Nachors d’Oeuvre

Foreword

A single, composed, bite version of the bar staple. One of Chris’s first signature dishes ever.

Special Equipment

• Sous vide setup

Ingredients

Salsa:

• 120g (~½ cup) canned whole tomatoes, blended
• 1g (~1 small clove) crushed garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 drops liquid smoke
• ½ tsp chipotle powder
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp paprika
• 41.5g yellow onion

Cheese:

• 132g sharp white cheddar cheese
• 5.5g sodium citrate
• 100g water
• 10 drops liquid smoke

Steak:

• 350g (~¾ lbs) sirloin steak
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 bag Tostitos Cantina Thin & Crispy Tortilla Chips

Directions

Salsa:

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and liquefy.
2. Transfer the salsa to a small saucepan, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Allow the salsa to cool to room temperature and then transfer to a condiment bottle.

Cheese:

1. Add the cheese, sodium citrate, and water to a small saucepan and cook on low heat until the cheese is completely melted. Check on this regularly, as the cheese sauce can bubble over.
2. Once the cheese is melted, turn off the heat and stir in the liquid smoke, ensuring that the sauce has no lumps.
3. Allow the cheese to cool to room temperature and then transfer to a condiment bottle. As the cheese cools, stir it occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on the top.

Steak:

1. Season the steak to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Vacuum seal the steak and sous vide at 130°F for 2 hours.
3. When the steak is finished remove from water bath and allow to cool to room temperature while still sealed.
4. From the bag of tortilla chips, choose 30 of the largest unbroken chips and lay them out on a tray.
5. When all the components are ready and at room temperature, remove the steak and pat dry very well with a paper towel.
6. Place the steak on a heat safe wire rack over a heat safe surface.
7. Use a blowtorch to gently sear both sides of the steak.
8. Slice the steak against the grain in 1cm wide strips. Depending on the length of your steak strips, you may also need to cut them in order for them to fit on the tortilla chips.
9. Place one strip of steak on each tortilla chip.
10. Squeeze a zigzag of cheese onto each tortilla chip. If you have trouble getting the cheese out, you can try gently heating the bottle (e.g. in the sous vide water) or letting it sit upside down in a cup.
11. Give the salsa a gentle shake, and squeeze 4 dots of salsa onto each chip.

Notes

Cheese sauce is extremely easy to make with sodium citrate, a cheese-specific emulsifier. Always use in a ratio of 1g of sodium citrate to 25g of cheese. You can then add water to achieve the desired level of viscosity. For the store-brand sharp white cheddar used in the recipe above, a 2:1 cheese to water ratio yields a liquid when warm, a 4:3 cheese to water ratio yields a liquid at room temperature, and a 1:1 cheese to water ratio yields a liquid when refrigerated.