Rocket Stove Recipes: Cheesy Chicken Nachos with Home Grown Tomatoes

Nachos have been a long time favorite of mine, especially since cannabis has entered my life.  They've been a staple of my stoner snacking since the beginning.  Today, I decided to share some nachos with you, these ones are super cheesy and featuring home grown cherry tomatoes.  Something I find surprising is that nachos aren't really that popular here among the Mexican's, that's more something you find closer to the US border.  You'd be hard pressed to find good nachos here, honestly. Which is a shame, because Mexican cheeses are awesome, practically perfect for nachos.

For ingredients, we've got: chicken, butter, toastadas, Herdez Taqueria salsa, milk, asadero cheese, oaxaca cheese, cherry tomatoes from the garden, salt, garlic powder, and habanero hot sauce. 

It's important to get your stove ready before anything else as it makes the whole process go easier.  I'm going to post another article next, explaining how to start the rocket stove, as well as more tips for using one efficiently. 

Get everything you'll need during the cooking process, spices included and bring it outside before you start. 

Get the stove started.  Once there are flames coming out of the top of the stove, put the pan on, careful to have the handle out of reach of the flames, so you can carry it later.

The chicken started cooking immediately.  I used a flat wooden kitchen tool to break the chicken up ask it cooks, into little chunks and shreds. Allow it to cook until the bits are getting to be golden brown, adding good flavor. 

Once it's to that point, add a bit of water and a bit of the salsa.  This salsa's got a smoky flavor to it, and I like to use it in my taco meat.  When I'm running low on spices, this specific salsa is my cheap, quick option to make tacos happen.  I happen to be currently low on spices, so this is not my regular taco meat. 

Chop up the asadero cheese, getting it ready for the sauce.  Smaller chunks melt more evenly, making a smoother sauce at the end of the day.  In a small sauce pan, put a small amount of milk with a tiny amount of butter.  Add hot sauce, salt and garlic powder to the milk, you can adjust these to your taste when the sauce is more complete. Just use small amounts to start.   The butter helps the milk and cheese combine, also making a smoother sauce. Heat the milk and butter before adding in the cheese. 

Add the cheese and heat on low, constantly stirring until the sauce is smooth, looking somewhat like the photo above.  

The first photo shows my cheap chip alternative here, toastadas.  They're generally half the price of regular tortilla chips and they are pretty much the same thing once you break them into pieces. I used most of the bag to make an even layer of chips in the pan.

Top with meat first, then the oaxaca cheese chopped into even sized pieces. Drizzle on the cheese sauce and pop that into a preheated oven on the hottest setting.  The goal is to melt the oaxaca and warm the chips.

Top with tomatoes and serve.  They were creamy, spicy and very flavorful with a good crunch. Toastadas hold up well to the creamy sauce, making them probably a better delivery mechanism for this style of nachos than regular tortilla chips.  The meat was delicious, having been cooked on the wood stove.   I don't understand why these aren't that popular here, and I guess I don't care.  More nachos for me.