One of the things I wanted to eat while in the US was nachos. You might be thinking to yourself, “Mariel, they have to have good nachos somewhere in the UK.” And they probably do, but I was burned – and burned bad. So I’ve only had nachos once in London and didn’t want to risk it again.
Here’s what happened: Ryan and I went to a pub to watch the Arsenal match. We had a few pints and started to feel hungry and we thought, “What kind of bar food do we want? Oh, nachos sounds good!” So we ordered them, not thinking about where we were. Because in the US you can have satisfying nachos pretty much anywhere.
When our plate arrived there were some chips, a smattering of cheese, and big dollops of sour cream and watery salsa. No meat, no beans, no veg, no gooey-ness. I mean, we ate it of course, but I was disappointed. Since then I’ve stuck to homemade nachos.
In Colorado, Katy (my sister-in-law) suggested we make nachos for when we watched the Broncos football game. Boden was our adorable little helper who let us dress him as a football. Isn’t he freaking cute? I made a photo of him the background on my phone and it makes me so happy! Ok but I’m digressing, let’s get back to nachos.
So the thing is, you don’t really need a recipe for nachos because there’s plenty of room for improvisation. We used bison meat which I’d never cooked before this! It’s leaner than beef and has a really delicious flavor. We didn’t add much to it in terms of seasoning, but it was so flavorful! I know you can get bison meat all over the United States, but being at the edge of Plains and having bison meat somehow felt authentically Colorado. Maybe it’s not authentically Colorado, but that’s how it felt. Anyway, instead of bison, you can use ground beef or turkey, sliced chicken breasts, or beans. In fact, go bigger and make a combo and use both meat and beans!
You can also make nachos really homemade or somewhere in between. We bought jarred salsa but we made guacamole. However, instead of chopping up tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalapenos we bought pre-made pico de gallo. You can find pico de gallo in the refrigerated section on the produce department. Or, if you want to make your own here’s a recipe from the Pioneer Woman. So find your perfect balance and make what you want or buy what you want.
The key to good nachos is layering. Katy’s secret to good nachos is two layers of cheese. First, a layer of chips, then cheese, then meat, then toppings, then cheese, then salsas. Double cheese layers add extra deliciousness and work as a glue to hold all your nachos fillings together. Genius right?
Last thing, Katy is responsible for the beautiful sour cream piping. Those clouds of sour cream are gorgeous! What’s great about nachos is you can make them your own, and so we decided to make them beautiful.(I alternated in the spoonfuls of guac and salsa) But, it needs to be said that I am so impressed with Katy’s piping as I’m terrible with a piping bag. We decided we would be a perfect team in a bakery – I prefer the baking and she prefers the decorating. Win-win baby. Anyway, presentation is important to making tasty food look even more desirable so artfully dollop on your salsas and once you serve people will be dying to dig in.
Messy level: One spoon. Nachos are so easy! For preparation we only needed one skillet and a bowl to make the guacamole. Everything else just gets layers on the main serving platter. Easy and clean – that is until you start eating.
- olive oil
- 1 pound ground bison meat (or substitute ground beef or turkey)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into thick matchsticks
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into thick matchsticks
- 2-3 ripe avocados
- 1 cup pico de gallo
- 1 lime, sliced in half
- salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- 1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips (we used Scoops)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (you might not need it all)
- ½ cup salsa
- ½ cup sour cream
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and ground bison. When 75% of the meat is browned add in the bell pepper. I like adding it here to soften the peppers up a bit and give them some more flavor. Remove from the heat once the meat is completely browned. Set to the side.
- Cut the avocado lengthwise around the pit. Now you'll have the avocado broken apart into two halves.
- Using a spoon, scoop out the pit and set it aside.
- Scoop out the avocado flesh into a medium bowl. Using a fork, mash up the avocado until it is smoother but still with some chunks.
- Add the pico de gallo to the avocado. Mix thoroughly.
- Add garlic powder, chili powder, and salt (to your taste) to the avocado mixture. Squeeze half the lime in too. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add the other half of the lime if you like it, add more garlic and chili powder if you want more "pop." Now you've got guacamole. Add the avocado pits back in to the guacamole. This keeps it from getting immediately brown.
- Arrange the tortilla chips onto a large serving tray.
- Sprinkle half the shredded cheese over the chips.
- Spoon the ground bison and bell pepper mixture evenly over the cheese.
- Sprinkle the other half of the cheese over the meat.
- Put the serving tray in the microwave and heat on high for 1 minute at a time, until the cheese is melted.
- Artfully dollop the sour cream, salsa, and guacamole evenly on top of the cheese.
- If you have more cheese left over, sprinkle a little more on top.
- Serve while hot and gooey!
