• Sprouts & Smoked Almonds

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    This one is for all of you out there who have been asking for something a bit lighter. I know, this blog is very meat centric. Well right now at least, but you gotta have something to eat with your meat, right? (Insert Epic Meal Time Hate here)  This was a side I came up with when I was in Atlanta, working at a steakhouse.  I used smoked peanuts originally, because, well, who doesn’t eat peanuts in Georgia; it’s one of their major crops for crying out loud.  Brussels Sprouts are a great winter vegetable. They don’t get a great rap because they can be bitter, but I guarantee you this recipe can make any hater a fan. You can feel free to sub in your own choice of smoked nuts as well.  This recipe feeds 4.

    You got some vegetables, you happy now?!?!?!
    1.5 lbs. fresh Brussels Sprouts, halved

    ¼ c smoked almonds, chopped

    1 tbsp. whole butter

    1 tbsp. olive oil

    Salt and pepper to taste

    1.     Start by bringing a pot of salted water up to a boil and get a nice bowl of ice water.  How much salt itn eh water?  It should be as salty as chicken soup.  If you want a true measurement, use 1 tbsp. per 2 qts of water. 

    2.     We’re gonna blanch these sprouts.  When the water comes up to a boil drop in your sprouts.  Let them go for about a minute.  When they’re tender, pull them out and drop them right in the ice water.  Let them sit until they’re cool, then drain them.  Just a note here, you can do this a day ahead of time if you like.

    2.  When you’re ready to start cooking, get your olive oil and butter into a nice hot skillet. (Let’s say maybe medium high heat). When the butter starts to turn brown, add your sprouts and almonds.  Just warm them though, about 2 minutes total.  Toss them or stir them to keep them from burning.  Season with salt and pepper and you’re done.

    Can’t get easier right?  I told you could substitute the nuts earlier, and you can also substitute green beans, savoy cabbage, and spinach for the sprouts, just to give you some imaginative ideas.  As always, drop a comment and follow the page.

    Happy Eating,

     -The Doctor.


    This entry was posted in Sides and Relishes

  • Balsamic Tomato and Herb Soup

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    Crazy winter this year, right?  It’s hot and cold more than a Katy Perry song.  Well whether it’s hot outside or cold outside, soup makes a great lunch and this recipe is great served hot or cold.  I used to actually use this recipe for an Italian style Gazpacho, then ran into a pinch one night and heated it up to use as a sauce over some Branzino.  The result became so popular I had to have that soup hot and cold all year long AND keep that Branzino on the menu.  Here’s what you need for a gallon.

    4 cloves garlic, peeled

    NOT Campbells’, with turkey croutons, and creme fraiche
    1 medium white or yellow onion, sliced

    2 tbsp. Olive Oil

    1 tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves

    1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

    4 fresh sage leaves

    1/4 c. Balsamic vinegar

    1/4 tomato paste

    1/4 c. White wine

    2 28 oz. cans whole tomatoes

    1 quart, chicken stock


    1.  Just like any other soup we’ve done, we’re going to get to Olive Oil started in a heavy bottom pot.  Turn the heat up to medium and add the onions, garlic and herbs. We’re going to let these sweat for about 10 minutes, stirring every two or three.  Remember we don’t want any color on these.

    Sweatin’ them onions
    2. When the onions, garlic and herbs are ready, add your tomato paste.  Cook this down for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Then add your wine and vinegar.  These need to reduce down to almost dry like this:

    3.  Now it’s time to add your tomatoes and chicken stock.  Let this simmer for about 45 minutes on medium low heat.  After 45 minutes, it’s time to puree the soup.  Here’s a little trick, if you puree this hot, it’s going to turn orange.  To keep the soup red you can either let it cool down before you puree it, or add 1/2 tsp. of baking soda to every blender full of soup you puree.  Cooking it for myself, I don’t care what color it is, it just tastes good, but you know some people.  

    Serving this hot or cold is great with some nice crusty bread (Like what soup isn’t).  When I serve this hot, I’ll usually add some macaroni, sausage, or chicken meat to this soup.  Believe it or not, this is great way to use up leftover turkey too, while adding some protein to this dish.  As for cold, I’ll usually dice up some peppers and cucumbers and garnish it with some Greek yogurt.    As usual, don’t be afraid to play with this a little bit.  Post you variations below in the comments.

