Nachos in Paradise: 2nd Annual Nacho Cook Off

Once again we were blessed by the kindness of Amy hosting the 2^nd Annual Nacho Cook off at her beautiful cheesecake store, Cake Envy. This year there were just 4 competitors as well as Danielle's famous guacamole. There were also many hungry and happy judges ready to devour the entries. Two teams took over the kitchen at a time to bring out their delicious dishes. Tom B. and Beth went first with their "Americana Nachos," followed closely by Tom T. and Shananigans with their "Thai Nachos." Next was Amy and her "Sushi Nachos" with new competitors Rachelle and Galen with their "Beer Cheese Totchos." It was a close race. The nachos were all so amazing! I swear the food that comes out in these food comps and potlucks is better than anything you can get at a restaurant. By less than a point the Thai Nachos took first place, with Sushi Nachos as the runners up. We celebrated Uma's birthday with delicious lilikoi cheesecake and made new friends. I cannot wait to see what the teams come up with next year.

1st Place - Thai Nachos

Thai Nachos

Ingredients:

· 1 tablespoon coconut oil

· Chicken breasts (about 1 lb?)

· Red, Yellow, Orange bell peppers (1-2 of each diced)

· Fresh Garlic (5-6 cloves diced)

· Fresh Ginger (few tablespoons shredded)

· Coconut milk (about a can)

· Fresh basil (about ¼ cup finely chopped)

· Fresh cilantro (about ¼ cup finely chopped)

· Cheese, shredded or cubed (I just used cheddar but you can play around with this however you like) – amount depends on how cheesy you want your nachos. I like mine smothered. Probably 8-32oz depending on how much nachos you are making.

· Salt to taste

· Flour (2-4 tablespoons or until you get it to the thickness you want)

· Butter (1/2- 1 stick)

· Milk (1-2 cups)

· Hot peppers (5-6 or as HOT as you wanna make it. The dairy will cool it off) – very finely diced or put in a little food processor

· Sweet Chili Sauce (just enough to drizzle on top)

· Sriracha (just enough to drizzle on top)

· Peanuts (about 1 cup crushed)

· Fresh Carrot (about 1.5 cups shredded)

· Tortilla chips(thicker work better to hold up against all the liquidy toppings)

· Large Foil pan

I made the recipe up and kinda just throw what I think looks good in so apologies for not exact measurements.

Start off with heating some coconut oil in large sauce pan and then throw the minced garlic in for a few minutes. Add the ginger. Then add the chopped up chicken and coconut milk. Slow cook this chicken until the coconut milk is almost completely absorbed into the coconut milk and then add the colorful peppers.

Queso: Melt the butter and heat milk with it. Bring just to a simmer. Add the flour and whisk the hell out of it to thicken it. You don’t want soupy queso cause it will make the chips soggy. It is very hard to add the flour after the cheese and then your queso will taste like flour so make sure you have a pretty good consistency before adding the peppers and cheese. You can also add salt to taste. Once the cheese is added, keep whisking it until it is all melted. I prefer my queso a little on the thick side so it stays on the chips and doesn’t end up at the bottom of the bowl.

I like to serve them in individual bowls/plates because they are so messy and covered in toppings. You can either do that or make one large aluminum dish. I heat the chips up in the oven for a few minutes before the toppings are ready to be assembled.

Assembly: Grab the warm chips from the oven and place in dish. Cover with cheese. Spoon layer of chicken mixture over cheese (If there is extra liquid, try to strain out as much liquid as you can before putting on the chips). Sprinkle basil and cilantro all over. Drizzle sweet chili sauce and sriracha. Sprinkle layer of shredded carrots. Finish with a layer of chopped peanuts.

BEST NACHOS EVER!

2nd place - Sushi Nachos

Sushi Nachos
Deconstructed California Roll
Homemade won ton chips topped with sushi rice, crab meat mixed with sriracha mayo, cucumber, carrot, and avocado. Drizzle with more spicy mayo and shoyu.