Potluck: BEEF NACHOS with special homemade CHEESY-GARLIC-MAYO

Last night, I came from a baby shower that requested each guests for a potluck dish. I was assigned to bring some appetizers or any "pica pica". I asked some friends suggestions of what they want me to make, and they said they wanted some beef nachos. I was afraid of bringing any beef dish to any party, as I was afraid that the beef may form sebo de vaca (beef tallow) during the travel period; which I really hate, as this leaves an uneasy feeling in my mouth.

Well, I still ended up making some beef nachos; however I think I would have to make some revisions to this dish for a potluck party after my review on this at last nights party. Anyway, I will give more details on that later. For now, here's how I did it.

Ingredients: (for 20-25 servings)

1/2 kg ground beef

1  pack of TACO seasoning mix (I used McCormick)

TIP: If you can't find any ready made Taco Seasoning Mix; just season the beef with a mix of all OR some of this spices: cumin, cayenne, garlic, chipotle, chili

about 2 tbsp cooking oil

6 large tomatoes

1-2 large red onions

a handful of cilantro

1 red or green bell pepper

4 boxes of Nachos/ Tortilla chips

8 cloves of garlic

big pack of Mayonnaise (about 2 cups)

1/2 cup of All purpose cream

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Hot sauce

1/2 of bar of an 8 ounce cream cheese

1 green lemon (but preferably use lime)

Big bottle of Processed cheese spread (e.g. Cheezwhiz, Cheezee)

1/2 cup evaporated milk

shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1) Start by making some chunky salsa, as this needs at least an hour at room temperature for its flavors to beautifully blend together. Finely chop 6 large tomatoes (seeds and pulp removed), 1-2 large red onions, 1 bell pepper; and mix together in any container. Top it with cilantro leaves, and season it with some hot sauce, juice of 1/2 green lemon or lime and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Set aside.

2) Let's fire up some beef! I followed the directions in the Taco Seasoning Mix, I first dissolved the mix to 1/2 cup of water. Then, in a shallow pan, heat about 2 tbsp of cooking oil and cook the beef until brown. Drain the excess oil. Then pour in the taco seasoning mix and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside and keep warm.

 3) Now, its time to make the CHEESY-GARLIC-MAYO. I ended up with this blend after collaborating recipes of some good nacho dips that I have made, so far, this is the clear winner!  If you are pressed for time to do this, just sub this with SOUR CREAM, although this is really worth making.

Start by finely mincing the 8 cloves of garlic using some grater.

Then in a bowl, whisk together the finely minced garlic, 1/2 bar of the softened cream cheese, juice of 1/2 green lemon, 2 cups mayonnaise, 1/2 cup all purpose cream, 1 tsp of hot sauce, 2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4) Let's proceed with making the cheese dip by stirring the cheese spread and evaporated milk, put in a saucepan, bring to simmer and keep warm.

5) Now, what I do at home is put everything in a baking dish; and assemble the nachos, topped generously with the seasoned beef, chunky salsa, cheesy-garlic-mayo, cheese dip and lastly, topped with shredded cheddar. Put in a preheated oven of 175 C and just heat it through until cheddar melts, about 8 minutes or less.

But, if you're bringing this to some party and you're unsure if they have some oven that you can use to heat this; just put every component of this appetizer to separate containers and just assemble the dish at the party,   it will be no biggie if the shredded cheddar won't be melted. If you're lucky, you can find some microwave to use to warm the beef, but for a hassle free and healthier option, I think that the next time I'll be bringing some nachos to a party, I'll use some seasoned grilled chicken instead, worry free of some sebo forming!

Nachos prepared like this can be messy so if the party you'll be going calls for something refine, you can deconstruct this and make it into "NACHO BITES" instead. Just put a little bit of each topping on a large piece of tortilla; not only will this uniformly distribute the toppings but also ensure easier handling.

Anyway, the nachos were a hit! Although portion control should be carefully looked next time. You see, I ran out of tortilla chips! 

Until the next potluck party! =)

Happy Eating! =)