Kind of a hot mess.

Let it be known! For any Tex-Mex dish in existence, there is an equally delicious breakfast version of that dish.

For evidence to back this idea, I offer exhibit A – The Breakfast Nachos.

The topping possibilities are pretty unlimited, but should probably include some sort of egg and cheese, plus some good veggies.

They are actually very easy to make and definitely fun to eat. Just be careful or you might find yourself in a very solid food coma for the day.

Breakfast Nachos

Yield: Serves 2.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

8 ounces spicy pork sausage
4 large eggs, scrambled
1/4 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
2 cups pepper jack cheese, grated
Tortilla chips
Avocado
Cilantro
Salsa
Sour cream

Directions:

1) Lay out tortilla chips on a baking sheet in an even layer. Top with grated cheese.

2) In a medium pan, add sausage and begin to brown over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage as it cooks and cook until it's well-browned, about 10 minutes.

3) Scramble eggs and pour into pan with sausage. Cook until eggs are barely cooked, another few minutes.

4) Add eggs and sausage to tortilla chips on top of the cheese.

5) Top with diced veggies.

6) Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

7) Top with avocado and cilantro and serve with salsa and sour cream.

The Prep

There’s actually very little prep for these bad boys. Feel free to combine them with some of the more advanced nacho techniques I’ve used over the years like the individually topped chip or the cheese sauce method.

If you’re starving though, you can just throw some chips on a baking sheet!

The chips are down.

Obviously you could add a lot of veggie toppings to these. I kept it pretty simple though and just diced up a jalapeno and a chunk of red onion.

Just some basic chopping

Eggs and Sausage

When it comes to a good hardy breakfast, it’s pretty hard to beat eggs and sausage. So that’s what I used here! While you could definitely leave off the sausage for a veggie version, I’m not sure I’d leave off the eggs because then you’d just have nachos and not breakfast nachos.

If you are using the sausage though, just add it to a pan over medium-high heat and break it up as it cooks until it’s nice and browned.

Well-browned!

Then pour in your scrambled eggs! The grease from the sausage will be more than enough to help the eggs cook.

This will work. Trust me.

Stir the mixture vigorously as it cooks and it’ll just take another minute or so to cook the eggs.

Don’t worry if the eggs are slightly under-cooked. We are going to bake them also so it’s better to under-cook them a bit at this point.

A bit undercooked is fine.

Finishing the Nachos

Nothing rocket science about it. Add your cheese to the tortilla chips. I like a good pepper jack, but feel free to use almost any cheese.

Then add your egg/sausage combo followed by your veggies.

This guy is ready for the oven!

Cheesed and topped.

These will need to bake for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile you can prep your toppings. I think Betsy would leave me if I served nachos without avocado, so I sliced up one.

It is the most marriage saving of all toppings.

Essential.

As soon as the nachos come out of the oven, top them with some avocado and cilantro (if that’s your thing).

I like to serve salsa and sour cream on the side so people can add their own.

Delicious breakfast.

This is obviously a pretty filling breakfast, but it really hits the spot on a cold winter morning. Especially if you maybe had a longer than expected night at the bar the previous night!

And yes. We did eat this entire tray of nachos. Do not judge!

Crazy good nachos.

Nachos are a frequent occurrence in our house. They tend to be pretty quick to make and are a great way to use leftovers. You can put almost anything on nachos and it’ll be good.

Also, I happen to be married to a Tex-mex fanatic.

So yea… we know our way around a chip.

My problem with nachos, mainly restaurant nachos, is that sometimes they are made in a careless way. Throw some crappy chips on a sheet pan, pile on a metric ton of random toppings, and coat everything with a two inch layer of cheese. Once you sit down to eat it, it’s like a scavenger hunt: searching through a mound trying to find that one perfect chip. The chip that is crispy, has just enough of each topping, and some melted cheese.

Sometimes it’s hopeless.

So while nachos are a quick weeknight meal for us a lot of times, sometimes I like to really spend time on my nachos to make them something special. I call these Sunday night nachos because while you could make them on a weeknight, they are better if you can spend some time with them.

The time you invest will pay pretty awesome Tex-mex dividends.

Sunday Night Nachos

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

15 corn tortillas, cut into sixths
1-2 cups vegetable oil, for frying chips

Bean Mash:
2 cans kidney beans, drained and mashed
1/4 red onion, minced
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper

Ground Beef mixture:
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped peppers, poblano, red pepper, jalapeno, etc.
1/2 Cup salsa
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper

Cheese Sauce:
1/4 Cup unsalted butter
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups grated cheese (I like Monterey Jack)
Salt and pepper

Quick Guacamole:
2 avocados
2 limes, juice only
1/4 red onion, diced
Handful of cilantro
Salt

Directions:

1) For the chips, cut the tortillas into sixths. Add a cup or two of oil to a large sturdy pan and add chips in small batches over medium-high heat. Cook the chips, turning occasionally, until they are lightly browned and not bubbling. Then remove them to a paper towel to drain. Salt lightly.

2) For bean mash, drain beans and lightly mash together with other ingredients. It doesn't have to be smooth.

3) Use any meat or veggie mixed with onions, peppers, salsa, and spices as a second topping for the chips.

4) For cheese sauce, start butter and flour over medium-high heat and cook, whisking frequently, for about 4 minutes. Roux should turn lightly brown. Then slowly whisk in milk until smooth. Once mixture thickens, whisk in cheese. If mixture is too thick, add more milk a few tablespoons at a time. Keep on low heat until needed.