    Happy Eating

    -The Doctor


    This entry was posted in Soups and Stews

  • Ropa Vieja

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    Anyone who can speak Spanish knows what this means.  Yup, “Old Clothes”.  Ropa Vieja originated in the Canary Islands, but it’s the national dish of Cuba.  It was originally just a stew made from leftovers, but almost every Hispanic country has developed it’s own version.  This version here comes from a little old Cuban lady named Maritza, who was my cafeteria cook in Mexico.  This recipe was so good and became so popular with the hotel Executives we had to put it on our banquet menu, and finagle a fine dining version to keep on the restaurant menu in the hotel where I was working.  

    Ropa “Not Ganghnam Style” Vieja
    3 lbs. flank steak, or skirt steak

    2 tbsp. whole butter

    1/2 c. tomato paste

    1 medium onion, split and julienne

    1 each green and red bell pepper julienne

    1 c. beef stock, or beer ( I like to use Negra Modelo for this)

    3 cloves garlic, chopped

    1/2 ketchup

    1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with chipotle (or whatever diced tomatoes you like)

    1/2 c rough chopped cilantro

    1/4 rough chopped Epazote

    1.  Start by melting your butter in a heavy pot.  Add the onions, garlic and peppers and sweat down for about 5 minutes.  We’re not going to sweat these all the way out, but just get them started.  They should look like this:

    2.  After about 5 minutes, add your tomato paste and stir that around for just under a minute.  Add your beer and diced tomatoes.

    3.  Let this come up to a simmer, then add your meat.  I leave the meat whole, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.  Cover this and let it simmer for about an hour.

    4.  When an hour is up, add your herbs and ketchup.  Cover again and simmer for another 90 minutes, or until the meat is falling apart.  

    5.  When the meat is nice and tender, pull it out, and let it cool down until you can handle it.  Keep the sauce simmering and let it reduce a bit, about  1/4.  

    6.  Shred the beef by hand and add back to the sauce.  Stir until everything is combined evenly and serve.

    Traditionally, this is served with rice and black beans.  We always served it with tortillas as well, but I’m pretty sure that was because we had some really great tortillas in the part of Mexico I was in.  I’ve seen it served with fried ripe plantains (maduros) and crispy unripe plantain chips as well.  In the Canary Islands, they’re still serving this with potatoes, so you can see how versatile this is.  You got questions?  I’ve got the answer,  just let me know in the comments.

    Happy Eating

    -The Doctor


    This entry was posted in Entrees and Such

  • Classic Turkey Meat Balls

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    Why turkey meatballs?  Well, ground turkey was on sale at the grocery store, so that’s why.  Besides, it’s something you can make with your fresh pasta recipe that I gave you earlier this week.  You can do this recipe with any meat you want.  Traditionally, Italians do meatballs with a mix of beef, pork, and veal, but I’ve used, chicken, lamb, and venison as well.  I’ve found this recipe to be the most versatile, but I’ll also be putting up different style meatball recipes through the blog.  I like to make these in big batches and freeze them to keep on hand.  You never now when a party’s going to break out around here.  This makes about 40 1 oz. meatballs.

    3 lb Ground turkey ( or whatever meat you like)

    2 eggs

    1/3 c diced white bread, toasted

    1/3 c milk

    1/4 c. parmesan

    1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

    1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

    1 tbsp. garlic powder

    1.  The first step is to make a panada.  Toasting the bread removes more moisture allowing it to pick up more milk, and, therefore, more flavor.  Mix the diced bread and milk, and let it sit in the fridge for an hour.  

    2.  After an hour, add the eggs, Parmesan and herbs to the panada and start smushing it all together with your hands.  (Yes, “smushing” is a word, look it up in the New Jersey Dictionary).  Make sure everything is mixed well, then go back into the fridge for another hour. 

    3.  Now it’s time to get all of this good stuff mixed together!!  Put the meat into a nice mixing bowl and mix in your panada by hand. Before you get all messy, season the meat with salt and pepper.  You can always go back and add more.  If you want to taste test these, all you need to do is heat up a pan with some oil, then fry up a small patty.  Don’t be afraid to do this a few times until you get the seasoning right.  

    4. When the mix is nice and homogeneous (big word right?), take a one ounce s ice cream/cookie scoop, and a bowl of warm water.  Dip the scoop in the warm water then scoop out 4 or five meatballs.  After that you’ll see the meat start to stick to the scoop.   Just simply re-dip and clean.  Keep doing this until you’ve scooped all of the meat.

    5.  Now get a saute pan hot with some oil.  When you see a slight bit of smoke in the pan, start searing your meat balls.  We’re going to cook them all the way here, only because we’re going to freeze them, and they’re so small.  

