Three ingredients were the key to my survival in college: tortilla chips, shredded cheddar and chunky salsa. Armed with a Chevron card borrowed from my father, I would charge anything and everything under the sun, except actual gasoline. My starving-student diet consisted of Dr. Pepper, chocolate milk, hot dogs, bologna and, yes, even “homemade” nachos. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
I’ve come a long way since those junk-food days (well, depending on who you ask), yet those trashy nachos still remain firmly rooted in my culinary arsenal. It often humors my boyfriend when I return home ravenous from a late night at work and immediately pull the chips from the cabinet. Even with a fridge full of more civilized ingredients, sometimes all a girl wants is something fattening and familiar. But before you judge, just think about your favorite nostalgic treats. Come on, I know there has to be a dirty secret lurking somewhere in your refrigerator.
Fortunately, I’ll spare you the “recipe” for that ol’ heat-and-eat mess. I’ve decided to give nachos the old college try, and I think even the haters out there will approve of this Southern-style update. Imagine slow-cooked pulled pork drizzled with sweet-and-tangy barbecue sauce and ladled with creamy cheddar. It’s finished off with cilantro-sour cream, pickled jalapenos and a sprinkling of queso fresco. Each of the components is delicious in its own right, but paired together you get something truly sublime. The only way these nachos could get any better is if they’re washed down with an ice-cold beer. And that, my friends, is how to earn a culinary diploma!
This recipe can be as simple or complex as you’d like. Feeling lazy? Just pick up some smoked pork at your favorite barbecue house and add your favorite sauce. If you only do one thing, though, by all means make the cheddar sauce from scratch. You’ll never go back to the neon-yellow box again. Trust me, you’re conscience (and your taste buds) will thank you for it.
Pulled Pork Nachos
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 3 hours and 30 minutes (including oven time for pulled pork)
Yield: 4 – 6
For the nachos:
1 bag good-quality tortilla chips
2 cups warm Pulled Pork (recipe below)
Cheddar Cheese Sauce (recipe below), to taste
Barbecue Sauce (recipe below), to taste
To serve:
Cilantro-Sour Cream (recipe below)
Pickled jalapenos
Queso fresco or Cotija cheese, crumbled
Salsa verde
Hot sauce
To assemble the nachos, arrange the tortilla chips on a large serving platter. Pile with warm pulled park. Drizzle barbecue and cheddar sauce over the top, to taste. Garnish with pickled jalapenos and crumbled queso fresco. Serve with cilantro-sour cream , salsa verde and hot sauce on the side.
For the Pulled Pork :
3 1/2 – 4-pound, bone-in pork butt, fat intact (also known as pork shoulder)
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup lager-style beer (like Budweiser)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
First, make the spice rub. Whisk together the paprika, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, mustard powder and cayenne. Massage the spice rub into the pork butt, coating on all sides.
Place the rubbed pork in a large Dutch oven; add beer, cider vinegar and liquid smoke. Cover and cook for approximately 3 hours, basting occasionally, until the pork easily falls apart. Remove the pork to a large cutting board while still hot. Cut off excess fat and carefully shred the meat; it is harder to pull once it has cooled. (I either wear heavy-duty rubber gloves on my hands or use my new “bear paws,” but two large forks would work, too.) Place the shredded pork back into the Dutch oven and toss with its cooking juices. Cover and set aside until moving forward with the recipe. Yields: 1-1/2 to 2 pounds pulled pork, depending on the amount of fat and bone on the cut.
To reheat, cook the barbecue (in its Dutch oven) over medium-low heat until warm. If you want crispier shredded pork (more like your favorite barbecue house), reheat it on the stovetop first, then spread it on a sheet pan and pop it under the broiler for a few minutes, watching carefully so it does not burn.
For the Cheddar Cheese Sauce :
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Kosher salt, to taste
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the eggs and evaporated milk. Turn heat to medium-low; add mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and half of the shredded cheese. Once the cheese sauce begins to warm, add the cornstarch-water mixture (aka the slurry). Whisking frequently, gradually add the remaining cheese and cook until the sauce reaches desired thickness, about 10 – 13 minutes. (The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Stir in more evaporated milk if necessary.) Season generously with kosher salt.
To reheat the cheddar sauce , add additional evaporated milk to the cheese — one tablespoon at a time — while whisking over medium-low heat until desired consistency is reached. Yields: 2 cups sauce
For the Barbecue Sauce :
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup steak sauce or marinade (such as Dale’s or Allegra)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
Generous amount of freshly ground pepper
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients, whisking to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil; reduce heat and simmer. Cook until the mixture is thickened, approximately 10 minutes. (This barbecue sauce only gets better with time, so feel free to make it a few days in advance.) Yields: 2 cups sauce
For the Cilantro-Sour Cream Sauce :
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice (about half a lime)
Kosher salt, to taste
In a small bowl, mix the sour cream, cilantro and lime juice until well combined. Season with salt, to taste. Chill for at least one hour before serving. Add more lime juice and salt before serving, if desired.