5) Take each chip and top with a small amount of bean mash and meat mixture. Add finished chips to baking sheets.

6) Bake chips for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees to meld flavors.

7) Stack chips on plates, pour cheese sauce over chips, add a second layer, more cheese sauce, top with guacamole.

Serve immediately!

Making the Chips

Betsy and I burn through a lot of tortilla chips. We snack on chips and salsa a lot or make quick nacho dishes pretty regularly.

But, when I’m looking to make a serious nacho dish, I spend the time to make my own chips. For some reason store bought chips are pretty flimsy. It’s almost like they start with corn tortillas that are 1/2 the thickness as corn tortillas that you buy in the store. While taste and texture is the main motivator for me, making your own chips is also about 75% cheaper than buying the chips.

To make the chips, you don’t need to really deep fry them as some might think. I usually just add a cup or two of oil to a large heavy skillet and get it going over medium-high heat. Then I add my chips in a single layer and cook them, flipping occasionally.

You don't need a lot of oil.

You’ll know they are done when they stop bubbling and are golden brown (that means most of the water is out of them).

When they come out of the pan, let them drain on a paper towel and season them with a pinch of salt. These guys will be crispy and sturdy: important for nachos.

Thick and crispy!

The Toppings

For me, the toppings on nachos are almost secondary to the chips and the cheese. This is because I’ve learned that almost anything is good on nachos. Any leftover veggie or meat that you have can easily be mixed with some spices and used as a topping.

For this version though, I made a few mixtures that I used for my toppings. The first was a quick bean mash. I just drained a few cans of kidney beans and mashed them up with some red onion, cilantro, and salt and pepper.

It’s almost like refried beans, but there’s no need to cook it really because we’ll bake the nachos later.

Doesn't get easier than mashing beans.

For my meat topping, I cooked my onion and a few diced peppers in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat until they were soft. Then I added some spices (cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper) and finally my ground beef.

Once the beef was completely cooked, I stirred in a tiny amount of salsa just to round out the flavors a bit.

Actually pretty optional.

Meanwhile, I mixed up a quick guacamole. This isn’t my full-fledged guacamole which normally includes serrano peppers, shallots, and maybe some tomatoes. This is a quicker version that mainly just has a lot of lime juice which will go great with the nachos.

Not optional.

The Cheese Sauce

A lot of times nachos get in trouble in the cheese department. Don’t get me wrong, I love cheese as much as the next guy, but sometimes people over-do it. Restaurants are particularly guilty of this. They’ll just add pounds of grated cheese to each nacho dish and that works for the first minute or so that you are eating them, but eventually all that cheese solidifies into this strange layer that’s almost impenetrable.

That’s why, when I have time, I like to make a cheese sauce. It’s easier to distribute over the nachos and will stay liquid and gooey even at room temperature. So even if the nachos cool down a bit (which they will do), your cheese will stay melty.

To make the sauce, you need to start with a basic roux, which is just butter and flour whisked together in a pot. I usually cook mine over medium heat for about 4 minutes. It’ll turn a light brown color and that’s when you know it’s done.

You'll roux the day you don't try these.

At this point, slowly whisk in the milk. If you whisk well and start slowly, you shouldn’t develop any lumps in your sauce. If you do have a few lumps, you can usually whisk them out as the sauce heats up.

Once your milk is whisked in and the sauce is thick, go ahead and add in your grated cheese.

What's sunday night without cheese sauce?

Once the cheese is melted, keep the sauce on low and stir it occasionally. If it gets too thick, add a bit more milk to thin it out. Keep it warm until you need it.

Baking the Nachos

The next step for these nachos might be considered a bit overkill by some, but I like it. When I have the time, I like to literally top each chip individually.

This might sound crazy, but what you have to remember is that these chips are way sturdier than normal chips. They are way more filling. When we are done, 15-20 of these nachos will be a very good meal.

And once you get the hang of it you can top them really quickly. It’s takes me under five minutes to do. I just pick up a chip, add a small amount of bean mash, followed by a small spoonful of the beef topping, and add it to a sheet pan. Repeat.

A little OCD never hurt...

The benefit of this is that there isn’t any one perfect chip.

They are all perfect. Every single chip will have the perfect amount of every topping.

Once you get all your chips topped, I recommend sticking them in a 350 degree oven for about 5-6 minutes just to heat them up nicely and meld the flavors.

Plating the nachos

FINALLY! It’s time to eat.

Now that you have your cheese sauce done and your chips topped, you can stack them up!

Layer one.

Once you have one layer of chips and cheese on a plate, you can add a second right on top.

Again, the great part about this is that the toppings are perfectly distributed. Even when you get down to the bottom layer, the chips are just as crispy and just as good as the top layer.

Stack 'em up!

Top the second layer with more cheese sauce and a good dollop of guacamole.

These are ready to eat!

There's no good chip here. They are all good.

I get that these might be too much work for some people. Nachos are supposed to be easy right?

But seriously, you’ll be well-rewarded if you can find the time to make these happen. Make them on a weekend when you can pop open a cerveza and take your time with them.

What do you think? Worth it or crazy talk?

Homemade Fritos kinda!

A few weeks ago I made a crunchy omelet that has been in my mind ever since. Not for the omelet exactly, but for the corn strips that I fried up for it.

