Game Day

KNR, p. 164 “Game Day Nachos”

NachosIMG_5067The Big Game should only be watched with nachos in hand. That’s a given. But, what kind of nachos? Is there more than one kind? Turns out there are as many different kinds of nacho recipes as there are chili or stew recipes.

Movie nachos – the kind with the fake cheese poured on top of a mound of tortilla chips. Best I ever had were served in a theater in Texas. Soooooo good. 

Party nachos – everything and the kitchen sink piled on a plate and scooped up with tortilla chips.

Super party nachos – a nacho casserole made with layers of anything the cook thinks goes together. Anything. The only constant being the tortilla chips at the bottom. You eat this with a fork. Or maybe a spoon.

Here’s our version – hearty enough to be a meal and taste tested by a few football pals, and me, of course.  🙂

Game Day Nachos

Charlie & Sheila Kerrian
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Entree
Cuisine American
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 15 ounce can Goya black beans
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 & 1/4 pound ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon chili spices (optional)
  • 2.25 ounce can sliced olives
  • 12 ounce jar sliced Jalapeno peppers
  • 4 cups shredded lettuce
  • 4 cups shredded cheese (4 cheese Mexican)
  • 15 ounces chunky Salsa
  • 8 ounces guacamole
  • Sour cream, Large bag tortilla chips

Instructions
 

  • Drain 1/4 cup liquid from can of black beans. Pour remaining beans and liquid into food processor and pulse 2-3 times; a little texture is great. Set aside.
  • Sprinkle sea salt evenly in the bottom of a large frying pan, add ground beef, break up and stir until browned. Drain off the extra fat.
  • Add pulsed beans to ground beef, mix together and heat through, stirring frequently. This is the time to add the optional chili spices.
  • While bean/meat mixture is heating, assemble the other ingredients and place in individual containers on the serving table. Guests will be able to add as much or as little of each to their pile of nacho magic.
  • Sprinkle cheese on top of ingredients of choice and melt in microwave if desired.

Notes

Optional Creamy Cheese Sauce if you want a creamy cheese sauce to pour over the chips
  • Use a medium non-stick sauce pan
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 3 Tablespoons flour
  • 1.75 cups milk
  • 2 cups shredded pepper jack or cheddar cheese
 Prep:
  • Add butter to the sauce pan and melt on low-medium heat.
  • Slowly add flour and stir until well blended. It should pull away from the pan when ready.
  • Add 1/2 cup milk at a time, mixing constantly to keep lumps from forming. Bubbles will begin to form around the edges.
  • Add cheese 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until smooth and creamy. Pour over chips while hot.

Notes: Fresh salsa is great, but we can’t always get flavorful, ripe tomatoes this time of year. As for guacamole? Again, fresh is great, but sometimes the fresh avocados are rock hard.  

 

*Photos by Patti Phillips

 

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KNR, p. 253 “Bacon Wrapped Pineapple”

 


Our football pals have never asked for fruit on the table at our Game Day gatherings. Somebody always brings the fresh veggies that we use to scoop up the dips, but fruit never entered the conversations about football food. Until this year.

 

After Sheila and I got over our surprise, we chatted and came up with a way to keep the diehard ‘meat only’ guys and gals happy and to accept the intruder onto the tried and true menu. Veggies are a way to deliver dips, but fruit? It’s more like dessert to our crowd.

 

Bacon & pineapple – that’s the combo. We fixed a few spears of pineapple and bacon, and surrounded the platter with straight pineapple and whole slices of bacon – for those that liked either one, but not the two together.

 

Take a look at the easy prep and give it a try at home. There were a few scowls when the platter first came out, but I promise you, nobody died that tried it.

 

This may be the hardest part of the whole process – Choosing the ripe whole pineapple: hold the pineapple in one hand while pushing against the slightly yellowed/golden sections near the bottom with the other hand. If the sections give a bit, the pineapple is most likely ripe. Give it a sniff as well. There should be a mild pineapple aroma when up close with your nose. No give? No aroma? The pineapple is not likely to be ripe enough for this dish.

 

Fresh pineapple is very juicy, so keep that in mind when choosing the cutting surface. Using a large knife, carefully remove the crown and the base. Then, slice off the outer pineapple skin, just enough to get rid of the rough and brown parts. For this recipe, you will keep the fleshy part, but toss the crown, the core, and the outer rough skin.

 

Print
KN, p. 253 "Bacon Wrapped Pineapple"
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12-20 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1 whole ripe pineapple
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 pound center cut bacon
  • Optional: pineapple rings for decoration
Instructions
  1. Keep the pineapple upright and slice sections from top to bottom, each about six inches long. Then slice those sections into inch wide spears, about 11-12 in all.
  2. Cut 11-12 strips of bacon in half and arrange on parchment or aluminum foil lined shallow baking dish (or cookie tray with sides).
  3. Bake the 22-24 pieces at 375 degrees for ten minutes only and remove from oven.
  4. The partially cooked bacon pieces will shrink a bit, but should still be long enough to wrap once around the pineapple.
  5. Cut pineapple spears in half, about 3” long each.
  6. Place brown sugar in a bowl and roll each pineapple spear in the sugar, lightly coating.
  7. Line the bottom of a clean, shallow baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
  8. Wrap one piece partially cooked bacon around one pineapple piece, tucking the bacon ends underneath the pineapple, then place in the clean baking dish, tucked ends on the bottom.
  9. Repeat the wrapping process until all the bacon halves have been used.
  10. Bake tray of bacon wrapped pineapple for an additional 10-15 minutes at 375 degrees until bacon is cooked all the way through, nicely browned.

 

Remove from cooking dish, drain if necessary, and place onto serving platter. Can be eaten warm or cold.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

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