Nachos

Nachos are one of my favorite things to eat. I love them and they're pretty easy to make. I grew up in Switzerland and Germany where Mexican food is kind of hard to get. My mom used to make these specially for us. Then when I moved to Oregon I discovered they have a very different concept of nachos. I like both versions, but obviously I have a soft spot for my version. I'd love to hear how you like this version, but also if you make them differently and if yes how you make yours!
So here goes:

You will need for the sauce:
Ground Beef
Large can of crushed tomatoes
Small can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (This is optional, but I like the heat it adds
Red wine (can be excluded if you are avoiding alcohol)
Tabasco Sauce or something similar for added heat
Oregano
Cayenne Pepper
Cumin
Chili Powder
Salt & Pepper
Thyme if desired
You an also add garlic. I don't because it makes me severely ill.

You'll also need whatever you want in addition to the sauce.

Obviously tortilla chips are vital to nachos. I'd never consider making them without the cheese either. You could add refried beans. I've added them before, but my husband hates all beans aside from green beans, so I leave them out. I always serve my nachos with sour cream. My husband likes salsa with his as well. Avocados are another thing my husband dislikes, so I don't make guacamole that often, but growing up it was a staple we couldn't have nachos without. So you can really customize this dish any way you feel like it!


First thing I do is season my meat with all of the herbs and spices on one side.

I then toss the meat seasoned side down into my preheated dutch oven. (You could use a sauce pan or whatever you want to cook it up in, I just love my dutch ovens and use them for everything.) I then add another layer of seasoning to the meat side facing up.

Now brown your meat.

Once it has been browned for the most part, a bit of pink is totally ok. Add about a cup or more of red wine to deglaze the pot. Let it reduce down so most of the alcohol is evaporated.

I continuously add more seasoning because I like my food to be very flavorful. This creates layers of flavor.

Time to add your cans of tomato.

Time to add more seasoning, as well as some tabasco sauce. Depending on how tomatoy versus meaty you want your sauce to be you can add a small can of tomato paste to thicken your sauce. Yesterday on the other hand I just kept it boiling and reduced the sauce down that way.

If you're opting to use garlic, this would be a good time for it. You can also wait a bit longer until the sauce has reduced somewhat as garlic can get bitter when cooked too long.

I like to get a thick sauce so it won't make my chips soggy.

See how far it's reduced down? Kind of like a thick gravy.

I bake my nachos in a casserole dish, it makes it easier to keep the whole layers together thanks to the raised edges. Get a nice thick layer of chips ready.

Make sure you preheat your oven to the broil setting before adding the sauce. You don't want the sauce to be on the chips too long before you can put it under the broiler or it will make the chips soggy.

Spoon your meat and tomato mixture on top of your chips.

Add a nice thick layer of shredded cheese.

Now you can put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Keep an eye on it so it won't burn. Once all the cheese has melted and is nice and bubbly your dinner is done.

Now you can just scoop it out with a nice spatula and portion it out onto plates. Best served hot and straight from the oven.

This doesn't make great leftovers as the chips don't reheat well. What I do for leftovers is, I keep the extra sauce on the side. When you're making your next batch make sure you heat the sauce first. The couple minutes it's under the broiler aren't enough to fully heat the meat sauce through before the cheese would get burnt. So I preheat the meat either in my pot, or by microwaving it.

Anyway I really hope you like this recipe and enjoy making it. As always I'd love to hear from you what you think of the recipe, if you've made it, etc.
Hoping most of you have tomorrow off too for MLK. I know my great plans are sleeping in and working on a baby quilt for my cousin's baby shower next week. :)


Quickie Summary:

Ingredients needed:

2-3 lbs ground beef

Red wine

Salt & pepper

Chili powder

Oregano

Thyme

Cumin

Smashed garlic clove (optional)

Canned tomatoes & tomato paste

Preparation:

Sautee meat with the spices, and garlic if using

Douse liberally with red wine

Let simmer down

Add tomatoes and paste

Add more of all the spices

Spoon on top of tortilla chips, top with cheese, broil, then eat with guacamole, sour cream, and or salsa as desired