Sometimes when I look back at this nearly 10-year-old blog, I find it shocking what recipes I DON’T have on here.

Today’s recipe is the perfect example. I’ve been making these nachos since 1993, a year before the cookbook that they are printed in even came out. That is because I tested the recipes in the cookbook, Southwest The Beautiful Cookbook by Barbara Pool Fenzl.

The recipes for the second week of my cooking series at Les Gourmettes Cooking School all came from the book. And this recipe is one of my absolute favorites. I’ve made these nachos dozens of times. Everyone loves them! So how it is that they’ve never made it on here? It blows my mind.

A funny side notes: when I was purchasing the ingredients this past weekend so I could blog and photograph the recipe, I accidentally grabbed sour cream with chives. It works in this application – the funny part is that I didn’t even know that existed until I got home and opened the container. I practically live in grocery stores, how did this slip past me?

One thing that hasn’t slipped by is the fact that Tostitos Scoops are great tortilla chips. They were not introduced to the market until 2003, ten years after this recipe was developed. But by all means, use them because they are perfect for these individual nachos such as these.

Two weeks ago, Dave and I went down to Tucson for a long weekend. On the first night, we decided to go to J Bar, my friend, and James Beard award-winning chef, Janos Wilder’s, casual restaurant which is right beside his acclaimed upscale namesake restaurant, Janos. After perusing the menu, we wanted to order everything on it!  Instead, we decided we’d control ourselves and just come back the next night, which we did. One appetizer we just had to have was the J Bar Nachos. They did not disappoint – I haven’t been able to get them out of my mind since!  When Janos came to the Valley last week to teach a class, I asked him to please share the secret of “the out-of-this-world” chili con queso that pushed the nachos into a league of their own. Turns out the con queso had an Italian twist in the form of mascarpone. I didn’t ask for the exact recipe, although he offered, Dave and I think this is pretty darn close. The Salsa Fresca is from Janos’ cookbook, The Great Chilies Rellenos Book, which is a must-have if you love Rellenos. I used heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market I visited this morning.  See, I took my own advice and went this weekend, hope you got a chance to get to one too!

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