    So that’s it, they’re ready to freeze or serve.  If you want to make these bigger, go ahead,  just make sure you finish them off in the oven. These will keep in the freezer a good couple of months, if you wrap them correctly.  As always, if you have question, just ask below.

    Happy Eating

    -The Doctor


    This entry was posted in Entrees and Such

  • Back to the basics…Pasta Dough

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto 1 Comment
    “Here we go Doc, more simple stuff…”  YUP!!!!!  I’m giving you this recipe because I’m going to refer to it a lot.  We’ll be doing some interesting lasagna’s ravioli, agnolotti and other fun things with pasta that are just plain  better with fresh pasta. Besides, how much cooler would you look to your friends making this from scratch !?  The correct answer here is AWESOME!!!!  This is a generic pasta dough recipe I developed for AP flour.  I do prefer to use Semolina, but sometimes and in some parts of the country, it’s just too hard to find (and this blog is all about making it easy).  I’m also going to give you two sets of instructions one for using a mixer, and the other by hand, so you can do whatever you like.  Here’s what you need to make about a pound –



    Finished dough, photo by randomcuisine.com

    2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 
    1 teaspoon salt
    3 large eggs, plus 1 for egg wash
    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    Cornmeal, semolina, or more flour for dusting

    To make the pasta dough In an electric mixer: 

    1. For the love of all that is culinary, please make sure you have a dough hook.

    2. Combine the flour and salt. Turn on the mixer.

    3. Add the eggs,1 at a time, and continue to mix.

    4.  Drizzle in 1 tablespoons of the olive oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball.

    5. When you have a nice ball, stop the mixer, and take the ball out.  Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead and fold the dough until elastic and smooth, this should take about 10 minutes. Then brush the surface with some more olive oil and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Let this puppy rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.


    Alternatively if you don’t have an electric mixer:

    1. Combine the flour and salt on a flat work surface; shape into a mound and make a                  

     well in the center.

    2. Add the eggs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the well and lightly beat with a fork.

    3. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Use 1 hand for mixing and the other to protect the outer wall. Continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. 

    4.  Repeat Step 5 form above (yeah, I’m that lazy, you got a problem wit’ dat?)

    OK, so the pasta part was easy right?  You’re ready to do anything with this, and it’s good to have in your little black cookbook. I’m lucky and have my own little electric pasta machine.  If you have a mixer, there’s usually an attachment you can buy for rolling out pasta. If you don’t have either, you can go Old Skool and use a rolling pin like Nonna used to do.  As always, if you have questions,  just ask below.

    Happy Eating

    -The Doctor



      


    This entry was posted in The Basics

  • Dirty DC Half-Smoke Mac and Cheese

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment
    Yes, this is as awesome as it sounds. When your’e  in Washington D.C., and you go to a place like Ben’s Chili Bowl, or any vendor on the street, you’re not going to order a hotdog, you’re going to get a half-smoke.  Sure, you can get a hot dog, but what’s the point?  It’s just not D.C.  You remember the old saying about “When in Rome…” right?  A half-smoke, for the un-initiated is a half beef, half pork smoked sausage that you can get anywhere in the city, and it’s a specialty of world famous Ben’s Chili Bowl in the city.  I got the idea for this dish from what we used to call “Ghetto ‘Sketti” during my time as a banquet chef.  It was usually left over hot dogs, pasta, and cheese whiz from kid’s menu banquets (Oh like you never stole some from the kids table) – I just simply replaced the hot dog with something much better.  This recipe will make about 1 serving for me, 4-6 for the normal human.

    1/2 lb uncooked weight pasta of your choice (I used Gemelli for this recipe) cooked and cooled

    Yeah…nothing to say here, just look…

    1/4 c. Cheez Whiz (don’t cringe, it’s a Philly classic)
    1/4 c. whole milk
    2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
    1/4 c. minced red onion
    1 whole tomato, large diced, seeds rinsed
    1 tsp. flour
    1 tbsp whole butter
    4 oz. GOOD American cheese (like the deli counter stuff, NOT the singles), cubed
    1/2 sliced half smokes (if you can’t find them use the Hillshire Farms smoked sausages, they’re close enough)
    1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