After I fried them, I thought to myself, “Self. Those look like homemade Fritos.”

So I went on kind of a little kick thinking about ways to make these corn strips something special.

It turns out that the most simple application was the best. Just three little ingredients tossed on the corn chips made them one of the most addicting things I’ve made in awhile.

Sweet Heat Corn Chips

Yield: Serves 2-4.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

12 corn tortillas, cut into strips
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Teaspoons chili powder
2 Teaspoons kosher salt
Oil for frying

Helpful Equipment:
Cast Iron Skillet or any large heavy pot

Directions:

1) Cut corn strips into strips or any other shape really.

2) Mix seasonings together.

3) Heat oil in a large heavy pot. You only need about 1/2 inch of oil in the pot.

4) Add corn strips in batches to oil. Stir regularly as they cook so the strips don't stick together.

5) Cook for about 3-4 minutes until very crispy.

6) Drain chips for 15-30 seconds.

7) Season liberally.

The Quick Prep

It should go without saying that you don’t need to cut these guys into strips. Triangles or rounds would work fine also. Heck, you could cut them into Christmas trees if you wanted.

Easy step...

As far as the seasonings go, I wanted something salty, savory, and slightly sweet. So I picked up one ingredient that would accomplish each of those things: chili powder, sugar, and salt.

If you have the time (and patience), I really recommend making your own chili powder because it’ll be approximately 100 times more flavorful.

I make my own but then store it in an old chili powder container so it keeps longer.

Just three flavors.

Stir together the sugar, salt, and chili powder and you’ll have something awesome. Feel free to adjust this spice mixture to your tastes.

If you wanted it a bit spicier, you could add a pinch of paprika or cayenne pepper. If you want it sweeter, you could add some brown sugar.

It’s probably gonna be pretty good no matter what.

Tastes really good.

Testing Testing

Anytime I’m making a chip product, I always do a test run before going into full production.

This gives you a chance to make sure your oil is at the right temperature and that your spice mixture is right before you start adding it to a whole batch.

This was my quick test batch which turned out better than I was expecting.

Testing. Testing...

Cooking the Corn Strips

Any big heavy pot will work fine for cooking these corn strips. I like to use my cast iron skillet for anything fry-related.

The cool thing about this fry job is that you don’t need a lot of oil. Just about a half inch of oil in the pan will be enough to fry the strips. Once the oil is hot, add a few handfuls of strips to the oil and stir them around.

Try to make sure the strips are separated at the beginning. If you let them sit in the hot oil without stirring them, they’ll all stick together.

Cooking in batches...

One batch will need to cook for about three minutes. It’s a really quick fry, but make sure they get nice and crispy before removing them.

Then just pull out the chips and let them drain on a paper towel for about 30 seconds. You want to make sure to season them while they are still hot and a bit greasy so the seasoning sticks well.

But a quick drain is necessary.

Drain for just a few seconds.

Then dump them quickly in a bowl and season them.

Season them liberally.

Don’t go easy on them.

Feel free to go heavy on it.

The finished chips will be crunchy, salty, a bit sweet, and have this delicious smokey flavor from the chili powder.

You’ll have no problem polishing off a bowl of these guys.

So addictive!

I would only change one thing if I were to make these again…

I would double the recipe!

It's a dip. It's a soup.

What’s the difference between a soup and a dip?

If you think about it, not a whole lot. They are both thick liquids. Both can be either warm or cold. You can eat dips with a spoon and soups with bread.

Of course there are some dips that are probably not a very good fit for a soup. Anything with a ton of sour cream in it comes to mind because it’s generally not seen as a good idea to eat sour cream with a spoon.

But guacamole? I knew that this would be on the fence. It’s mostly a dip, but if it’s lightened up a bit with some other add-ins it works perfectly as a soup also!

Guacamole Soup

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes + 1 hour to chill

Ingredients:

2 large, ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1-2 chipotle peppers
1 lime, juice only
1/2 Cup ice cold water
1 1/2 - 2 Cups plain yogurt
1/4 Cup cilantro
Pinch of salt and cumin
Tortilla chips (for serving)
Salsa (for serving)

Helpful Equipment:
Food Processor

Directions:

1) Roughly chop onions and mince garlic. Combine in a food processor with avocado, lime juice, chipotle peppers, salt and cumin.

2) Pulse until smooth.

3) Add yogurt, cilantro, and water and mix together until combined.

4) Chill soup for at least an hour.

5) Serve with tortilla chips and salsa.

Adapted from a Self.com recipe.

Basic Guacamole

This recipe really has all the same ingredients I use for my standard guacamole recipe. The one change is using red onion instead of shallot. That’s a pretty small change though and honestly, you can sub those two things pretty interchangeably.

Hard to go wrong here...

Picking ripe avocados is pretty important for this recipe. You want them to be soft and creamy so they blend easily. Look for ones that give a bit to pressure, but avoid any that are super-mushy.

The closest comparison I can think of is that you want avocados that have the give of a racquetball. If they feel like a baseball, they aren’t ripe, if they feel like a Nerf ball, they’re probably rotten!

When you slice them open, you’ll hopefully see some nice green flesh that’s soft enough to spoon out.

I'm a good avocado picker!

Add the onions, garlic, avocado, spices, and chipotle peppers to a food processor and pulse it until it’s smooth. I don’t think this is a soup recipe that you could make without a food processor or a blender. You need something to really pulse the ingredients to make it smooth.

