Those blasted nachos

 

In my eternal quest to find new recipes that my family will like, I came across one for crab sheet pan nachos. I know Christian loves crab, and who could resist a sauce of cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise plus green chilies and lime zest. One problem was that crab is so darn expensive—I didn’t think a weeknight meal merited a $26 lb. of crab. I considered canned crab which I’ve used successfully in other dishes, mostly the ubiquitous crab bites and once in a dip. Then I remembered Krab, the whitefish disguised as crab with red coloring. Jordan and I have had it in salads and liked it. I consulted with Christian to be sure he was okay with it. He was.

So then I decided it would be a good Saturday night supper. Recap: If you read an earlier blog, you know that Jean had to cancel for supper, because she was sick. I calculated and hurriedly stuck one pkg. of crab back in the freezer. It still had ice crystals. Then, when Jordan said Christian misunderstood and they had a previous engagement, I stuck the other pkg. back in and had canned salmon for my supper.

So this week, it seemed Tuesday would be a good night for nachos. Jean was coming to pick up rocks for her planters (a long, irrelevant story) and Jordan and Christian would be home. But I agonized over whether or not the crab was still edible, even woke in the night thinking about it. I went online, where all advice was against re-freezing because bacteria could have developed in the raw fish. Then I consulted Jean, and we decided it was okay because the seafood was already fully cooked and it didn’t stay out of the freezer long enough to hurt. As it turned out, I used only one pkg. and did discard the other. Two days later, all of us are okay. But I wouldn’t recommend such chance-taking.

The nachos were terrific but complicated, so much so that Jean read the last-minute directions to me while I worked. What follows is what I will do next time, with comments referring to the original recipe. There will definitely be a next time, because they were that good. Here’s what you need:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature (makes it so much easier to work with)

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

12 oz. lump crabmeat (my opinion now is you can use a 8 oz. pkg. of Krab whole pieces, and chop them into chunks a can of lump crabmet, or even a can of flaked crab which is quite inexpensive; I wasn’t aware of eating bites of crab, and the flaked would give you the flavor)

¾ cup sliced green onions (about four or five)

1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies

Grated zest of one lime

Salt and pepper

12 oz. yellow corn chips (don’t be bound by 12 oz.—use as much or as little as makes two good layers in your pan)

6 oz. grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (recipe said white cheddar, which is hard to find; yellow works fine; just be sure it is extra-sharp)

6 oz. grated Monterey Jack

4 oz. pickled jalapeño slices, drained and diced (totally optional: we served as a side accompaniment and did not put in the dish)

Here’s what to do:

Mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, crabmeat, scallions, chilies, lime zest, salt and pepper. This can be done early in the day and refrigerated until supper

Grease the sheet pan lightly and spread half the corn chips on it. Spoon the cheese/crab mixture over the chips in dollops, distributing as evenly as possible

Top with half the cheddar and half the Monterrey Jack

Top with remaining corn chips and then remaining cheeses.

Bake at 375—recipe said 20 minutes, but my oven runs a bit hot, and the chips were crisp and browning much sooner, so watch the dish carefully.

Sprinkle with lime juice and serve hot.

The recipe called for a topping of diced tomatoes (Christian doesn’t like), diced fresh jalapeño (I don’t like), minced onion, olive oil, avocado, and parsley or cilantro. We made it but served it as a side with the pickled jalapeño. I had also gotten some of the fresh guacamole from Central Market and served that on the side. Next time I will not bother with the topping but will use fresh guacamole, either home-made or good store-bought (not the smooth stuff in squeeze packets, thank you).

Christian said he was glad I finally cooked the nachos, because I'd been talking and worrying about them all week. We all thought they were outstanding, worth the talk and worry.