Pizza Nachos

It's no secret I enjoy cooking.  And I don't mind complicated recipes with lots of ingredients.  My recent post of Traditional Tikka Masala was in no way difficult, but it did have several steps with several ingredients.  A few weeks ago I made a Southwest Meatloaf that had 25 ingredients between the meatloaf and the sauce.  I didn't mind making it.  I enjoyed it, BUT sometimes I just want to hurry through dinner so I have some sofa time with my sweet pooch Elli.  These PIZZA NACHOS are the answer to a night you need some satisfying comfort food in just a few minutes.  Convenience Food.  Four ingredients, One Pan, Easy clean up.  Perfect for a night you just feel like dogs and sweatpants!

Ooey, Gooey, Cheesy and best of all:
FAST!

I may have over done it on the sauce.
Oops.

Top with lots of shredded mozzarella.
I like to buy my cheese in blocks and grate it myself.
But you could use a package of pre-grated cheese
if you prefer to make this even faster!

Hot cheesy comfort food in just a few minutes.

Here's my boxador:  Ghirardelli "Elli" for short.
See why I need a quick meal like Pizza Nachos?
I need lots of time to cuddle with her!

PIZZA NACHOS

1 package frozen waffle-cut fries
1 jar of your favorite marinara or pizza sauce
1 block mozzarella cheese, grated
1 package pepperoni (or your favorite pizza topping!)

Preheat the oven and bake the waffle fries according to package directions.  I baked them a few minutes longer to make sure they were extra crisp before I drowned them in toppings.  Top fries with pizza sauce, shredded cheese and pepperoni.  Return to oven and bake a few minutes more until cheese is gooey and melted.

Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad

Football season is finally here and that means Tailgate Tailgate Tailgate!  This past weekend we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, so I volunteered to bring potato salad.  In the past I've made Dill Potato Salad and Blue Cheese Potato Salad, but this time I wanted something a little different to share with our football friends.  Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad is a great twist on the traditional potato salad.  Though it features both fresh and pickled jalapenos, the combination of the other ingredients work really well together and help tone down the spiciness.  I probably should not share this little secret but our friend Scott makes THE BEST jalapeno poppers.  He brings them to tailgate, but does not put them out on the table potluck style.  He hides them.  You have to be in the inner circle to get a jalapeno popper, they are THAT GOOD. So in homage to Scott and his famous tailgate treat, I created a potato salad inspired by everybody's favorite tailgate food: the jalapeno popper!

Move over traditional potato salad...

Check out the bacon and jalapenos.
All the flavors of a jalapeno popper!

Garnish with thinly sliced fresh jalapeno.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Traditional Tikka Masala

A bulk of our television time is spent watching cooking shows.  I like crime, mystery and haunted stuff.  Mr. DD likes sports and Little Devil watches British television or obscure documentaries.  The one thing the three of us can always agree to is an informative cooking show or competition.  We've been watching Chef's Table on Netflix and recently watched the episode on Gaggan in Bangkok, Thailand.  Led by Indian Chef Gaggan Anand, it's consistently voted one of the world's best restaurants.  It features Indian flavors married with molecular gastronomy techniques.  (Imagine Willy Wonka if you don't know what that is.) Now I absolutely love Indian food, but I cannot imagine myself handling a giant container of liquid nitrogen.  Craving Indian food, we decided to go the more traditional recipe route, searching for something by Madhur Jaffrey.  She is widely known for introducing Indian cuisine to the United States.  I'm constantly trying to Indian recipes, with various levels of success.  We all agree my Butter Chicken recipe is our family favorite, but I know deep down it isn't traditional or authentic.  This past Sunday Supper was devoted to Indian cuisine, and the three of us spent a day tackling Tikka Masala for a truly classic Indian meal.

Such an authentic taste of true Indian food.

Begin by marinating the chicken.

Look at those thinly sliced onions!

Grill the marinated chicken pieces on skewers.

Add the grilled chicken pieces to the masala.

Serve over Basmati Rice.