I think a food processor works a bit better in this case just because it’s a thicker soup.

Looks weird. Smells good!

As an aside, if you were to stop right here, you’d have a pretty solid guacamole that’s got a much softer texture than most guacamole.

Lightening the Guac

We are at the dip phase now and to get to the soup phase we need to lighten the flavors up. Yogurt is perfect for this. It keeps the texture smooth, but lightens the flavors a bit.

I also added about 1/2 Cup of plain ice water to really thin the soup some. Without this water, I think we’d be still firmly in the dip territory.

Cilantro adds some good freshness to the soup, but you can leave it out if you’re a cilantro hater.

Some good add ins.

Pulse this until everything is mixed together well and is nice and smooth.

Taste it for salt and add a bit more if necessary.

Silky smooth!

Serving the Soup

Be sure to chill this soup before serving it for at least an hour. In that hour the flavors will really start to combine as well which is nice.

Serve the soup with a lot of chips and some salsa on top.

You'll need more than six chips...

I would alternate between dipping and eating with a spoon and both were very tasty. The avocados have such a creamy texture, it almost reminded me of a queso dish but there’s no cheese in it at all.

I think the chipotle peppers are pretty essential to give the soup some nice heat and flavor.

I thought that I wouldn’t be able to eat a whole bowl of this, thinking it would be too heavy, but it wasn’t a problem at all.

I should’ve guessed this though considering that I can eat as much guacamole as you put in front of me!

From grill to chip.

I’m in complete grill mode right now. I’ve grilled something outside a few days a week now for the last few weeks and I’m having a hard time picturing how I ever survived without a grill. It’s a lot faster too grill stuff, the clean up is easy which Betsy likes, and once you get the hang of it, I find that the food is almost always better.

While grilled meat is always a star, people forget that grilling food just does fantastic things to it in general. Any food that has sugars in it, it’ll slightly caramelize them. It evaporates a lot of liquid, enhancing flavors. It can give a slightly charred flavor to certain foods which is great in small doses.

One quick appetizer that benefits hugely from the power of the grill is salsa. I’ve made a few different varieties of this over the past month or two and, honestly, it’s pretty hard to go wrong.

Grilled Salsa

Yield: 4-5 cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

4 Roman tomatoes
5-6 tomatillos
2-3 jalapenos
1/2 red onion
3-4 cloves garlic
A handful of sweet peppers
Handful of cilantro
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt

Helpful Equipment:
Blender
Grill pan
Grill (or you could roast in the oven)

Directions:

1) Wash veggies and chop them into big pieces, halves and quarters.

2) Toss veggies with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt.

3) Add veggies to grill pan or foil and grill over high heat for 10-15 minutes until veggies are blistered and bursting.

4) Let cool for at least a few minutes.

5) Pulse in a blender until it reaches the consistency you want.

6) Serve warm or cold with chips!

The Veggies

It’s tough for me to write recipes for stuff like salsa because I usually just wing it and encourage you to do the same. I start at the store or farmers market and just look for stuff that looks nice and fresh. That’s the most important part of a salsa.

On this given day I decided to do a half tomato, half tomatillo thing, which I’ve never done before. I really like the mix though.

If you have lots of colors on your cutting board, you’re off to a good start!

A colorful assortment.

The veggies are super-easy to prep for this. Since we’re grilling them, you want to keep them pretty whole. I cut most of my stuff in half unless it was really big, then I cut it into quarters. I kept my jalapeno seeds in so it would be pretty spicy. Take them out if you want it less spicy.

I tossed all my veggies in a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled them with a bit of kosher salt before tossing them in my grill pan. If you don’t have a grill pan you could wrap everything in foil and poke some holes in it.

Keep them chunky.

Grilling the Salsa

Crank up the heat on the grill and let your veggies cook for about 10-15 minutes. If you can, keep the lid closed and turn the veggies every few minutes to make sure they are cooking evenly.

Now. If you don’t have a grill, I’d recommend roasting these guys in a 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes and you should end up with a very close finished product.

You’ll know you’re done when the peppers start blistering and the tomatoes bursting!

Blisters are good.

Once all the veggies have become a bit tender and charred, remove them from the grill to let them cool a bit.

Then add them to your blender (you may have to work in two batches) along with a small handful of cilantro.

Pulse it up until it’s the consistency you want. I recommend keeping it a bit on the chunky side.

NOTE: When blending, make sure not to overfill your blender or use hot foods as they could splatter which isn’t a good experience.

After a quick whirl.

It should go without saying that you can serve this up warm or cold with lots of chips!

Gets better on day two!

As with most salsas, I found that this stuff was even better on day two actually when the flavors had a chance to meld a bit.

I don’t mind store bought salsa one bit, but this is a very quick way to make a good amount of very tasty salsa.

Give it a shot the next time you’re itching for some Tex-Mex!

Frank's did not sponsor this post. Unfortunately.

When it comes to making economical, healthy meals, it really doesn’t get much better than beans in my opinion. There were a few other options in last week’s poll, but I was excited that you all picked beans as the winner.

I knew I wanted to keep this dish simple, but still make something interesting so instead of making a normal rice and beans dish (which I normally do on the stove top), I thought I’d try to make it more like a casserole which means it’s a bit more hands off.

While this dish is really healthy, really cheap, and very flavorful, it does require a few hours of time – especially if you start with dried beans. You can shave off some time by using canned beans, but I think that dried beans have a slightly better texture.

