One of our favorite appetizers…

Not just as an appetizer, sometimes I serve this as a main dish loaded with ground beef and cheese. You can make a lot of variations while making this. I’ve tried quite a few, if I am super lazy: I will just layer the tortilla chips, salsa and sprinkle cheddar cheese over it and bake it for 10 minutes. For a vegetarian version, I’ve added red beans or mixed beans to it. Other times with cooked chicken. Of all the ways I’ve tried the most delicious one is with ground beef. Even though I am not a huge fan of ground beef, when it comes to nachos I love it with ground beef.

This is perfect for munching during game nights and movie nights.

Ground Beef Nachos:

Ingredients:

For cooking ground beef:

• Ground Beef, extra lean- 1 lb
• Red onion or white onion, small chopped- 2 no’s
• Oil- 2 tsp
• Ground cumin- 1 1/2 tsp
• Worcestershire sauce- 1 1/2 tbsp
• Tomato sauce, low sodium- 1 can (8oz)

Other ingredients:

• Tortilla chips- 1 bag
• Salsa, medium (optional)- 1 jar, 430 mL
• Jalapeno, pickled- according to your needs
• Cheddar cheese, grated- according to your needs

Preparation:

• Heat a wok or large pan, add oil.
• Add chopped onions, saute till tender.
• Add ground beef and using a spatula break it till there are no lumps in it.
• Cook till it is no longer pink.
• Add ground cumin and worcestershire sauce, combine well.
• Add tomato sauce and cook the ground beef till all the water dries off.
• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Grease a large baking dish with cooking spray.
• Layer half of the tortilla chips as the first layer.
• Layer half of the cooked ground beef as the second layer.
• Layer half of the salsa as the third layer. If you don’t have salsa just ignore this step.
• Add 5-6 jalapeno slices.
• Sprinkle grated cheese over it.
• Repeat the layers and sprinkle cheese over the top.
• Place the dish in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes till the cheese has melted.
• Serve in a plate and just dig in.

I’ve made my Superbowl Menu, have you???

The big day everyone has been anticipating is just around the corner. Football fans have started their bets. Foodies have started thinking about items to set on their table for the Superbowl party.

This year I am way ahead and have already planned my menu. So I thought, by posting the recipes before hand might help some of my readers and friends to plan their menu and try some of my recipes.

So here’s what I have on my Menu: It’s a 5 course menu.

Don’t you agree that Superbowl is all about fun and food? So why not make it 5 course or more

Soup:

• Express Chili Soup: Click here for the Recipe

Chili soup is one of the best soups for Superbowl. This recipe tells you how to make chili soup in just 30 minutes. It’s easy to make, yet tastes restaurant style.

Appetizer:

• Baked Beefy Potato: Click here for the Recipe:

Snacks:

• Homemade Tortilla chips : Click here for the recipe

Homemade Salsa: Click here for Recipe

Main Course:

• Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza: Click here for the Recipe

Dessert:

• Orange Panna cotta: Click here for the recipe

Without dessert, the fun is never complete. After all the fun, you would crave for something sweet. Orange Panna cotta is the perfect dessert you could make which will please everyone’s taste buds. It’s easy to prepare and you could even make this a day ahead and refrigerate. Just at the time of dessert, take these stunning dessert out of the refrigerator and share with your friends and family.

So let the Superbowl party begin!!! Go Colts!

Which team are you rooting for?

A bowl of salsa and a bag of tortilla chips is enough to make me a couch potato and I can go on munching them…

While grocery shopping, I always find it hard to resist a bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa, I easily fall for these. I don’t know how many bags and jars I had bought over the years, it’s better not to count If there is a party or just a casual gathering tortilla chips and salsa would be the star snacks and everybody will be seen busy munching them.

Every time I buy salsa from the store, I think to myself to make this in my kitchen. I must say I was too lazy and was quite addicted to the store bought ones.

You could make this few days ahead, store in an air tight container and keep it in the refrigerator.