    1. First things first, let’s get the butter in a heavy bottom sauce pot, and preheat our oven to 350.  Let that butter melt a bit on high heat and add your sausages.  Cook these for  a minute of two, then add the Cajun seasoning, onions, and tomatoes.  Cook these down until the onions are translucent; if you need to add more butter, feel free, sometimes the Cajun seasoning can soak it up. We want just a little greasy goodness in the pot.
    2.  When the onions are translucent, scoop out everything that’s in the pot and pour out on a plate . Leave all of the grease/butter in the pot.  Add your flour and cook it, stirring constantly for about a minute.
    3.  Now add your milk.  This is going to need to cook out for just a couple of minutes and get thick.  After about 5 minutes of simmering and stirring, add the American cheese and the Cheez Whiz.  Stir or whisk this until they melt.
    4.  Now it gets good.  Add your sausage and veggies back to the pot, thenyou’re your pasta and mix evenly.  Transfer all of this to an oven safe dish and top with the shredded cheddar.
    5.  Pop the whole thing in the oven until the cheddar melts, then serve.
    There’s not much else to say about this.  It’s simple and delicious.  As always feel free to experiment with other cheeses.  I know for a fact Blue Cheese, Gouda, and Mozzarella will really kick this off too. Dont’ be afraid to try out other sausages and meats too.  Kielbasa, Andouille, and Tasso Ham all will work for this recipe too.
    Happy Eating,
    -The Doctor

    This entry was posted in Sides and Relishes

  • Roasted Wings with Blue Cheese Tabasco butter

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    What another wing recipe???   Yup.  I can’t have a football party with just one type of wing.  That’s just plain wrong.  The technique we’re using for the sauce here is a bit more advanced than what you’ve seen so far; but it’s still a basic sauce, and a great technique to have in your arsenal.  We’ll be doing a Buerre  Blanc, which literally mean White Butter which is wine with butter melted into it very slowly so it doesn’t break.  It sounds complicated, but if you take your time, it comes out perfectly.  For 4 lbs. of wings you’ll need:

    New twist on classic flavors

    1/2 c. white wine1/2 shallot, chopped

    1/4 c. Heavy Cream

    1 tbsp. hot sauce (Like Frank’s Hot, Crystal, or Tabasco Buffalo.  These add a great pepper flavor)

    2 tbsp. tabasco (more if you like it hottter)

    4 oz. crumbled blue cheese

    1/2 lb. butter, cut up into even pieces

    1.  In a sauce pot, combine your shallots and wine.  Reduce them over medium high heat until the wine is almost dry like this:

    Wine and shallots reduced to “dry” or “au sec”
    2.  Add your cream and hot sauce and simmer for just 3-5 minutes.  You want them to reduce by about 1/4 or 1/3.  

    3.  When this mixture has been reduced down, lower the heat and start adding your butter piece by piece.  Use a whisk to move the butter around.  Wait about 30 seconds between adding each piece of butter and don’t stop whisking until all of the butter is melted.  

    4.  When the butter is all melted, cut the flame and add the blue cheese.  Let it melt just a little by beating it up with your whisk, but not too much.  Add your Tabasco.  Put the sauce off the side somewhere warm.

    Slowly whisking in your butter

    For the wings:

    1.  Pre-heat your oven to 450 or 500 hundred.  I say either or because some ovens can only go to 450, while some can hit 500.  Either is fine.  In some ovens a “Broil” may be more effective, so just make sure you know how your oven is calibrated

    2.  Toss the wings in oil salt and pepper and spread out evenly on a baking tray like this:

    Wings ready for the oven
    3.  Place the wings on the lowest rack in the oven.  Let them go for about 20-25 minutes.  You should start to hear them sizzle.

    4.  At this point turn them and finish them off on the other side, about another 20-25 minutes.  Drain off and SAVE and juice that may be in the pan. (Emergency chicken stock)

    5.  When the wings are ready, grab a bowl and put a few in there.  Toss them in the sauce and get a good coat.  Repeat until all of the wings are coated, then serve.  I like to just sprinkle a bt more blue cheese on them and throw a couple dashes of Tabasco on top just for visual.

    The cool part about this recipe is the sauce we’re doing.  I’ll be putting up a more basic and traditional version of the recipe in a few weeks, but how nice is it to have your hot sauce and blue cheese in the same sauce?  About the wings, you can fry these or grill them too (grilling is my favorite).  Feel free to play with them as much as you like.

    As always, if you have questions, leave them in the comments below.  