Rice and Bean Casserole

Yield: 8x8 dish. Serves 6.

Prep Time: 20 minutes + bean cooking

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups dried black beans, soaked overnight (or two 15 ounces cans black beans)
1 1/2 Cups long grain rice (I used brown rice, but white rice would be quicker)
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Teaspoon cumin seeds
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 small can roasted green chilis
1/2 Teaspoon cayenne (opt.)
2 Cups Tortilla chips, crushed (for topping)
Salt and pepper
Hot sauce (for serving)

Directions:

1) If you're using dry beans, soak them overnight in cold water. Skim out anything that floats and pick out any pebbles. When you're ready to cook, drain the beans and rinse them.

2) Chop the veggies and add them to a heavy pan over high heat with the oil. Cook until veggies are soft, about 5 minutes. Add cumin seeds and continue to cook another minute.

3) Add dried beans and enough water to cover the beans by about an inch. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, about an hour.

NOTE: If you're using canned beans, still cook the veggies, add in the beans and water, but only simmer for a minute or two to blend flavors.

OPTIONAL: If you want, remove half of your beans and mash them with a masher then add them back into the pot. This will give some different texture to your beans. I like the different texture this gives, but it's not completely necessary.

4) Add green chilis, rice, tomatoes, and cayenne (if you're using it) to bean mixture. Also add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

5) Pour mixture into a square casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for about an hour. Check it after 30 minutes and add more liquid if it looks dry.

6) Taste for salt and pepper and add more if necessary.

7) As an optional step, crush up a cup or two of tortilla chips and sprinkle tortilla crumbs on top of casserole. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.

8) Serve with hot sauce! Use leftovers for burritos!

Cooking the beans

You definitely don’t need to use dried beans for this dish, but I like them and they are way cheaper.

To prep them, you just need to soak them overnight in cold water, picking out any bits that float. Also, be on the lookout for any pebbles that might have squirmed into the beans. Then drain and rinse them the next day right before you start cooking.

Pretty cheap eats.

I also like to throw in a few whole cumin seeds while the beans are cooking which gives them kind of an earthy flavor. I like to use whole cumin seeds because you can be a bit more liberal with them and the flavor isn’t so in your face as the ground variety.

They cook for so long in this dish that they almost dissolve away by the end.

I just leave these guys whole.

To start cooking the beans, add your olive oil to a heavy pan over high heat and once the oil is hot, add the diced red pepper, onions, and garlic. Cook this for a few minutes until the veggies are soft. Then toss in the whole cumin seeds and cook for another minute. This will give the cumin seeds a chance to toast a bit.

This will smell good.

Add water to this dish until it covers the beans by about an inch and bring it to simmer. Simmer the beans, covered, until they are tender, probably 45 minutes to 1 hour.

If you’re using canned beans, go ahead and cook the veggies and cumin, then add in the canned beans and water and bring to a simmer, but then you can just simmer it for a few minutes to blend the flavors. You still need the water though to cook the rice in the next step.

Blending the Beans

As a optional step, I like to take out about half of my beans and lightly mash them with a masher. This gives the beans two different textures in the final dish. Some are kind of creamy and some are firmer. You could skip it though if you wanted.

Mash attack!

Finishing the Casserole

Whether you mash your beans or not, for the next step you’ll need all these things.

Other good stuff.

Add the tomatoes, chilis, and rice to the pot with the veggies and beans and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. If you want it spicier, feel free to add a pinch of cayenne.

As this simmers, give it a good stir and cook for just a minute or two. Then pour the whole mixture into a square casserole dish.

This will look kind of murky and strange, but trust me. It’ll work out okay.

Strange brew...

Cover this with foil and bake it at 350 degrees until the rice is nice and soft. It’ll probably take about an hour. If you use brown rice like I did, you might need an extra 15 minutes.

If you use instant rice, you’ll have a big pot of mush. So don’t use instant rice.

Check it after 30 minutes or so and if the casserole looks dry, add more water to it so the rice can continue to cook.

This was mine after about an hour. At this point, be sure to taste it again for salt and pepper and stir in more if needed.

Now it's looking good.

The Topping

You can 100% just serve the casserole as is, but I thought it’d be fun to put a topping on it.

Tortilla chip crumbs were the obvious choice and also a great way to get out some aggression!

A tortilla topping.

Smash up a few chips and add them to the top of the casserole.

This was a good touch if I do say so myself.

Stick this back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so and the tortilla chips get a bit golden brown and nice and crunchy. They also absorb any extra liquid that might be in the casserole.

I obviously served mine with hot sauce, but it’s pretty good just like this.

A spoon full of casserole...

This was really good on day one, but it was maybe better on day two because I rolled it in a tortilla with some cheese and made an awesome lunch burrito with the leftovers!

BBQ. Meet nacho.

It’s no secret that Tex-Mex is way up there on my (and Betsy’s) list of favorite cuisines. I mean how can you go wrong? It’s spicy and cheesy and generally quick to make. Sometimes though I get a bit bored with the standard stuff (Betsy doesn’t). I’ve made some other types of nachos in the past but this is a new twist on them.

I really loved the BBQ sauce I made for this recipe. I’m not a huge fan of really ketchup-heavy BBQ sauces which means I generally don’t like store bought BBQ sauces (except for a few that I think are really good like Sweet Baby Ray’s). You could make this recipe really easy just by using your favorite store-bought sauce, but making your own BBQ can be really fun.

