Tag Archives: recipe

Eight-layer nachos (REC0008)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

After canvassing multiple people, and various recipes, I wanted to come up with a definitive personal nachos recipe. We considered lots of variations, but this was the winning combo for us.

EIGHT-LAYER NACHOS (REC0008)

Difficulty

Low

Meal

Dinner /

Snack

Genre

Quick and easy

Yield

Serves 4

Time

Prep: 10-30m

Cook: 10-15m

Rating

★★★★★
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Sous-chef preparations:

  1. Dice and brown 2 cups of chicken (reduces later cooking time) with the taco or pico salsa seasoning.
  2. Dice 1/4 cup of green onions.
  3. Clean, slice and dice two red bell peppers.
  4. Drain 1 cup of mild salsa.

Main preparations:

  1. Using a large baking dish, do one complete layer of tortilla chips.
  2. Add a layer of shredded cheddar cheese (1 cup).
  3. Add a layer of already-cooked diced chicken (2 cups).
  4. Add a layer of green onions (1/4 cup).
  5. Add a layer of bell peppers (2 peppers).
  6. Add a layer of tortilla chips.
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#50by50 #06 – Crowd-sourcing an eight-layer nachos recipe

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

A lot of people are likely to think that this goal hardly merits being a “50 things by 50” item, and I can see their point. It’s not a “bucket list” type item like bungee jumping or something equally extreme, nor necessarily exotic like a trip to the Galapagos. But that isn’t what my 50by50 list is about — some of them are large, some are small, and some are Goldilocks items — just right for me.

A nacho recipe is one of those “just right” items for me. I have long-wanted a “definitive” recipe for nachos, one by which all other nachos that I encounter will be measured. I think part of my attraction to it is that it is not the type of food I grew up with, and the thought of my mom and a nachos recipe is laughable. The meat and potatoes regime that I grew up would have considered nachos like this to be something akin to “weird ethnic food”, the way even foodies might view eating insects dipped in chocolate or bull’s testicles.  » Read the rest

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English Muffin Pizza (REC0007)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

It’s almost hard to call this a “new recipe” as it’s a recipe we’ve used several times before, and it is really just using English muffins for your pizza crust with assembly of different toppings. But I thought I would add it here anyway. I have a small bias towards including pepperoni in every variation, but technically it is optional. 🙂

ENGLISH MUFFIN PIZZA (REC0007)

Difficulty

Low

Meal

Dinner /

Snack

Genre

Fast

Yield

12 mini-pizzas

Time

Prep: 10-30m

Cook: 10-15m

Rating

★★★★☆
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Sous-chef preparations:

  1. Slice English muffins in half.
  2. Prepare (slice/dice) any of the optional additional toppings.

Main preparations:

  1. Pre-cook any of the extra toppings if necessary (brown ground beef, sausage, etc.)
  2. Spread the sauce evenly over the cut English muffins.
  3. Add any additional toppings from the variations below.
  4. Add cheese on top.
  5. If you are eating immediately, place the English muffins on baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes PLUS an additional 5-8 minutes depending on how many toppings you add and/or number of additional mini-pizzas you are cooking.
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Cowboy Beef Dip (REC0006)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

This was an adaptation from a ground beef recipe book that I picked up when Andrea bought the Epicure silicone steamers that are so good at cooking ground beef quickly and easily. I didn’t use it for this recipe, as there are other ingredients to cook with the beef, but that was more choice than necessity. I’ve been looking for a dip-like recipe, or a softer chili recipe at least, and thought this might be worth a try. A definite keeper.

COWBOY BEEF DIP (REC0006)

Difficulty

Low

Meal

Dinner

Genre

Beef

Yield

3 servings

Time

Prep: 20m

Cook: 25m

Rating

★★★★☆
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Sous-chef preparations:

  1. Chop the onion.
  2. Chop the peppers.
  3. If using block cheddar, shred the cheese.

Main preparations:

  1. Using a large skillet or dutch oven, cook the beef, onion, and peppers over medium heat until the pink in the beef is gone. Drain.
  2. Mix the nacho cheese dip powder with 1 cup of sour cream and add it to the skillet.
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Sweet Chicken Curry (in a slow cooker) (REC0005)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

This was an adaptation from a diet recipe book for slow cookers, and was a pretty easy recipe (particularly using the slow cooker, but also just the limited number of items to chop / dice / slice). And the mango chutney is really the key to the sweet taste. Wasn’t a big fan of chutney before, but it is awesome here.

SWEET CHICKEN CURRY (in a slow-cooker) (REC0005)

Difficulty

Low

Meal

Dinner

Genre

Asian

Yield

4 servings

Time

Prep: 20m

Cook: 4.5h

Rating

★★★★☆
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Qty Ingredients

Sous-chef preparations:

  1. Chop the chicken into 1-inch pieces.
  2. Chop the pepper into 1-inch pieces.
  3. Slice the onion.
  4. Seed and chop the tomato.

Main preparations:

  1. Place the chicken, bell pepper, and onion in the slow cooker, and mix it together well.
  2. Add the tomato on top, evenly distributed.
  3. In a small or medium bowl, combine the mango chutney, water, cornstarch and curry powder.
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