Hip Hip! Hooray.

By: Teri

I am firm believer that cooking is an ongoing experiment. When I watch cooking shows, or read cookbooks, and am told, 'Now, make SURE you follow this exactly, because it won't turn out right if you don't', I laugh. Maybe that's true of baking; after all, nobody wants flat, hard-as-a-rock cookies, or under-done biscuits. But when it comes to recipes for MEALS? I say experiment constantly. Tweak the recipe. Add what you like, subtract what you don't. Double it. Triple it. Throw in some wine, some stray herbs, some honey - the sky is the limit. Half the fun of cooking is throwing a bunch of crazy things into the mix and watching it with fingers crossed hoping its edible, or if you 're lucky, frickin' amazing.

Bflo is one of those types of guys that never cooks. Not because he's lazy, but because I seldom let him in the kitchen. He learned early on to decipher my heavy sigh as a 'Get the hell out of my kitchen'. So when he does have to fend for himself, he gets rather uh...creative. Scary is the word. This man has been known to make a breading for cube steak out of crushed up Doritos. He once tossed a handful of honey roasted peanuts into a pot of dirty rice and called it dinner. He has a habit of melting chocolate bars over Little Debbie honeybuns in the toaster oven and eating two or three at a time (why he doesn't weigh 5,000 lbs is another story for another day).

So one night I'm out, and he has to cook his own dinner. I get home and he's eating what he called a 'Bflo Pizza' - a tortilla covered in cheddar cheese and topped with salsa, pepperoni, black olives, green olives and jalapenos. I was terrified to learn that he'd kindly made me one too, with fake sausage. I took that first bite with much trepidation...and it was delicious. From there I devised the following recipe. I made it a little more glamorous, but not much. Instead of a soft, boring, banal tortilla, I made it into nachos, and added a few grown up things like pesto, caramelized onions (you'll see me use them a lot) and a creamy white sauce.

Who doesn't love Italian food? And who doesn't love Mexican food? Mexican is my favorite ethnic cuisine and always has been. Not to mention that I'm Italian...so to me, the fusing of these two can only result in deliciousness. Yes, it is so.

Italian Nachos aren't a new concept. But I've noticed that a lot of recipes call for won ton sheets, torn and fried in oil as the 'chips'. While I'm sure that's delicious, it sounded pretty unhealthy, greasy, and like a lot of work. I knew that Tostitos used to make a flour chip, but after a fruitless search, figured that apparently they've been discontinued. As a substitute, I used multigrain spelt tortilla chips, from the organic brand Garden of Eatin' - they worked perfectly.

Italian Nachos ala Teeray!

1/2 red onion, cut into strips

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips

4 button or baby bella mushrooms, sliced

4-5 small black olives, chopped (you can also use a can of black olives, if you wish)

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes

Handful assorted lettuce (I like arugula and romaine), washed and torn

1 stalk scallion, sliced

1/2 package Morningstar sausage grounds

1/2 cup vegetable or fake chicken stock

1/2 cup 2% milk

Italian cheese blend

1/2 tsp honey

dash lemon juice

dash white wine

olive oil

2 tsp butter

flour

basil pesto

crushed red pepper

nutmeg

1 package multigrain tortilla chips

1. In a medium sized skillet set on medium high, heat 1 tsp butter until melted, add onions and pepper strips. Saute for about a minute, add honey, then reduce heat to medium low. Saute until onions are light brown and softened.

2. In a medium sized saucepan, heat olive oil on medium high, then add fake sausage, mushrooms, and olives. Cook together until well heated and for the flavors to incorporate. Add a dash of red pepper; remove from heat.

3. In a small saucepan, melt 1 tsp butter and add garlic. Saute on medium heat until browned, then add a couple of pinches of flour. Stir to incoporate (mixture will form a doughy liquid that Paula would call a 'roux'), then add dash of white wine to deglaze. Add stock and milk, stir to blend. Reduce heat to medium low. When the mixture reaches a simmer, add a dash of lemon juice and a dash of nutmeg, then reduce heat to low. If you want your white sauce to have a cheese flavor, add a small handful of cheese and stir to melt at this time. Keep on low heat so sauce doesn't congeal.

4. In another saucepan, add 1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes and heat until hot enough to serve.

5. Now its time to assemble your nachos. On a plate, place the chips in an even layer. Add the sausage and vegetable mixture first, then top with the white sauce. Don't be shy with it - the more you add, the yummier it is. Then add the caramelized onions and peppers, followed by the fire roasted tomatoes (a little of these goes a long way). Next drizzle pesto over; as much as you prefer according to your tastes. Top with a good handful of cheese. Pop nachos under a broiler until cheese is melted and chips are toasty.

6. Top nachos with chives and torn lettuce. Serve while hot.

You'll want to eat these with a fork nearby! Spillage is mandatory, and you won't want any to go to waste. These are seriously the best nachos I have ever had. Bflo said the same thing when he tried them. Would we lie to you?

I had a lot of cheese sauce and sausage mixture left over, so I used them the next day to make breakfast burritos. Just goes to show you, being innovative pays off! That's one idea turned into three different meals. Wooooot!