Its that time of the year. No, I'm not referring to the leaves turning to pretty autumn colors. Or that Starbucks is once again serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I'm talking about FOOTBALL season baby! Its time for tailgates, potlucks, Sunday and Monday night being the highlight of the week, and lots of beer. I promise that even if your team loses, you will still be a winner if you serve these Game Day Nachos with homemade Green Chili Cheddar Cheese Sauce!
Before I continue, I must take this time to say GO CHARGERS! And yes, the back of my shirt reads "My team is better than yours" ;)
Now back to your new favorite game day grub. It starts with a from scratch nacho sauce. This "nacho" average nacho sauce. Its a classic Béchamel sauce spiced up with green chile, cheddar cheese, and cayenne pepper. Nachos are like pizza, they're good even when they are bad...I'm not saying I wouldn't chow down a plate of nachos made with processed cheese sauce, but this homemade cheese sauce with all your favorite flavors plus quality ingredients is a Touchdown recipe!
Begin by making a Roux, a common culinary technique to thicken a sauce by cooking together equal parts of fat and flour. Then to finish your Béchamel sauce, you slowly whisk in milk to the Roux. Now to make this classic French cream sauce football worthy, you mix in green chile, cayenne, and lots of cheddar cheese.
You end up with a super thick, cheesy, spicy nacho sauce that will earn you some diehard fans.
To assemble your nachos start with a layer of tortilla chips, a layer of refried beans, and a layer of colby jack cheese. You could also add a layer of shredded chicken or ground beef if your not a veggie like me!
Pop the nachos in to the oven for about 5 minutes. I don't like to add the Green Chili Cheddar Cheese sauce just yet because I find it makes the chips a little too soggy and doesn't allow for the other cheese to melt and chips to get crispy and heated through.
After you have prebaked your nachos, take them out of the oven and generously drizzle on your cheese sauce and pop them back into the oven for a couple more minutes.
You can't win the game with just a solid quarterback, you need the whole offensive line to score. Just like its necessary to smother these nachos with chopped green onions, tomatoes, avocados, hot sauce, and sour cream to really have a touchdown treat!
There will be plenty of leftover Green Chili Cheddar Cheese sauce to spoon extra on top of each serving, just make sure to keep the sauce hot because it loses its saucey consistency when it gets too cold.
Make these Game Day Nachos at your next football gathering and I can guarantee you will be the MVP of the season!
Game Day Nachos with Green Chili Cheddar Cheese Sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 4oz can chopped green chiles, drained
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 cup Colby Jack cheese
Tortilla Chips
16 oz refried beans
Garnishes:
avocado, chopped
green onions, chopped
tomatoes, chopped
hot sauce
sour cream
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow the flour to color. While whisking constantly, add the milk in a steady stream. Add the green chiles and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and bubbly. Add the Cheddar, salt, and cayenne pepper and stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Keep covered and hot.
In a baking dish, assemble a layer of tortilla chips. Top with a layer of heated refried beans and the Colby Jack cheese. Bake in oven uncovered for five minutes, or until cheese has melted. Take out of oven and generously drizzle Green Chili Cheddar Cheese sauce over nachos. Bake again for a couple of minutes, until cheese sauce is hot and bubbly. Top nachos with chopped avocado, green onions, tomatoes, hot sauce, and a big dollop of sour cream. Use remaining Cheese sauce to top each individual serving of nachos.
adapted from Emeril Lagasse