    Happy Eating

    -The Doctor


    This entry was posted in Appetizers and Party Faves

  • Texas-Style I.P.A chili with Roasted Corn

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    If you’ve ever been to Texas, you’ll know they don’t make their chili with ground meat.  It’s blasphemy actually.  They use real hunks of chuck and round, and cook them low and slow until they break apart, kind of like a liquid barbecue.  This recipe breaks with tradition a bit because they only vegetable a Texan will allow in his chili is an “Unjin” or a “‘Mater”, but I haven’t had a complaint yet.  I first had something like this in Dallas while I was on a layover on a trip to Mexico for the Mexican Disco Championships. Believe it or not, they wear masks for that too, not just pro wrestling (I dig it).  This recipe will make about 1 gallon of chili.

    Proper chili action

    4 lbs. chuck, round or sirloin, diced about 1/2 inch

    1 onion, diced 1/2 inch
    2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes with chipotle
    2 tbsp. chili powder.

    1 tbsp. cumin

    1 tbsp. garlic powder

    1 bottle very hoppy I.P.A. beer (like Tupper’s, Smutty Nose, or Long Hammer)

    3 ears corn

    1.  First thing to do is get the corn roasted.   Turn on your broiler, and rub down your ears of corn with some oil or butter.  Place them under the broiler, in a pan, for 3-5 minutes, then take them out and turn. They should look like this when you’re done.

    2.  Let these cool and run a knife down the cob to remove the kernels.  Place these off to the side from now.

    3.  Now we’re going to sear the meat.  In a heavy pot or cast iron skillet drop in about 1-2 tbsp. of olive or vegetable oil, and turn the flame up high.    When you start to see just a hint of smoke, start dropping in the meat a few pieces at a time.  You don’t want to add to much to the pan or else you’ll just you’ll just end up boiling the meat.  As pieces brown and caramelize, remove them and add more, until all of the meat is ready.

    4.  Add the onions and let them cook for just a couple minutes.  We do want them to get some color, but we don’t want too much.  After a couple of minutes, add the corn, then your spices.  Toast them up for just a minute.

    5. When the spices are nice and toasty, add your beer and tomatoes.  If you’re using a skillet, now would be the time to transfer to wither a pot or a slow cooker.

    6.  When you’re in a pot or slow cooker, add your meat and let this mixture simmer for about 2 1/2-3 hours.  At the end, season with salt and pepper to taste.      

    This recipe takes long time, but it’s very worth it.  Having the slow cooker helps tremendously because you can just do the Ron Popiel and “set it and forget it.”  I like to serve this up with some Gouda or Cheddar cheese on top and just a little bit of avocado.  It also goes great with cornbread, mixed into macaroni and cheese, or as a filling for a Sloppy Joe. As always, if you have questions, leave them in the comments.

    Happy Eating

    -The Doctor


    This entry was posted in Soups and Stews

  • Spicy Thai-Style Peanut Wings

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    How can you have a Super Bowl without wings???  You can’t, unless you’re a vegan.  If you are, then you’re probably doing tofu.  Anyway, these are one of my favorite ways to make wings.  The peanut sauce itself plays nicely against the crispy, charred wings.  I like to grill my wings, but you can fry them or roast them too. . .  you’ll like! I’ll be doing recipes using all three techniques, so feel free to mix and match. You will want to figure 5-6 wings per person.    This will do about 10-15 people, with other food around, of course.

    For the sauce:

    1/2 c. chunky peanut butter, room temperature

    1/2 c. chicken stock

    Always a party favorite

    1 tbsp. ginger (fresh), grated or chopped

    1 tbsp. garlic, crushed

    3 tbsp. chopped cilantro

    1 tbsp. chopped basil

    1 tbsp. chopped mint

    1 tbsp. fish sauce

    1 tbsp. Sriracha (chili Sauce)

    juice of 1 lime

    1 tbsp sesame oil.  

    2 tbsp roasted peanuts (optional for garnish)

    2 tbsp scallions, sliced thin bias.  (diagonal, if you’re not sure when bias means)

    1. I know what your’e thinking, this is a lot of ingredients…yes it is, but it’s not hard.  Start with sauce pot and the sesame oil on medium to medium high heat.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook out until you just start to small the garlic and ginger.  You don’t want to burn them, just sweat them a bit. 

    2.  Once the garlic and ginger are sweated, add the chicken stock, lime juice, fish sauce and peanut butter.  Whisk these together until the sauce is decently thin.  You really don’t want to reduce it at all, just warm it up.

    3. Once the peanut butter is melted into the stock and the ingredients have come together, Add most of the herbs, scallions, and the Sriracha (I like to add more, but it deppends on how hot you want them.  Just be careful because you don’t  want the heat to over power the peanut flavor).  Save just a little bit for garnish.  Keep this off to the side while you grill up your wings.

