Stinque Recipe Challenge

I was going to dive back into Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but the girlfriend wants nachos.  If you wish, go grab the ingredients and cook along with me.  I am cooking from scratch and making it up as I go along.


For the refritos (to be used as a topping): one can of Goya frijoles negros, one can chicken stock, one tsp. salt (but only because I mistakenly bought low sodium organic chicken stock), half a can of water, two small bay leaves, one packet Sazón Goya con Azafran, and one strip of bacon.

Put everything but the bacon into a saucepan, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a bare simmer, put the bacon strip in, and put the cover on so as to just allow the pot to vent.

The plan is to slooowly cook the beans down until I can mash them.  The apartment smells amazing.

Other ingredients:  bag of organic corn chips, one small red onion, one small white onion, one lemon, one avocado, one tomato (for garnish), one can chopped green chilis (for garnish), calamata olives (for garnish), one small container sour cream (for garnish), and jack cheese (in my case, Australian jack cheese that Fairway had on sale).

The next and final post will contain the rest of the cooking steps and show the assembly.

UPDATE: Cooked the beans down for about two hours, and now they are about the consistency of pancake batter. Lots of stirring at the end to make sure they didn’t scorch.

I plan to let them cool to room temperature, then refrigerate them until I’m ready to back the chips and cheese. And I can’t find the second bay leaf. Ack.

22 Comments

That’s so weird, because I just finished a lunch of nachos after an insane work out class at the gym that left me dizzy and shaking. However, no chicken stock was involved…my nachos were: unsalted tortilla chips, the left over meat from Taco Tuesday (ground turkey with my special mix of seasonings), sour cream, fresh salsa, drained can of black beans, and shredded Jack cheese. Sadly we had no guacamole in the house. I now am regretting scarfing down all that food and will have to sprawl on the couch and watch Roger Federer run around a tennis court.

@SanFranLefty: Hah – while you, sensibly, toss a few leftovers together, I turn the same dish into a ridiculous, labor-intensive marathon. I wonder – if I ordered nachos from our local taqueria, Fresco Tortilla – they’re all over the damn city (and Chinese owned!) and set them alongside what I’m going to end up with (let’s say someone else made it), which would I prefer?

@blogenfreude: I was never impressed by the quality of Tex-Mex in NYC, so yours will probably be better. The taco meat was actually somewhat labor-intensive when I made it on Tuesday, because of my technique with cooking the garlic and onions and tomatoes and the four types of peppers and then adding the meat and seasoning everything at different stages…so after four days, the flavors have really seeped in nicely on the meat.

@karen marie: When she collapsed over at about 1:00, I squealed. Funny she has a Chip chew toy, since a previous post was getting Chip and Dale Not-MSNBC-Ads for some of us this morning.

@SanFranLefty: The chili enchiladas from FT are just delicious despite a cardinal error – red beans in the chili. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a decent tamale on the Upper West Side – a couple places in midtown deliver an acceptable one. I may turn my attention to making those …. And if you’ve got your taco meat recipe written down, pls forward (or a decent tamale recipe).

just taste-tested the beans – proportions seems to be right as there’s an initial smoky flavor with the flavor of the spices close behind. I think I’ll put in more liquid and cook ’em down a bit more. update – tasted them again, and I think I’ll let them continue until thickened, take out the bay leaves and and bacon, and mash ’em and set them aside until I’m ready to assemble.

@blogenfreude: You own. Boiled anything from your own kitchen is more fun and probably more nutritious than half the stuff you can get at a restaurant.

@FlyingChainSaw: I have a more complicated refrito recipe somewhere – I’ll post it at some point – contains cumin and a lot of other ingredients. This time I went with the azafran, which has a bit of cumin and turmeric among other things. If you haven’t cooked with it, you should try it – magical little spice packet.

@blogenfreude: Recipe not written down, I’m running out the door now but will write it down for you when I get back. I agree with FCS – cumin is critical.

@Dodgerblue: Are you going to the game? How about those Giants, eh?

@SanFranLefty: No, not going.

Giants are the beneficiaries of the Pads losing 10 in a row. The Dodgers have packed it in; I think they should call up a bunch of AAA kids and give them some playing time. At least they would play hard.

@blogenfreude: Cumin seeds. Mortar and pestle. Arm. We Gods of the Kitchen don’t need no fucking packets.

And the lime? When it is all done, you chop a lime in half with a machete, grab both halves and crush them over the assembled nachos and your guests shout OLE! at the top of their lungs.

@FlyingChainSaw: Or douse it w/ 151 rum and light it on fire! Meh – at this point, I’m cooking it slow, but standard.

@FlyingChainSaw:
the rat and i always sit around our own table and say the same thing: this is my favorite restaurant! he had to learn to cook these last 2 years, he’s not bad.

@blogenfreude:
blog, isn’t the Silver Palate near you? i love that place. a secret: my world famous apple pie? it’s right out of their cookbook. btw, i tried and loved nana’s blintzes. big hit.

@baked: Glad you enjoyed the blintzes – and it looks, from here, like the Silver Palate era is over. But if you have other information ….

@baked: Baked, after what he did to you, he should eat the fucking guacamole off your ass, beg forgiveness and then ask if he can do the dishes.

@blogenfreude: Yeah, which reminds me, while the nachos are flaming, spouse or girlfriend should shout OLE! and plaster the dish onto her breasts for you to eat with savage, wanton abandon.

It’s traditional.

@baked: Darling, you scared me. I thought you were going to say that you cooked. I have to sit down.

@Dodgerblue: Tree 7, Uklah Nil.

And in other Pac-10 Sport, the Nojos Ducks had the best TD of the day with that gorgeous 72 yard run against the Vols.

@Tony Blair Witch Project: She only bakes.

@FlyingChainSaw:
ive tormented him, as is fair. you meant beg to do the dishes, right?

@SanFranLefty:
that gives me an idea: i should fed ex my pot brownies after harvest!
stinquers need my baked goods.

@Tony Blair Witch Project:
i love to cook. it’s been hard these past 2 years only making reservations……

@NOJO…we had what looked liked a great recipe for pot brownies…can you crank up the flux capacitator and find it?

@bloggie…they closed in 93??? i haven’t been in your hood for that long? i have to sit down. get thee one of their cookbooks…every recipe a winner!
disappointed i didn’t get to nyc this summer…my 81 year old dad is very very busy. going up to see bakette and GSoB in mid october and dad is coming down to philly. this dog is interfering mightily with travel plans…but i’ll get there. RAINCHECK !!
yes, today it’s THAT DOG. puppyhood with a bulldozer are us. she’s eating the walls.

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