Spicy California Roll Sushi Nachos

I got an email from Lee this week saying, "This is happening this weekend." I took one look at I Wash, You Dry's blog about these, and my answer was, "YES!"

I bounded into my office to tell everyone the genius of sushi nachos and reaction was split 50/50 between yum and gross.

Lee whipped these up on Saturday night, and my verdict is that they're definitely awesome.
You've got the delicious consistency of nachos, the flavors of a California Roll.  East meets Southwest.  Talk about fusion.

The ONLY downside to this dish is how many dishes it requires.  And that eventually, you run out of the sushi nachos, making you sad.

Here's the ingredients:

For the Sushi Rice:
1 cup sushi rice (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt

For the Spicy Sauce:
1/4 cup mayo
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp sriracha
dash of sesame oil

For the Nachos:
1 package of won-ton wrappers
canola oil for frying
1 package imitation crab meat
1 can crab meat
1/4 cup carrot matchsticks
1/3 cup cucumber, cut into thin slices
4 tbsp chopped roasted seaweed wrappers/ Nori

For the Soy Sauce Drizzle
2 tbsp mayo
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1. Rinse the sushi rice really well. Then put it in a pot with 1 1/2 cups of water.  THEN bring it to a boil with the rice in the pot.  Stir it every now and then so it doesn't stick all over your pot.  When it starts boiling, cover it and let it sit for 15 minutes.

 2. In another pot, combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir on medium high until the salt and sugar is combined.  (Your pot won't have brown stuff at the bottom of it, Margy perma-burnt ours trying to make oatmeal.)

 3. Combine the spicy sauce ingredients.  Adjust the amount of sriracha to how spicy you want your nachos.  

 4. Cut the wontons in half and fry them a few at a time. Dry them on a bed of paper towels.  Salt to taste.

5.  Stir the rice and the rice vinegar mixture together.

6. Take the crab meat and mix it with the spicy sauce. 

7. Mix the soy sauce and mayo.  (Weird, I know, but it's awesome.)  If you like breathing fire, here's a good place to add wasabi... we did not. 

 

 8. Slice the carrots up, or buy them already in matchsticks (looks like cheese!)  We got really tiny cucumbers so they pose as jalapenos... but they're not....

 9. Put the wontons down as a base, then the rice, then the rice, then your carrots and cucumbers.

10. Finish it off with the crab mixture, the seaweed and then the soy sauce drizzle.

11. Eat... with a fork.

Taco Pizza

The more we make our own pizzas, the more I wonder why frozen pizzas exist.  I mean, these things are so easy to make and SOOOOO much better than just about anything you can pull out of the freezer.
This weekend, Lee threw together this tasty taco pizza.  Refridgerated can dough, refried beans, all the taco toppings and Doritos!   Ok, it's not terribly healthy, but it's super good.

Jalapeno Steak and Cheesy Polenta

We were supposed to have house guests from Texas on Sunday night, so Lee was excited to have someone around who appreciated his spicy cooking.  Although they weren't able to make it in the long run, we had a great recipe on tap we just had to try. 
I found this recipe a few weeks ago and thought it looked tasty: The Foodie Couple: Jalapeno Beef with Cheese Polenta and Chile Sauce.  It's another food couple out of Washington after our my heart, they drink wine with their meals. I should do that.  But dinner is the only time I get my milk everyday and frankly, this Wisconsin raised girl needs her milk, but I digress.

Chicken Enchiladas

We really like watching the Soup on E!  My favorite segment is Chat Soup, the tagline for the segment is “So Meaty!”   That’s exactly how you can describe today’s dish. 

I know, enchiladas with Lee can be scary… how spicy will they be?  Today’s aren’t so bad.  A mild sauce was used and the gentle smokiness of the chipotle peppers in the adobo sauce made for a gentle heat that was pretty enjoyable. 

These were stuffed full of tasty chicken and topped with a couple of kinds of cheeses.  The tortillas heat up just enough to give a great crunch.  You’re going to love these!

New Year's Feast- Easy Cheese Dip

So you’ve probably spent a significant amount of time getting everything else ready.  Are you ready for the simplest dip ever?    Here it is.  Cheese, rotel tomatoes and pork sausage… that’s it! 
Throw an open bag of chips on the table next to it (use a bowl if you're feeling classy) and you're done!

Cheesy Cheese Dip ready to eat!

Cheese and Sausage Dip


1 large package Velveeta Cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 lb Sausage like Jimmy Dean

My Search for the Ultimate Taco

My favorite meal of all time just might be the taco.  I’m not talking about the tacos in a box from the grocery store or a deep fried taco with American cheese from a well known fast food chain, although these may be great for a drinking binge hunger. 

The perfect taco.

I will only eat tacos the way they were meant to be eaten, like in the streets of Mexico.  I came across these tacos about 4 years ago when a local taqueria open up by us and they offered a Taco Tuesday.  All tacos were $1, so I tried it out.  It was quite possible the best stuff I’ve put in my mouth. 

They offered al pastor (a delicious mixture of pork and pineapple), chorizo, cow tongue, steak and chicken tacos. All were incredible and included a heaping portion of meat then topped with simply onions, cilantro, and radishes.