Monday Oct 16-17 Nachos

Oct 17     No dinner - boys ate out and I forgot to eat
Oct 17     Nachos

I know, I know, how can someone who likes to eat as much as I do forget to eat? It happens. I was still not feeling really well and I had a bowl of chili for lunch and then I finally got the new Apple Tv working in my bedroom and spent the rest of the evening watching the first half of season one of The Big C on netflix.
It happens.
Anyway, Monday we were supposed to go visit a friend who was going to cut Little Shack's hair and she said she would feed us so I didn't play anything. She had to cancel at the last minute and so I had to cobble together a dinner with what was on hand and what was on hand was chili and tortilla chips and, therefore, nachos. At first I felt guilty because nachos doesn't seem all that different from the way we eat our chili in the first place and it uses most of the same ingredients but let me tell you this: nachos are NOT the same thing as eating a bowl of chili with some cheese sprinkled on top. Nachos are ooey, gooey and crunchy and delicious and they are there own delicious beast.

Nachos with Chili
I like to do them in individual servings so everyone gets their own nice, little parchment parcel

tortilla chips
chorizo chili
sharp cheddar (or monterey jack or jalepeno jack would be great too), grated
1 tomato, diced
1 lime
cilantro
kosher salt
red onion, thinly sliced
1 fresh jalepeno, seeded and thinly sliced
chipotle crema

Chipotle Crema:
2 tbls plain greek yogurt (I am trying to be healthy here but you could use sour cream)
1 tlbs mayo ( I use helmans light)
1 tsp chipotle powder or to taste
juice of 1/2 lime
pinch kosher salt


To assemble your nachos:
Preheat the oven to 450. Warm up the chili in a pot or, easier still, in the microwave.
Mix the tomato, some cilantro, a squeeze of half a lime and kosher salt and set aside.

Cut a square of parchment for each serving and lay it on a baking sheet. In the centre lay out a small handful of tortilla chips (only you can determine how much a single serving of nachos is in your household. I am not here to judge). Put a couple of spoonfuls of chili on top of the chips, a scoop of the tomato mix, a handful of cheese and then pop that into the oven until the cheese gets good and melty. Take it back out and repeat with another layer of chips, chili, tomato, cheese and this time scatter some thinly sliced red onion on the top. Bake until the cheese is all melty and then turn on the broiler and get the cheese really bubbling and you will start to see the edges of the chips getting brown.
Take it out, scatter some jalepeno, more chopped cilantro and drizzle some crema over the whole thing.
I like to put the crema into a snack sized baggie and snip a small hole off of one corner so I can pipe it on but feel free to just spoon it on if you want to.