The 'How to Cook' Blog

KATE HEYHOE is the cofounder and executive editor of GlobalGourmet.com (formerly eGG, the electronic Gourmet Guide). Founded in 1994, the Global Gourmet is the oldest and one of the most successful food sites on the web. Kate is also the author of Cooking with Kids For Dummies, A Chicken in Every Pot: Global Recipes for the World’s Most Popular Bird,, and coauthor of Harvesting the Dream: The Rags-to-Riches Tale of the Sutter Home Winery. She lives in southern California. The nacho has universal appeal. It’s a finger food, it crunches, it’s Tex-Mex, it’s tasty. It’s quick and easy, yet it’s still satisfying. Anyone can make a good nacho. It’s casual enough to eat on the couch in front of the game, but it can be gussied up for any occasion: like hamburgers, pizza, and other wildly popular casual foods, nacho variations are vast, and techniques are important. That’s where Macho Nachos comes in handy, beginning with the fundamentals—what cooking vessel to use, what temperature, which cheeses and chips work best (and which really don’t), how to make cleanup easier, and how to avoid bad results (soggy on the one hand, burnt on the other). Then on to recipes: Speedy Nachos (the easiest recipes) such as Traditional Tex-Mex “Nacho’s Nachos”; Smoked Chicken, Roasted Peppers, and Asiago Cheese Nachos; and Nachos de Carnitas. Then there are Uptown Nachos, for those social situations when it might actually be necessary to tuck the shirt into the pants and perhaps entertain the fairer sex: Jamaican Rum Chicken Nachos; Popcorn Shrimp Baja Nachos; and Crabmeat and Spinach Nachos. There are even Breakfast and Dessert Nachos. And of course, Macho Nachos is a rich source of homemade condiments—the pièce de resistance (if you will) of the well-appointed nacho—for those chefs too advanced to settle for a jar: from classic Pico de Gallo to Ginger-Watermelon.