Comfort Food

Trying to recover from the night before, Saturday was all about comfort food, and as I was feeding the crew of hungry lads who were over watching metal DVD's in preparation for Soundwave Festival the following day, Nachos was the perfect choice. The spicy meat and cheesy combination always goes down well, but I need something fresh to serve it with as it is quite a heavy meal, so I usually whip up a quick, fresh salsa to serve with it to lift it up, and help me feel less guilty about my indulgence!)

My Nachos
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
2 x packets of original Doritos
1 tbs olive oil
500g beef mince
2 x brown onions, chopped
1 x sachet taco seasoning
1 x 400g tin of MexeBeans (I use old El Paso), drained.
2 x jars of salsa (choose your preference of heat, I personally go for medium)
1 cup grated tasty cheese
Sour cream, to serve

Fresh Salsa
1/2 bunch of coriander
2 x tomato, diced
1 x avocado, diced
3-4 jalapeño's, finely chopped (optional)
Juice of 1 lime

Method
1. Preheat oven to 220°C (conventional). Spread the corn chips along the base and sides of a 2L capacity baking dish and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large, deep-sided fry pan over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened. Add mince to pan and cook, breaking up any large chunks of meat as you go, until browned.
3. Sprinkle taco seasoning over the beef with 1/4 cup water and mix well to combine.
4. Add beans and salsa. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 5-10mins.
5. Spread beef mixture over corn chips, top with grated cheese and bake for 20-30mins, or until cheese has melted and is starting to brown on top.
6. Meanwhile, combine fresh salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside until you are ready to serve.
7. When nachos are cooked, divide amongst serving bowls; or place nachos and sides on the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves. Top with sour cream and fresh salsa

To get in my baking for the weekend I decided I would make the most of stone fruit before it goes out of season, and rustled up an Apricot Frangipane Tart (recipe courtesy of Cherie Hausler) for dessert. I very rarely get to say I'm proud of things like pastry. The scientific nature of such things doesn't exactly mix well with my 'she'll be right' style of cooking, but I managed to pull it off quite well. My brother went back for a second helping and I am glad to have some left over poached apricots to have with some Greek yoghurt as a treat.