This week on Hive top chef the theme is "Nachos".
This sloppy fun mess was invented by a Mexican near the Mexico/U.S. border, for a group of American diners. The diners loved it so much that they ran with the idea and next thing you know, it's pretty much become an American thing. It made it's way over to Canada where I discovered it.
Most people know that the base is made from fried corn tortilla chips, then topped with cheese and other items. In my experience it has almost always come with salsa sour cream and sometimes guacamole.
I don't remember the first time I had nachos. I know that it was popular in Canada in the 80's and 90's and still to this day but it's gradually lost it's popularity, not that you won't find it.
It was almost exclusively found in bars and roadhouses where beer is the main course, and the nachos were the chaser. This may possibly be why I don't recall when I first or last had them. Several pints of beer is not great for the memory.
My plant based version of Nachos, if I do say so myself, leaves nothing to be desired except perhaps more free time. If you want to avoid the steps I've taken, simply buy a bag of tortillas and skip the first part of this.
If you want to save even more time, buy ready made toppings and enjoy.
Although I did not go to the extent of making the tortilla dough and making tortillas from scratch, I used store bought tortillas from a package.
I prepared them in the oven instead of the usual fried tortillas. I try to avoid eating too many deep fried foods. Baking them makes it so I can eat more without feeling like I swallowed a bus.
I coated them with a little brush of oil. I'm not sure if it was necessary. I cut a stack of 10 or so into quarters. I placed them on a baking tray and placed them in a preheated 350 F oven.
I have never done this before so after a few minutes I checked them to see how they were. They were not quite ready. After another minute I took them out and flipped them, then put them back. When they were fully toasted, I removed them.
I had already prepared the toppings. The main topping which took the longest was vegan chorizo flavoured mince. Keep in mind that this is my version of chorizo, so cut me some slack if you are a chorizo making expert.
Vegan chorizo
340 g vegan ground mince
20 g dried ancho chili (I substituted for pasilla because I had it)
20 g dried guajillo pepper
50 g fresh serrano or jalapeno
150 g diced onion
20 g minced garlic
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
3 allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon clove powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme(I used fresh because I had it)
1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
Salt to your liking
Toast the whole spices and the dried chilies
Grind the whole toasted spices and combine with the powdered spices
Soak the dried chilies in boiling water for at least half an hour. Blend the chilies to a paste adding a little liquid just enough to move the blender. You can use either the liquid from the soaking or water. Add vinegar and agave. After blending reserve a half cup of it for the cheese sauce.
Saute onions, then garlic and chilies in a pan with hot oil.
Add spices and the pepper paste. Add the vegan mince. I forgot to get a photo of it in the pan. Oops. I think you could imagine it.
The end product.
Since these were loaded nachos I also added my version of refried beans.
Refried beans
2 cups cooked black beans
100 g chopped onion
10 g minced garlic
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup vegetable broth
Salt to your liking
Saute onion, garlic and spices until golden.
Add black beans.
Add cilantro.
Add vegetable broth and cook until the liquid evaporates.
Refried beans can be blended until creamy but I just crushed it a little with a fork to keep some texture.
Most nachos that I've had use mozzerella cheese and the odd time you'll get it with cheddar or a yellow cheese sauce typical of the ball game tortilla chips and cheese or movie theatre nachos.
I decided to do a jazzed up version of cheddar cheese sauce to use for the nachos.
For the vegan cheese I bought an actual store bought vegan cheese that I know melts well. I normally don't buy vegan cheese but this is a good brand.
Cheese sauce
200 g vegan cheddar
1/2 cup pepper sauce reserved from the chorizo
1 cup plant milk
80 g roasted red pepper
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons cider vinager
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt to your liking
Simmer all ingredients in a saucepan until thoroughly melted. Cool then blend until smooth. Reheat if it gets too thick from cooling.
Evenly place tortilla chips on a baking tray.
Drizzle with cheese sauce. Try to cover all the chips.
I added the black beans but used a fork and had a bit of trouble spreading it. It was really thick so I ended up using my hands to get a better distribution.
I did the same with the chorizo ground.
At this point I chose random things to add. I had green olives which I really like so I sprinkled them on. It adds a little fun salty burst to the nachos.
I have usually had pickled jalapenos on nachos, but I wanted to have a spice burst. Besides the jalapenos we get imported are usually mild. I was pleasantly surprised by these ones.
I repeated the layering 3 times with each layer being smaller in circumference, buildig a small hill.
When this is complete put it in the oven for around 3 to five minutes making sure it doesn't burn. I turned the oven to 350F. Check it to see if it's nice and warm not burned. Remove it and add the rest of the toppings. Yes that's right. More toppings
To the already loaded nachos I added shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and chopped green onion.
I made a quick guacamole with two avocados, juice of a lime, chopped red onion, and cilantro. It was mashed then kept on the side.
In the past I've gotten my nachos served with sour cream, but I never ate it. I'm not a fan.
And now for a bite.
Nachos may not be understood in some parts of the world. Here on this side, I think many people have tried them. They are the perfect thing to whip up if you have a gathering.
In that case I would buy as many ready made ingredients as possible to quickly execute. Nachos are fun food and almost always shared.
Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day.
Photos taken with a Nikon D7500