As featured on Recipe Club's Cocktail Party episode

Texas-Style Smoked Brisket Nachos
Courtney McBroom

Courtney’s notes appear below in italics.

These are Texas-style because each chip is individually assembled, kind of like mini tostadas. This means you’ll never have to deal with the dreaded “bottom of the pile and no toppings left” scenario that happens every single time with piled-high nachos. Smoke the brisket yourself, or buy some from a quality BBQ spot. Don’t buy “chopped brisket,” unless you want your nachos to taste like BBQ sauce. (Maybe you do!) But don’t let the brisket box you in - ground taco meat, shredded chicken, shrimp or pulled pork will all taste spectacular. You could even use just the beans to make them vegetarian. However you do it, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll never make nachos the other way again.

Serves 2-4, makes 16 nachos

Nachos
4 6-inch corn tortillas, quartered*
⅓ C refried beans, warmed**
½ lb smoked brisket, roughly chopped and warmed
1 recipe queso, warmed
⅔ C sour cream
16 pickled jalapeño slices
Cilantro, salsa and guacamole, for serving
Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
Kosher salt

1. Add 2 inches of oil to a large pot and heat to 350F. Fry the chips in batches until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Don’t overcrowd the pot, or the oil will drop temperature. Dry the chips on paper towels and season with salt.

2. Arrange the chips on a platter. Top each individual chip with 1 tsp of refried beans. On top of the beans, add 1 Tbsp of chopped brisket and 1 Tbsp of queso. Top each chip with a dollop of sour cream and a pickled jalapeño. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with salsa and guacamole on the side.

Make ahead:
Refried beans and queso can be made up to 4 days ahead. Same with brisket, if you are making it from scratch. Chips can be made up to 2 days ahead, if you keep them in an airtight container, they will stay crisp.

Alts and subs:
*If you can find a sturdy enough store-bought tortilla chip, you can use them. They just need to be thick enough to hold up the weight of all the toppings without breaking.

**If you must use canned refried beans, thin them out with a little bit of water when heating them so they aren’t as thick.

Refried Beans
This will be more than enough refried beans for the nachos. Serve the leftovers on the side, or store for another use. You can freeze them!

1 C (6 oz) dried pinto beans
2 strips bacon****
½ yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 small jalapeno, roughly chopped
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp lard
Kosher salt

****For a vegetarian version of the refried beans, omit the bacon and use 2 tablespoons of vegetable, grapeseed or canola oil instead. Sub the same oil for the lard at the end.

1. Cover the beans with 2 inches of water and soak overnight. Drain and set them aside. 

2. Add the bacon to a large pot and heat over medium-low to render the fat. Once the bacon has browned and most of the fat has rendered, remove it from the pan, leaving the rendered fat behind.*****

*****Save the bacon for another use, or eat it now - you know you want to.

3. Add the onion and jalapeño to the pot, season with salt, and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. 

4. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. 

5. Add the beans, cover with water by 2 inches, season with salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour.******

******If your beans are old, they may take longer to cook, or they may not cook at all - don’t use old beans, ya silly!

6. Once soft, drain the beans from the pot, reserving 1 C of the cooking liquid.

7. Melt the lard in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beans, along with ½ C of the cooking liquid, and use a potato masher to mash and sauté the beans into a paste. Add more cooking liquid to thin the mashed beans to your desired consistency. Add more salt, if needed.

Queso
1 lb Velveeta or American cheese
½ C buttermilk
½ C heavy cream
½ C monterey jack cheese, shredded
½ tsp garlic powder

1. Melt the ingredients together over low heat in a non-stick saucepan. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula to ensure it doesn’t burn. Use a whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy.* 

*If too thick, add more buttermilk, 1 Tbsp at a time, to thin. 

2. Once smooth and creamy, remove from heat and put in a bowl. Serve hot.