BBQ Chicken Nachos

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

2 pounds (approx) chicken. I used chicken breasts for this version which are probably the easiest.
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 ounces smoked gouda, shredded
red onion, sliced
Cilantro, sliced
Optional stuff: sour cream, serrano peppers, avocado, hot sauce, salsa

BBQ Sauce:
1 onion, grated
1 serrano pepper, diced (or jalapeno)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon neutral oil
2/3 Cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons molasses
1/2 Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 Cup bourbon (optional)
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) To make the BBQ sauce, grate the onion over the big holes in a box grater. Also, dice the pepper and garlic.

2) Add oil to medium saucepan over medium-high heat and, when hot, add the onions, peppers, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until soft.

3) Add other BBQ ingredients and simmer on low until thick. Adjust to your tastes.

4) Meanwhile, poach chicken in lightly simmering water for 15 minutes until cooked through and tender.

5) Remove chicken from water and let cool. Then use two forks to shred the chicken.

6) Add the shredded chicken to the BBQ sauce and combine well.

7) Cover a baking sheet (or 2) with tortilla chips. Then top with the BBQ chicken mixture. Top with shredded cheese and sliced red onions.

8) Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted, probably 15 minutes.

9) Top with any addtional toppings and serve immediately!

Making the Sauce

The nice thing about making your own barbecue sauce is that you can, well, make it your own! I honestly make it a bit different every time but it usually has most of these guys in it. Not pictured below is some molasses that I decided to toss in at the last minute.

Make it your own people.

Prepping the veggies. One trick to help your sauce stay relatively smooth without having to blend or process it is to grate your onion instead of chop it. The grating makes it almost dissolve in the sauce and flavor it really nicely and evenly. Plus, grating it is actually easier than chopping it anyway.

I still chopped up my serrano and garlic as normal though.

Grated!

Start by adding the oil to a medium saucepan and once it’s hot, add the onions, pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the onion is soft, then add all the other sauce ingredients.

Stir this all together and let it start to simmer and cook down over medium-low heat. It doesn’t need to be really thick. It won’t be as sugary or thick as some bottle sauces that you see, but there’s a lot of flavor going on in there. If you want it thicker you can cook it down until it reaches a consistency that you like or add a bit more ketchup or brown sugar which will thicken it up as well.

I simmered mine for probably 10-15 minutes.

I like mine on the vinegary side.

The Chicken

The easiest way to cook the chicken for this dish is just to poach it in some softly simmering water. Get a big pot of water boiling and add a few pinches of salt. Once it’s simmering, add the chicken and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

The good news about poaching chicken like this is that it’s basically impossible to overcook it. It’ll be nice and tender no matter what. Once it’s done, let the chicken cool for a bit before trying to handle it.

Perfectly poached.

The BBQ Chicken

Get a fork and use it to pull apart the chicken, shredding it to pieces. Then add all that shredded chicken straight into your BBQ sauce. Stir it all together and you have a big pot of deliciousness.

All mixed together.

As an aside, this chicken could be used for a number of things besides nachos (which is good because you’ll probably have leftovers). You could make a BBQ chicken sandwich with it, or a quesadilla, or a pizza… you get the idea.

If you’re making nachos though, just spread out a bunch of tortilla chips on a sheet pan and fork on a good amount of the BBQ chicken.

You probably know this part.

Next, add the shredded cheese. I used a combination of mozzarella and smoked gouda. The gouda works awesomely with the BBQ Chicken. I also sprinkled on some diced red onions to give it some bite.

Simple really.

Since the chicken is already cooked, just bake these guys at 350 degrees until the cheese melts. Should take about 15 minutes. Then sprinkle on some chopped cilantro and any other toppings you fancy.

Yum.

Betsy and I ate these without any toppings other than the cilantro actually and I thought they were really good but probably could have been even better with some hot sauce or maybe some diced avocado.

At the end of the day, this is a really flexible dish that is almost guaranteed to make some really good nachos. Do me a favor though and at least try to whip up some of your own BBQ sauce. You won’t be disappointed and might never go back to the bottled stuff.

What I hate is when I get two thirds of the way through a bag and reach down expecting a perfectly dip-able chip, only to find this disaster.

You are no longer salsa worthy.

What am I supposed to do with you, Mound of Crumbles? I cannot dip you. I cannot put cheese on top of you. You are useless!

Or are you?

Chip Crusted Salmon

Yield: Serves 2.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Cup of tortilla crumbs
1/2 Pound cut of salmon
1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary
1 lime
1 Teaspoon kosher salt

Cucumber Salad
Cucumber
Sprinkle of lime juice
Fresh Mint

Directions:

1) Put tortilla crumbs in a bag and crunched them up even more to make a sort of tortilla chip crumb topping

2) Added about 1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary and the juice from one lime to about 1 Cup of crumbs.

3) Add 1 Teaspoon of kosher salt to the bag.

4) Lightly oil a baking dish and laid salmon in it.

5) Sprinkled some salt right on the salmon and then start packing on the tortilla crumbs!

6) Bake at 350 for about 15-18 minutes.

7) Serve fish with a cucumber salad: chopped cucumbers, a sprinkle of lime juice, salt, and fresh mint.

I decided that instead of trying to make these things something that they are not, I would just embrace them for what they are: crumbs.