Homemade Salsa:

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes, chopped- 3
• Onion, minced-1/2 cup
• Green pepper, chopped- 1 cup
• Red pepper, chopped- 1/4 cup
• Jalapeno peppers, seeded, chopped- 1/4 cup or depending upon how spicy you want it
• Garlic, minced- 2tsp
• Tomato paste- 3tbsp
• Cumin powder- 1 tsp
• Cider Vinegar- 1/4 cup
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Place chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic in a sauce pan.
• Add cider vinegar to the veggies, heat it and let come to a boil.

• Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the veggies have turned tender.
• Add salt, cumin powder and tomato paste to the cooked veggies and simmer for few more minutes.
• Let the mixture thicken and remove from flame, allow it to cool down.

• You could store the cooled salsa in an air tight container and keep it in the refrigerator.
• Enjoy the homemade salsa with homemade baked tortilla chips ( Click for recipe).

Tips:

Adjust the spice level of the salsa by altering the amount of jalapeno peppers.

Who could resist homemade tortillas and baked tortilla chips???

One thing you could see in my refrigerator is store bought tortillas stacked up. If I have tortillas, I just have to worry about making something to go with it. I always go with store bought ones. One concern I have while buying them is the excessive sodium content, hence I try to get low sodium and low carb ones.

When I looked through the “Things to try in my kitchen”  list, tortilla was on the top. So, last weekend, even before my lazy self woke up to stop me from making this, I kind of took over it and made this in my kitchen. When I was done making this, my lazy self was all awake to taste it.

The verdict:  Tortillas were soft, puffed up and easy to make.

For making tortillas I had to buy Masa Harina. Masa harina is the traditional flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and other Mexican dishes. Literally translated from Spanish, it means “dough flour,” because the flour is made from dried masa, a dough from specially treated corn.

After making the tortillas, I cut them into triangle shapes and baked them after seasoning some of them with paaprika, garlic powder etc. In just 10 minutes, tortillas got a baked tortilla chips makeover.

Homemade Tortilla:

Makes: 9 Tortilla

• Instant corn masa flour or Masa Harina, available in Mexican aisle- 1 cup

• Warm water- 1/2 cup or enough to make a soft dough

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, add the flour and add warm water to it and knead it a soft dough.
• Knead for at least 5 minutes to make it soft.

• Make medium sized balls out of the dough.

• I flattened the dough using a Tortilla press.

• If you have tortilla press: first, cut a plastic freezer bag into two and spread these on both sides of the press.
• This is to avoid sticking the dough on to the press.

• Place one of the dough balls on to the press, close the press and give it a press.

• It will flatten the dough and you’ll get a round shape.

• Peel it from the plastic and transfer it to the hot griddle.
• If you don’t have the tortilla press, you could make this with your hands: Flatten the dough in between the sheets of plastic into a round, as thin as you can make it without tearing.
• Heat a cast iron pan or non-stick pan over medium high heat.
• Place the flattened dough on to the hot pan and let cook for 20 seconds.

• Flip it over and let cook on that side too.
• Gently press the edges and the center of the tortilla using a spatula until it starts to puff up slightly.

• When both the sides get golden brown spots on it, remove from the pan.
• Place them in an air tight container to prevent from drying out.
• Repeat this process until you have made all the tortillas.

Making Baked Tortilla chips:

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Stack up as many tortillas as you want on a cutting board.

• Using a sharp knife, gently cut into half and then into quarters, you’ll get triangle shaped tortillas.

• Single out the cut tortillas.

• Grease a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
• Place the tortilla triangles on the sheet without crowding them.
• Again, spray the top of tortillas with the cooking spray.
• You could also sprinkle little paprika or any other toppings of your choice.

• Bake this for 7-10 minutes or until crispy and golden in color.
• Keep an eye on them to avoid burning the chips.
• After 7-10 minutes, it will turn crispy, take out of the oven and cool them.
• Enjoy this homemade baked tortillas with homemade Salsa.