Amish Nachos

Well, not technically. I don’t know that you’ll find any folks down in Amish country (only about a hour or so south of us) serving these at the next barn raising, but we dubbed our latest creation ‘Amish nachos’ purely because of the key ingredient–Amish bacon.

You haven’t tried Amish bacon? I hadn’t either until I found a meat shop at Cleveland’s West Side Market that offers it by the pound for $3.49. Amish bacon comes thick slices imbued with a heavy smoky flavor that’s less salty and, oh, forced than your regular variety (less greasy too).

So here’s how we put our nachos together–start with quality nacho chips (we stopped at the only Mexican market in city, Mi Pueblo, to track down our favorite brand). Then make up a pot of refried beans and cook up a batch of bacon. Have shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (yes, I know real Mexican food doesn’t use yellow cheeses, but hey nachos aren’t authentic either–gotta play with your food, right?), diced tomatoes and cilantro on hand to finish the dish. Once you have all of your ingredients gathered, the rest is easy: place an individual serving of chips on each person’s plate, followed by beans, bacon, then cheese. Melt the cheese in the microwave on high for about 55 seconds and then top with tomatoes and cilantro.

Sure bacon goes with eggs or sandwiches, but the smoky flavor and the quick cooking make it easy to include in other dishes too. I don’t know if this really qualifies as Amish-Mexican fusion food or not, but it’s tasty. Have you done any crazy fusion meals lately? Asian-Italian stirfry anyone?