I cringe when a plate of nachos arrives at the table piled high to the sky with ground beef, olives (black and green), scallions (some of them decorative), salsa, sour cream (mounds of sour cream), all constructed, like a Jesuit church in late 16th century Rome, on a bed and foundation of the fountain and source of the eponymous dish itself: the chip, the nacho. It is a blasphemy. Most “nachos” sold in the bag are like comparing wonder bread to a baguette. Why start there? There is a simple way, beginning with the real thing, a deep fried corn tortilla, to make a wonderful treat.
You will need:
- Corn tortillas
- Oil
- Sturdy pan
- Deep bowl
- Paper towels
- Tongs
- Salt
- Refried beans
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Jalapeno pepper slices, pickled
Take a bag of plain corn tortillas. Cut them into quarter sections, like a pizza. Take the pan, add some oil into the pan. Enough so that you can deep fry the tortilla wedges. Bring the oil to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Fry the tortilla wedges a few at a time in the hot oil. Don’t let the wedges overlap. You’ll want some tongs to turn the wedges over to cook the other side. Remove them from the oil onto paper towels to soak up excess oil. Then put the wedges into a deep bowl and add salt to taste. I prefer larger crystal salt for better flavor. Toss the nachos (=fried wedges) and the salt.
Heat the refried beans either on the stove or in the microwave oven. The beans are ready when they are the consistency of loose, well, paste. Taking a broad butter knife, spread refried beans, like butter, over one side of each nacho. Place the nacho individually onto a cookie sheet. When all the nachos have been spread with refried beans and placed onto a cook sheet, slice a thin piece of cheddar cheese and cover each nacho with the cheese. On top of each piece of cheese, place a single jalapeno slice.
Set your oven to a low broil. When the oven is fully heated, place the cookie sheets with the nachos into the oven until the cheese is just melted. Be careful not to over cook. Pull the nachos from the oven and enjoy with a simple beverage like a Spaten Optimator.
FAQ:
1) How long should I leave the wedges in the hot oil? Answer: drop them into the oil, take a swig of beer, turn them over, take a swig of beer, pull them out.
2) Should I use cilantro? Answer: no. But you could drizzle fresh lime juice onto the finished nachos.
3) Why deep fry the nachos? Isn’t that very unhealthy? Answer: no it is not. Why? Because we are deep frying at 400 degrees fahrenheit. So only the flavor of the oil gets absorbed. Trust me.
4) Should I use pre-sliced cheddar? Answer: we don’t like pre-sliced cheddar. There’s nothing like using the cheese slicer on skin already raw from the deep frying.
13 Comments
Ok, it’s on. I’m making nachos, those look freakin awesome. Thanks for the recipe
I would just like to mention that the most excellent beer choice of Spaten Optimator is the perfect choice for just about any meal.
Thanks for this tutorial, I’ll be trying this at the weekend.
Wish I had this recipe prior to my Super Bowl party. Looks like a great dish.
That looks very tasty.
The question is of course “What are Fahrenheits?”
If they make you cringe, then … umm … don’t order them in the first place?
Ah… when I lived in Vermont there was a place that did them like this… each nacho was handmade, rather than the “dump bag of chips in a basket, dump a bunch of stuff on top” approach… those were the days. Thanks!
Nice recipe. Those big old soggy piles called nachos in most “restaurants” are pretty awful.As for the healthful qualities of deep frying:1 Fat is not unhealthy. But it can make you fat as it contains twice the calories per gram of protein or carbs,2 Deep frying is hot hot hot. The water inside the food pretty much starts to vaporize immediately it hits the oil, creating an internal pressure which stops the oil entering the food. So only the outside gets oil on it, and this is mostly lost if properly drained. Only if you fry too cool or for too long (so the internal moisture runs out) will you get fat inside the food.3 The tasty flavour of fried food comes from a (not totally understood) browning reaction, which involves sugars in the food caramelizing at high temperatures, among other things. This is why fried always tastes better than boiled. It’s called the Maillard Reaction, by the way.
And I like to add a (small) spoon of soured cream to each nacho before baking/grilling, along with a little finely chopped onion. I also leave off the beans and serve them on the side, to scoop up.
Lovely. I subscribed to this blog already!
Charlie
They look delicious!
Mistercharlie…I love your scientific explanation of “frying”. Delicious.
If I don’t like them…cringe? Well, I still don’t control the ordering habits of the feeble. Sorry, but true.
you are the coolest person besides my best friend and me, because we live to eat nachos and drink spaten optimator.
They look YUMMY!Dashing out ot get ingredients and beer right now.
Takes me back to when I used to visit my Texan friends, who taught me to make them exactly as you describe. One more thing, though: homemade refried beans, made with black beans. Use lard if you’re feeling racy, otherwise peanut oil or some such. Just drop drained beans into the grease and mash with a fork as they fry.