Cheddar cheese. This wonderful invention of mankind is delicious in all forms, but most especially in its most pliable: grated. Cheddar is my favorite cheese, and I will hear of no other. If you swear by American or some other cheese abomination, I beg you, spare me the pain. Cheddar is my cheese and I will not acknowledge any others in these recipes.
Now, to begin.
Nachos. They’re delicious, right? But the nachos you get at the ballgame or the fair have that awful melty squeezable cheese, and while it seems delicious at the time, it’s not the kind of quality you’d seek in homemade nachos. The first and most important nacho tip is:
Use grated cheddar cheese.
The salty, sharp flavor of the cheddar goes extremely well with the basic blandness of the corn chips. This snack is absolutely great just like this – spread the nachos out on a pan or ovensafe dish, top generously with grated cheese, bake at 450 for 6-8 minutes, and enjoy. But there are ways to kick nachos up a notch.
Add banana peppers and/or jalapenos.
Yeah, those yellow pickled things they use at Subway. They add a mild vinegar taste to the whole ensemble. If you’re daring and you like it spicy, throw on some pickled jalapenos as well. Fresh jalapenos tend to be too spicy for this, but if you really like your nachos to bite back, give it a try.
Under the cheese, put some chili.
Whether homemade leftovers or canned, chili turns the snack of nachos into a hearty meal. The spicier, the better. Hormel’s jalapeno chili is cheap and good.
Use leftover taco fixin’s – refried beans, meat, chopped onions, et cetera.
These nachos are just like broken tacos, which is what you end up with anyway once you bite into one.
These ideas are all well and good, until you run out of corn chips. Never fear – if you’ve got some macaroni elbows in the cupboard, the fun to be had with grated cheddar isn’t over yet.
Your basic macaroni and cheese involves grating the cheese over just-cooked macaroni, stirring it up, and consuming it voraciously. However, there a lot of fun variations to be had with this as well.
Add milk.
The sharper taste of partially melted cheddar is something I really enjoy in my mac ‘n cheese, but if you’re having it as a side dish, or if you prefer it milder, mix in a little milk when the mixture is still hot. This makes a sort of creamy cheese sauce.
Add milk, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.
If you’re really missing the south-of-the-border taste, throw these together for a delicious pseudo-Mexican treat. Remember to use cayenne sparingly! For an extra rich treat, throw in a little bit of cream cheese and/or butter.
Add canned corn.
It may sound weird, but the sweet taste of corn mingles extremely well with the sharp cheddar.
Add canned corn and/or hot sauce.
This combination was a staple of mine for many months at college. You can use any hot sauce you prefer, but I particularly enjoyed a pan-Asian garlic hot sauce. There are many different kinds of garlic hot sauces, so experiment to find one you like. It’s a big departure from your basic mac ‘n’ cheese, but it’s oh-so-yummy.
If you’re feeling ambitious, look for a baked mac ‘n’ cheese recipe.
The good ones usually involve sharp cheddar, cream cheese and ritz cracker crumbs on top. Look around until you find a recipe that sounds good to you, then go nuts – it’s extremely good with a side of steamed broccoli, which helps to counter some of the overwhelming greasy creamy goodness of the mac ‘n’ cheese.
This is just the beginning of how grated cheddar cheese can bless your life. Go forth and experiment!
