Saturday, January 9, 2016

Irish Nachos!!



Homegaters!

I present to you:  Irish Nachos. Take a moment to let that settle in.

I decided to create this recipe after I went to a sports bar recently and had their version of Irish Nachos. They missed the mark on so many levels. I was compelled to right their wrong and do it Homegating101-style. Get ready...

The bar's version of Irish nachos included home-made potato chips topped with melted cheese, pico de gallo and shredded lettuce. It was an epic miss. The only claim to Irishness was the use of the potato chips (which were soggy). Such a disappointment. It haunted my dreams. I needed to make my Irish side proud.

With this recipe I went with kettle chips since they're sturdier (thinking about those soggy "chips" at the bar is still giving me the vapors). I topped those with shredded cheddar and minced corned beef and kept layering with the chips, cheese and corned beef until I got to the top of the pan. I popped that into the oven until the cheese melted. Once it came out of the oven, I sprinkled the chopped cabbage & onion "slaw" on top and unleashed this creation on the Gameday Gang. They were on it like piranhas on a human leg. It was gone in 5 minutes.

The baking makes the chips crispier (besides melting the cheese). The cabbage slaw offsets the heaviness of the cheese and corned beef. I don't know about you, but I think this hit the mark on being an Irish nacho. It's easy to make and disappears pretty quickly, so be sure to make enough.

Irish Nachos
(serves 4-6)                                                        

1 Bag kettle potato chips
1/2 lb sliced corned beef, chopped
8 oz shredded cheddar
3 cups cabbage, minced
3 tbs red onion, minced
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350-degrees. In a roasting pan, place a layer of potato chips to cover the bottom. Place a thin layer of the shredded cheese on top, followed by a layer of the minced corned beef. Continue layering until you reach almost of the top of the pan.

2. Cabbage Slaw: toss the minced cabbage & onion together with the granulated garlic, salt & pepper. Hold until the nachos are out of the oven.

3.  Place pan in oven until cheese is melted (5-7 minutes). Remove from oven and sprinkle cabbage slaw on top.

4.  Serve and wait for accolades.

And there you have it!

We're now reaching the home stretch of the football season. The next 2 weekends are full of Playoff action both on Saturday and Sunday. Not only am I now cooking for an entire weekend of gameday grub, but I'm beginning to think about what will be on the menu for my annual  Big Game Bash on February 7. Do I do a "greatest hits" of what I served during the season, or do I create something new just for the party. Gotta think about that....

If you're planning on having a Super Bowl party, now is the time to start thinking about your invite list and menu. Once you get your menu down, you can start planning how you're going to tackle it. Are you serving something that can be made ahead and frozen? If so, you may want to do that so that the weekend of the event isn't so hectic for you. All you'll have to do on SB Sunday is just heat it up (wings are perfect for this). It's also a good time to start shopping for paper goods and decorations. Keep an eye out for soda, chip and beer sales. Get whatever you can now instead of rushing around at the last-minute.

I'll be sharing more tips and ideas for your Big Game party in the weeks to come. Hope you keep checking in!

Until next week, keep on Homegating!!















No comments:

Post a Comment