With the ongoing stress of school, work, and COVID-19 sometimes nachos and a cold beer is exactly what you need to take the edge off. When I think of nachos my mind instantly goes the Elk Horn Brewery located in Eugene, Oregon. Sadly, this blog is not about their food but their rueben nachos are worth mentioning. It is not on their menu but randomly appears as a special when they have enough brisket.

While thinking about their mouth-watering, beefy, cheesy masterpiece it inspired me to make my own nachos. Not Another Cooking Show releases new episodes twice a week and is fairly popular on YouTube. The videos contain full recipes and tutorials, so I decided to give nachos a shot with the guidance of a “professional” because usually, I throw an ungodly amount of toppings and create a soggy mess. The episode I decided to watch was Chili Cheese Nachos Supreme with Homemade Tortilla Chips, consisting of the hashtags #nachos and #superbowlrecipes. It has to be flavorful and at least 5,000 calories if it’s Superbowl food.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pack of Corn Tortillas
• 1-2 Cups of Wheat Beer Chili  (I opted for shredded pork mixed with chili)
• 1-2 Cups of Guacamole
• 2 Tomatoes on the Vine, seeded and diced small
• 1/4 Cup of Onions Diced
• 3 Tablespoons of fresh or Pickled Jalapeños, Diced
• 1/2 Lime, Juiced
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Bunch Fresh Cilantro
• 8 oz Sour Cream
• Canola Oil, Enough to fill up your pot halfway for frying
• 8 oz Mexican Cheese blend (Monterey Jack, Colby, Cheddar)
• Salt and Pepper

First, I started to prepare the pico de gallo. Usually I buy salsa but this recipe proved that if you’re not homemaking pico de gallo you’re doing it wrong.

Second, I prepared the tortilla chips for frying. Their advice to salt the tortilla chips directly after frying is the best way to do it. In the first batch I waited about 3 minutes after removing from the oil, and the salt did not stick as well. Also, Having fresh tortilla chips helps conquer the soggy nachos issue.

In the episode they use leftover chili and I had some leftover shredded pork so I combined it. If you don’t have an Instant Pot I highly recommend one! It put my 8 hours slow-cooked pork to shame by 60 minutes in a pressure cooker.

ASSEMBLY TIME

Now that all the toppings/ingredients were ready,  I utilized Not Another Cooking Show’s pro-tip and approached my craft by building the nachos wider not higher.

The end product was purely aesthetic. See for yourself below.

The Last step of the instructions said “Tom Brady eat your heart out”. Sounds very fitting for Super Bowl nachos.

These nachos paired perfectly with a Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA. The flavor is slightly sweet with a citrus and herbal aroma like a pine tree. Also, it packs a punch at 9% ABV, you’ve been warned.

When Iran meets Italy

Recently a friend invited me over for a Persian spaghetti dinner but what he made was like no American spaghetti I’ve ever had. The preparation took a while but I would say it was entirely worth the wait. When I arrived he had ground beef and onions sauteing in a pan which smelled wonderful. Once the meat was browned, tomato paste and water were left to simmer. To be honest, I was quite impressed to see a man make a spaghetti sauce from scratch, his mother must have taught him well. I thought about bringing a can of storebought spaghetti sauce from my pantry just in case we needed more. I was glad I didn’t because there was nothing storebought about this meal, and would have been basically an insult to the culture.

Then, he threw into the sauce diced mushrooms and carrots. The real magic happened when the spices were added! Turmeric, black pepper, salt, and curry powder. These spices are rather exotic compared to my mother’s spaghetti that consists of garlic, basil, and parsley as the main seasonings. The fragrance filling the air made me feel as if I was actually in Iran experiencing this moment.

The dish started to come together when he added thinly sliced potatoes to a pot with oil where the bottoms started to fry. As if the spices didn’t activate my senses, now fried potatoes were added to the aroma! This is the part that completely threw me off, he added a layer of cooked spaghetti pasta to the pot of potatoes. Then, alternated between layers of meat sauce and pasta until the pot was full. After cooking for a while the dish was complete. My first bite was full of so much flavor! The sliced fried potatoes perfectly complemented the pasta. I was expecting the curry powder to overpower the taste but it didn’t and it blended well with the turmeric leaving a comforting impression. Lastly, my friend offered ketchup to put on the spaghetti. My first thought was this ketchup is going to destroy all the hard work put into this dish, but it actually enhanced the flavor and I’m not typically a ketchup person. This was a truly authentic experience and I highly recommend others to try this dish.

I was curious to see how others prepared Persian spaghetti so I watched a YouTube cooking channel by Aashpazi.com. The Ashapazi recipe was fairly similar with the exception of minor ingredients and presentation style. As well as reviewing other recipes, I have concluded that the fried potato crust (tahdig) is the heart of this meal and is what makes it so unique. Check out the pictures from my Persian spaghetti and the food channel to see how they compare!