More Football Party Foods on Cooking Channel
- Top Big Game Eats
- A World of Hot Wings
- The Playbook: Cooking Tips
- Rachael’s Make-Ahead Chili
- Jalapeno Poppers
More Southern Eats From Nealey
Nealey moved from Alabama to the West Coast to follow her dreams, only to realize once there how much she missed good ol’ country cooking. So she took to the kitchen and began re-creating the dishes of her past, but this time without any help from a can. What started out as a hobby turned into an obsession, so she quit her day job to pursue cooking, and eating, fulltime. Dixie Caviar is where you can follow her pursuits of all things Southern.
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Title…
[...]we like to honor many other world wide web internet sites around the net, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]…
Another Title…
I saw this really great post today….
Title…
[...]check beneath, are some entirely unrelated web-sites to ours, however, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[...]…
Daily Trade Signal…
Stock and ETF Trading Signal. DailyTradeSignal will alert Buy & Sell signals for Stock and ETF Trading….
Healing’s Dragon…
to search out difficulties to boost my internet site!I suppose its alright to create usage of several of the principles!!…
Title…
[...]we came across a cool site which you could possibly enjoy. Take a search when you want[...]…
Title…
[...]just beneath, are numerous absolutely not connected web sites to ours, on the other hand, they’re certainly worth going over[...]…
Title…
[...]The info mentioned in the article are a few of the ideal out there [...]…
Thorn of Girl…
Excellent info could be identified on this online weblog….
tips to get pregnant…
below you’ll obtain the link to some web pages that we assume you ought to visit…
The Absent Game…
Concerning me and my husband we have owned additional MP3 gamers through the years than I can count, such as Sansas, iRivers, iPods (common & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few several years I’ve settled down to one line of players….
Title…
[...]Here are a number of the internet sites we suggest for our visitors[...]…
Title…
[...]Every once inside a while we pick blogs that we study. Listed beneath are the most current sites that we select [...]…
Websites you should visit…
Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose…
Title…
[...]please stop by the websites we adhere to, including this 1, as it represents our picks from the web[...]…
Title…
[...]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated data, nonetheless definitely really worth taking a look, whoa did one particular master about Mid East has got more problerms also [...]…
Great website…
please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web…
Title…
[...]one of our guests not long ago recommended the following website[...]…
Title…
[...]always a huge fan of linking to bloggers that I adore but do not get a great deal of link love from[...]…
Title…
[...]The info talked about inside the article are a number of the most beneficial readily available [...]…
Whispering Misty…
So sorry you may skip the workshop!…
Title…
[...]here are some hyperlinks to internet sites that we link to simply because we consider they may be really worth visiting[...]…
fantastic setup…
I could immediately clutch system i465 i465 more darkish the rss while i can’t to discover the real e-mail join link in addition to newsletter technique. Execute maybe you have almost virtually almost any kind of? Please allow personally understand to…
Title…
[...]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated information, nevertheless really really worth taking a search, whoa did a single discover about Mid East has got additional problerms at the same time [...]…
Title…
[...]very handful of web-sites that come about to become in depth beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly very well really worth checking out[...]…
Title…
[...]check beneath, are some completely unrelated websites to ours, nonetheless, they’re most trustworthy sources that we use[...]…
The Ships’s Voyages…
I feel technology just can make it worse. Now there’s a channel to under no circumstances care, now there will not likely be considered a likelihood for them to discover….
Title…
[...]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[...]…
Title…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not associated to ours, we feel they are in fact really worth a go via, so possess a look[...]…
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
extremely crucial manual…
Excellent write-up, I’m normal customer regarding one’s web-site, hold a outstanding make the most of, together and It is actually relocating because ordinary tourist for that personal lengthy instant….
Woman of Alien…
Excellent operate you have got done, this website is de facto great with fantastic info. Time is God’s way of keeping every little thing from occurring without delay….
Title…
[...]check beneath, are some totally unrelated web sites to ours, nevertheless, they’re most trustworthy sources that we use[...]…
Title…
[...]although sites we backlink to below are considerably not connected to ours, we feel they are in fact really worth a go by way of, so have a look[...]…
Title…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but do not get a great deal of link love from[...]…
Title…
[...]just beneath, are a lot of totally not connected web-sites to ours, even so, they’re surely really worth going over[...]…
Title…
[...]here are some hyperlinks to websites that we link to simply because we assume they’re worth visiting[...]…
Title…
[...]Every the moment inside a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed beneath would be the latest sites that we pick out [...]…
very viewed because web instance…
Wonderful wipe away! We desire that allows you to newbie whereas someone modify a person site, the manner in that could we often join any type of web blog website? The precise organization data aided myself the particular applicable make obtainable. We…
Title…
[...]Here are several of the websites we recommend for our visitors[...]…
Title…
[...]usually posts some pretty interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]…
Title…
[...]below you will obtain the link to some web pages that we consider you must visit[...]…
Keep Reading…
I really enjoy the blog. Really many thanks! Really Cool….
lose weight in a week…
one of our visitors a short while ago suggested the following website…
Title…
[...]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[...]…
Title…
[...]always a huge fan of linking to bloggers that I enjoy but really don’t get a lot of link love from[...]…
Title…
[...]we like to honor several other net web-sites on the net, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Below are some webpages really worth checking out[...]…
Title…
[...]very couple of sites that take place to become comprehensive beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly well really worth checking out[...]…
Title…
[...]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine several unrelated information, nonetheless genuinely worth taking a look, whoa did one understand about Mid East has got much more problerms too [...]…