So I put them in a bag and crunched them up even more to make a sort of tortilla chip crumb topping. This is also a good way to take aggression out for all of the tortilla crumbs of the past!

Really let them have it.

Now we're talking.

I decided to use these crumbs to coat a nice piece of salmon, but I think you could probably use it on chicken also and it would be great. Because I chose fish, I got some herbs and a lime and added those to the party.

I added about 1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary and the juice from one lime to about 1 Cup of crumbs. I think for fish, fresh dill would have been a better choice, but I had some rosemary around so that’s what I used.

I also added 1 Teaspoon of kosher salt to the bag.

Breadcrumbs?

Then I lightly oiled a baking dish and laid my salmon in it. I sprinkled some salt right on the salmon and then started packing on the tortilla crumbs! One cup of crumbs was more than enough for a 1/2 pound cut of salmon.

Half way home.

Baking the Salmon

I let mine bake at 350 for about 18 minutes and it was still a bit medium rare in the very center which is perfect for salmon. You’ll need to adjust depending on the thickness of your cut though. Mine was from the end of the salmon fillet so it wasn’t very thick.

The tortilla chips do a great job of keeping in the moisture of the fish and also getting crunchy and delicious.

After a trip to the oven.

I served my fish with a cucumber salad: chopped cucumbers, a sprinkle of lime juice, salt, and fresh mint. The salad worked great with the fish.

Success!

I’ve made this recipe before with crumbled potato chips and I think it’s even better with potato chips. I think you could use any original flavored tortilla or potato chip though and get a good result. I’m not sure I would venture into the Cool Ranch world or anything…

What’s strange is that now I kind of look forward to the crumbs, because it means I get to make something delicious rather than just eat chips and salsa all day…

I figured why not make some really crunchy, freshly fried chips, and top them with slivers of flaky fish and a good pineapple salsa. Honestly, these fish nachos were darn good.

Some is fishy about this.

If you’ve read Macheesmo for awhile you’ll probably know that I’m not very specific when it comes to a lot of things. I substitute ingredients pretty frequently and sometimes try interesting techniques that may not always be tried and true. But if there is one thing I don’t mess with, it is nachos. I’ve made the near perfect nachos already on Macheesmo and, in fact, the only reason I named them near perfect is so I would have an excuse to make other nachos.

Fish Nachos

Yield: Serves 2-6.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

12 corn small corn tortillas cut into 6. 72 chips if you aren't math inclined.
Vegetable oil for cooking the chips
2/3 pound cod or other white fish

Basic Guacamole:
1 avocado
2 Tablespoons greek yogurt or sour cream

Pineapple Salsa:
1/2 pineapple, diced. Probably about 2-3 cups
1 red pepper, diced
3 jalapenos
1 lime, juice only
1/4 Cup orange juice

Kosher salt for basically every part of this
Cayenne pepper (optional)

Helpful Equipment:
Candy/Deep Fry Thermometer

Directions:

1) Cut corn tortillas into sixths.

2) In a cast iron skillet or some other sturdy pan, heat some canola, vegetable, or peanut oil to about 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, toss in a bit of tortilla every minute or two. It should start bubbling right away and float to the top.

3) Toss in 12 tortilla chips at a time. Cook for 4 minutes to cook, flipping halfway through.

4) Let them drain on a paper towel and toss them with some Kosher salt.

5) Toss cod in a nonstick pan with a Tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt (and maybe some lime juice) and let it cook on medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per side. Then pull it off and let it cool. It should easily flake apart.

6) Mix avacado with a bit of yogurt or sour cream and a pinch of salt.

7) Grate the cheddar cheese.

8) Chop up salsa ingredients and add orange juice and lime with a good pinch of salt.

9) Top each chip individually and add a pinch of salt and tiny pinch of cayenne to each nacho.

10) Bake at 350 for only about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is hot.

11) Pile them on a plate and serve them with the salsa!

Making the chips

In my opinion the one thing that really sets a decent plate of nachos apart from an amazing plate of nachos is the chips. I’ve just never found a store bought chip that has the strength and thickness that I need to pile high with toppings. Which means that whenever possible, I make my own for nachos.

Buy normal corn tortillas and cut them into sixths. In a cast iron skillet or some other sturdy pan, heat some canola, vegetable, or peanut oil to about 325 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, toss in a bit of tortilla every minute or two. It should start bubbling right away and float to the top.

Toss in 12 tortillas at a time. You don’t want to crowd them. I timed mine and they took almost exactly 4 minutes to cook. I flipped them over half way through. You’ll know when they are done because they won’t be bubbling anymore. That means all the moisture is out of the chips which will leave you with a perfectly crisp chip.

Let them drain on a paper towel and toss them with some Kosher salt.

Worth. It.

Cooking the fish

I used a nice piece of cod for these nachos and all I did was toss it in a nonstick pan with a Tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt (and maybe some lime juice) and let it cook on medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per side. Then pull it off and let it cool. It should easily flake apart.

For you fish taco fans, I considered breading and frying this like some fish taco recipes, but just decided against it since I was going to break it up into pieces.

The Guacamole

I mixed up a quick batch of my new favorite quick guacamole which is just avocado, a bit of yogurt or sour cream, and a pinch of salt.

The cheese

I used two types of cheese for these guys. Cotija cheese which doesn’t really melt and is kind of salty but light. Similar to feta but a bit more mild. I also threw in some grated cheddar for meltiness. And yes, I know this violates the no seafood with cheese rule, but whatever.

