found at Mexican restaurants in the U.S. I was 18 and living in Mexico City on my first stint studying abroad. A group of other students and I had reservations at the Hotel Majestic for brunch, purely for the direct view of the Zocalo--historic Mexico City's expansive main square. We were able to watch Ruben Blades perform (part of a series of free summer concerts) from above the fray of thousands--while enjoying breakfast. The music was good, but the chilaquiles ended up stealing the show.

Chilaquiles come in many forms: red sauce or green sauce, with eggs without eggs, with chicken or other meat or vegetarian. But my favorite remains the way I originally experienced them: with green sauce, chicken and no eggs. Traveling throughout Mexico, I'd always order them when I found the right combo. The other versions are not bad by any means, but with the green sauce they're transcendent.

Awhile ago, Mark and I made a version of chilaquiles with shrimp roughly adapted from my Dona Tomas cookbook. We used homemade totopos, tortilla chips, from the same. It may have been the best version I've ever had--and that's saying something. (NOTE: There are delicious chilaquiles offered at La Bamba on SE 49th and Division in Portland.)

For the chilaquiles:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 cups (or so) chile verde enchilada sauce
  
• 10 ounces corn tortilla chips
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (Monterey Jack is recommended, but we used cheddar)
• 1/4 thinly sliced white onions
• 1/3 cup crumbed Cotija cheese (worth getting for authenticity's sake)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup crema or sour cream

1. Add the oil to a skillet over high heat.
   
2. Add about 2 cups of green sauce. Bring to a boil, then add tortilla chips. Saute the chips in the sauce for about 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until the chips absorb the sauce.
   
3. Continue to add sauce until all the chips are well coated but not soupy. You may not need all of the sauce.
   
4. Add the grated cheese and stir once or twice util barely melted. Transfer to a serving plate or individual plates.
   
5. Sprinkle with onion, Cotija and cilantro. Drizzle with crema. Top with shrimp or chicken. Die of happiness.

For the shrimp:

• 1/2 white onion, sliced
  
• 1 pound frozen shrimp
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons unslated butter
• 1 jalapeno chile, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• Lime

1. Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the oil and onion--quickly stir 2-3 times. Add the shrimp and a few dashes of salt. Saute for a minute.
   
2. Add the butter, jalapeno and garlic. Saute for a minute, until butter melts and the garlic releases it's aroma and shrimp are done.
3. Serve on top of your chilaquiles.
   

Totopos: Tortilla Chips

This is one of those things that is really simple and mind-blowingly delicious, but that most people don't (or at least I didn't) think to do. About a year ago, I bought a lovely cookbook from a hip and tasty Mexican restaurant called Tacubaya on Berkeley's famous 4th Street. Part of why I compulsively bought the book were the enticing photos and sleek design, but Tacubaya's food also happens to be fantastic and authentically Mexican (not so many Mexican restaurants actually are).

One of my favorite Mexican dishes, chilaquiles, has a base of fried corn tortilla chips or totopos. I couldn't wait to make chilaquiles of my very own (I hope you've had the opportunity to try them and know why), so the totopos were the first recipe I attempted. Now, I have to tell you that I am afraid of frying anything. My family never fried foods when I was growing up and I had never personally attempted to fry anything, ever.

I found that this was actually nothing to fear. And while it's cheap and easy to buy corn tortilla chips at the store, this only takes a few minutes and is more worth it than I could have ever imagined.

Totopos

~Print Recipe~

• 3 cups canola oil
• 24 fresh corn tortillas
• Kosher salt

1. Put the canola oil in a large frying pan and turn the heat up to high.
2. In the 5-10 minutes it will take the oil to heat up to 350 degrees (I don't have a thermometer, but when it's hot, it's hot), cut your tortillas into sixths to make chip-size triangles.
3. When the oil is ready, turn the heat down to medium-high. Put half of your cut tortillas in the pan, submerging them with a slotted spoon if they float up to the top. They will turn crispy and brown in about 3-4 minutes. (Try not to let them get too dark.)
   
4. Use the slotted spoon or a spatula to fish out the chips, letting as much oil as possible drain back into the pan. (You'll want to do this pretty quickly, since they'll get extra crispy if you leave them in too long.) Set the chips on a few layers of paper towels to soak up the extra oil.
5. While they're still hot, sprinkle them with salt and have a few!
6. Repeat with the other half of the tortillas.

These would be a fantastic appetizer as is or served with salsa and guacamole. The best chilaquiles I've ever had were made with these chips, and I've made a delicious plate of nachos with them as well.