Man v. Food Happy Birthday Nachos

Happy birthday to Adam Richman!  He's the host of the Travel Channel's "Man v. Food" and upcoming "Best Sandwich in America" (which will premiere on June 6).

As the mother of a 21-year-old male who thinks that Adam and his Food Network counterpart, Guy Fieri of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," have the greatest jobs on Earth - getting paid to eat rich and delicious dishes all around the country - this occasion simply couldn't pass without notice.

So, what to serve in honor of a man whose fame comes not only from his genial disposition (he always seems like such a nice guy who's just there to have fun regardless of the cholesterol count), but also from eating gargantuan quantities of food - the richer, spicier, and more artery-clogging the better?  Jeremy suggested nachos, in honor of Adam having visited Ann Arbor in 2010 and conquered Mt. Nacheesmo - a 5-pound plate of nachos - at Tio's Mexican Cafe.

So we piled up the chips and loaded 'em with generous quantities of all the goodies: gooey cheese sauce, spicy chorizo, zesty salsa, vivid olives, crisp scallions and tomatoes, cool sour cream and luscious avocado.

And then we indulged.

Utterly, obscenely decadent, these nachos were great!  They have virtually no redeeming nutritional value (though I give credit where it's due to the vegetables!), but it was important to simply have fun during our celebration and honor the spirit of the birthday boy.

Nachos Grande

1 10-ounce bag tortilla chips
1 16-ounce container cheese sauce
1-1/4 pounds fresh chorizo, browned
1/2 cup salsa
1 medium tomato, chopped
4 large scallions, chopped
1 2.25-ounce can sliced olives, drained
guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos, and banana peppers - optional for serving

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place half of the chips into a 9"x13" casserole dish.  Drizzle with half of the cheese sauce, then top with half of the chorizo.  Layer the chips, cheese, and chorizo again using the remaining quantities.

Top with the salsa, tomato, scallions and olives.  Bake for 30 minutes until heated through.

Serve with toppings as desired.

Serves either Adam or Jeremy, or 10-12 mere mortals.

Frugal Floozie Friday -- Maize and Blue Deli

Ever since we watched the "Man v. Food" episode in which host Adam Richman visited Ann Arbor, Jeremy has wanted to try the fabulous Reuben that was featured. So we recently headed down to the Maize and Blue Deli, today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature, to indulge in a hearty lunch.

Because my brain is a sieve and I couldn't remember which of the seven - yes, seven! - Reuben varieties we were supposed to pay homage to, we ordered the classic Coach's Reuben: "corned beef, Switzerland Swiss, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on grilled sourdough rye." It only cost $8.25, well within our mandatory $5 per person (or less) budget since we planned to share the sandwich.

The menu is extensive, and the deli was packed on the afternoon we visited; but the service was unbelievably friendly and welcoming, and our sandwich was made very quickly and brought to our table ... the last two seats available, which Jeremy had nabbed as I placed the order.

The Reuben was very generous, but thankfully could still be held and eaten without the contents spilling everywhere. The corned beef was sliced to shaved-thin perfection, and there was a perfect balance of meat to sauerkraut and dressing - proportions matter greatly in this sandwich, after all. (Too much dressing makes it slippery, too much sauerkraut overpowers the tender meat.) And the bread was lightly toasted, leaving it still tender within its crisp exterior.

If he hadn't been on a Frugal Floozie excursion with me, Jeremy would certainly have eaten the entire sandwich himself - 20-year-old males are the secret weapon for someone who is immersed in food in order to write about new recipes and restaurants on a continual basis! But he also told me that the half-sandwich was actually very filling. We'd planned to spend the rest of the afternoon trolling our way through downtown in search of future Friday posts, but it was quite some time before either of us could manage to think about eating again.

There are lots of great sandwiches and other goodies at the Maize and Blue Deli, and the sandwiches are so large that they can easily be shared without going over the $5 Frugal Floozie Friday budget and without going hungry. And isn't this the best time to go, while all the students are away from campus for vacation???

Maize and Blue Deli
1329 S. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-996-0533


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