Some prep work is necessary.

The salsa

One thing I messed up on with this salsa is that I didn’t quite take my time chopping the pineapple. The pieces were a bit too big compared to the peppers and jalepenos. Basically though, just chop up everything and add your orange juice and lime with a good pinch of salt.

You can easily make this and the chips a day or two in advance.

OK. Pineapple needs to be smaller.

Ok. So here is where the obsessive part kicks in for me. One thing I hate is to have a plate of nachos where half the chips have toppings and half the chips have nothing. Some are really crisp and some are soggy. I like every chip to be crispy and topped! Is that too much to ask?

So I top all of them individually. I’m telling you. Once you take the time (like 5 minutes) to make nachos like this, you’ll never go back to the pile method again.

Yes. I am nacho-ly anal.

You can a bit less careful with the cheese. Just make sure each chip has a bit of both kinds. Some people may think this is crazy to top each chip individually, but really you are only talking about a few dozen chips. It doesn’t take as long as you might thing.

Not so picky about the cheese though.

Bake these guys at 350 for only about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is hot.

Then you can pile them on a plate and serve them with the salsa!

Done deal.

I thought these were really good. The fish was nice and light and the salsa was tasty. Overall though, I found them to be a bit lacking on take one. Luckily I had enough to make these two days in a row! This is what I did differently to make the nachos better on take two.

1) I sprinkled the nachos with a bit more salt before baking them. I think they were lacking a bit the first time around. A pinch of extra salt made a huge difference.
2) I also very lightly sprinkled the nachos with cayenne. Take one for me wasn’t spicy enough so I spiced them up a bit. Also an improvement.
3) As I said, if I was making the salsa again, I would make sure to chop the pineapple a bit smaller.

EAT ME.

So there you go! A very solid nacho dish that is light, a bit fruity, but still has some spice.

But seriously. Make the chips. Top them individually. Life changing.

The Sante Fe Burger got my attention.

Thanks Bobby!

This burger caught my eye for its combination of toppings which include:

- Roasted poblano peppers (for spice)
- A smooth cheese sauce (for cheesiness and spice)
- Blue corn tortilla chips (for texture)

Pair that with a perfect burger and a bun and you are all set.

Sante Fe Burger (Makes 4 burgers)

- 1 large poblano chile
- 1.5 pounds ground chuck (80 percent lean)
- Salt and pepper
- 4 buns
- A few handfuls of tortilla chips

Cheese sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Cups milk
- 8 ounces Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese, grated
- Salt and pepper

I ran into a problem right away with the burgers. I couldn’t find any with the fat content I wanted and I actually hate a lean burger. Call me crazy but fat is flavor. So I came up with this idea that maybe has been done before, but I thought I would give it a try. If I needed more fat in the meat, I knew an easy way to increase the fat content: butter.

A muse told me to do this.

Using my hands I mushed the butter in the ground meat until it was evenly distributed. At the end it actually kind of looked like fat, a bit uneven and kind of veiny throughout the burgers.

Shape these into about 5 to 6 ounce patties and salt and pepper liberally. Some tips on shaping burgers:

- Don’t over work them. Just shape them enough to form a patty. If you work them too much they will get tough.
- Keep the seasoning simple in most cases. If you have good meat, then there isn’t a need to do a lot to it. But at the same time, don’t be shy with the salt and pepper.
- Using your thumb, make a small indent in the middle of the burger. As the meat cooks, it will expand and fill in this dent. This is the best way to prevent dreaded flying saucer burger: very fat in the middle and skinny on the outside.

6 ounces makes a big burger.

As far as the peppers go you can roast them beforehand if you need to. Stick them over a high flame for a few minutes and then put them on a plate covered with plastic wrap. The steam will make the skin peel off perfectly.

Can't go wrong here.

Next, make the cheese sauce. You really can’t make this more than 20 or 30 minutes in advance or it will just solidify. Cheese sauce isn’t that hard to make. This is the process.

First, melt your butter in a saucepan over medium heat and when it is melted, whisk in your flour. Continue to stir it for 4-5 minutes until it starts to turn slightly tan. Second, slowly whisk in your milk, a bit at a time. If you pour all your milk in at once, you’ll end up with a lumpy sauce. Do it slowly though and it will be smooth and delicious.

Finally, stir in your cheese which should melt and make a really rich sauce. Stir in your salt and pepper and whisk for a few minutes to make sure it is thick. If it is too thin, just continue to whisk for a few minutes and it should thicken nicely.

The cheese is pre-melted!

As far as cooking the burgers go, it is pretty easy on a grill. About 5-6 minutes a side over medium-high heat and you should end up with a medium burger. Try not to press down on the burgers too much. They will cook faster, but also lose some juiciness.

I was a bit worried about the butter situation.

This is the final setup. There was also a bag of blue corn tortilla chips, but that wasn’t really photo-worthy.

The setup.

As far as putting it together, I slathered the bottom bun with cheese sauce and then added the burger, pepper, more cheese sauce, and then the chips.

Betsy seemed to like it just fine.

Sorry darling!

I really loved the cheese sauce. It brought everything together perfectly.

Damn good.

Oh. And if you were worried, the butter addition to the burger was a good one. It was really moist. I was worried about it falling apart on the grill, but it definitely didn’t. It worked better than I thought it was going to.

Next time you are grilling, give this burger a shot. Definitely a keeper!