    For the wings:

    1.  This isn’t hard, but I’ll go over it anyway.  If I’m doing wings for this specific recipe, I’ll marinate them overnight in some sesame oil and 1 tsp. each of ginger, fish sauce, and garlic.  This is optional of course.

    2.  Get your grill hot, if you don’t have a grill, use a small indoor grill (like a Foreman), or a grill pan.  Don’t have those??  No problem, pop those wings in the oven for 15 minutes at 500.  Anyway, when the grill is hot, take an old cloth or towel, soak it in vegetable oil and rub the grill down.  This is called seasoning the grill, and it’s a key piece of not having your meat stick to the grill.  

    3.  Place your wings down on the grill evenly.  You’ll know when they’re ready to turn because the skin will release from the grill.  You’ll need 6-8 minutes on each side depending on your grill.  If you have a meat thermometer, which everyone should, then you want to pull the wings off at 160 degrees and let them come up to 165 off the grill.  

    4.  When the wings are done, put them in a nice big mixing bowl a few at a time and toss them in 2 oz of the wing sauce.  You want just a light coating of sauce, not too heavy.  Feel free to save some sauce for the side too in case some of your guests want extra.  

    5.  When you’re done tossing, place the wings onto a plate and garnish with your herbs and scallions.  

    Tasty right?   I thought so.  You can do anything with wings because they translate to almost every world culture.  If you have any wing recipes you want to see, let me know in the comments.   I’ll be putting up another nice wing recipe you can do for your Super Bowl party later in the week.

    Happy Eating,

    -The Doctor. 


    This entry was posted in Appetizers and Party Faves

  • Pulled Pork Chachos

    Posted on by Dr. Prosciutto Comment

    Chachos…Chachos??? What are Chachos???  That’s what you’re  thinking right?  Well, they’re like nachos, but with potato chips instead of tortilla chips.  Yeah, awesome!!!!  I used to eat these all the time back in Philly at a place called Finn McCool’s.  They used to do them the traditional nacho way with chili and cheese but once in a while we’d get a treat with Irish Cheddar and Bacon.  We’ll talk more about ideas later.  These are great, easy way to kick off your Super Bowl Pre-Game week. Here’s what you’ll need to feed about 10-15 people:

    1 bag Kettle cooked potato chips (any flavor you want, sweet potato works well with the pork too)

    1 onion, julienne

    Chachos…the other nacho…

    2 cups Mexican cheese blend (or cheddar and/or jack cheese)

    1/4 c. sour cream

    2 cups pulled or chopped pork (You can buy this from your favorite BBQ shop, or find the recipe here )

    2 tbsp. diced tomatoes,

    1 avocado sliced OR 1/2 c. guacamole

    1/2 c Jalapeno peppers

    1.  First things first, get out a sauté pan and turn the heat up to medium and crank that oven up to 350.  Add 1-2 tbsp. oil vegetable or olive oil to the pan and let it heat up.  We’re going to caramelize those onions. Throw the onions in and let them sit just a minute, then stir them, with a spatula or a wooden spoon.  Alternate resting and stirring every couple of minutes until they get a nice deep brown color.  They should look like this:

    2.  When the onions are done put them off to the side.  Now we get to build these things.  Get yourself a round, shallow cake pan (about an inch deep) and line it with either foil or parchment paper.  Lay down a thin layer of the chips, take a bit of that pork and lay it evenly over the chips.  Now the onions, then the cheese. Before you get to the next layer, lay down a few jalapenos.  Chachos and nachos are always matter of preference for layering, but I like to have my layers look like this: 

    3.  Repeat this until you’ve gotten all the chips piled high or you’ve filled the cake pan.  If you’ve filled the cake pan just get another pan, or do another round. Whatever you decide to do, when you’ve got a full pan, pop them in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

    4.  Use the foil/parchment to transfer these to a plate, or just leave them in the pan.  Top them with your diced tomatoes, sour cream and avocado/guacamole, or put them off to the side.  Guess what???  You’re done.

    Of course, since these are potatoes you can do anything with them.  You can go as crazy are blue cheese and port wine reduction, or as down home and bacon and cheddar.  The sky is the limit with these.  I would also recommend playing with Terra chips, chicken and goat cheese as well.  If you want those recipes, just comment below.  

    Super Bowl week continues with a Grilled Spicy Peanut Wings next.

    Happy Eating,

    The Doctor


    This entry was posted in Appetizers and Party Faves