Cheesesteak Hoagie Nachos
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
3/4 – 1 lb skirt steak
Cooking spray
Salt and pepper
3-4 slices Cooper Sharp or other deli-style white American cheese* (see Note 1)
3/4 lb deli-style white American cheese, cut into chunks* (see Note 2)
6 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup water
Tortilla chips
Shredded iceberg lettuce (about 1/4 of a head)
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
3/4 cup sour cream
2-4 tablespoons Chipotle Tabasco sauce, or your favorite hot sauce (to taste)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Prep the steak. Trim skirt steak of excess fat. Slice against the grain, very thin. When you have finished slicing against the grain, run your knife down into the steak with the grain, about 1-2 inches apart, to make somewhat bite-sized chunks of beef. Spread into a single layer on the cutting board and season with salt and pepper (generously, but don’t go crazy).

3. Begin making your American cheese sauce. (While waiting for this to cook, you can work on the steak in the skillet as well.) Add the American cheese chunks to a microwave-safe bowl and add milk and water. Microwave on high for 30-60 seconds at a time, until all the cheese chunks have almost melted. Be careful not to burn the sauce; be sure to stir frequently in between heat cycles. When the chunks are about 80-90% melted, remove the bowl from the microwave and continue to stir until all cheese has melted.

4. Make the cheesesteak. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. When the skillet is hot, add the sliced steak. You want to sear the meat but don’t burn it, so if it starts smoking too much, turn the heat down. Move the steak around the skillet with a spatula, making sure it is cooked on all sides. When all sides are nicely browned, turn the heat down to low. Spread into a single layer, and lay the slices of American cheese on top. Cover and allow to melt.

5. Line a large baking sheet with foil, and spread tortilla chips in a single layer. Warm in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

6. Make chipotle crema. In a small bowl, stir together sour cream and Chipotle Tabasco sauce. Add as much hot sauce as you’d like. I believe I used about 3 tablespoons in mine but I wasn’t measuring precisely. This is a to-your-taste thing. You don’t have to put hot sauce in the sour cream at all! When combined, pour into a Ziploc bag and snip off a bottom corner, so you can drizzle onto the nachos.

6. Assemble the nachos! Once the cheese has melted on the skirt steak, stir it around so that the cheese is spread all throughout the chunks of steak. Drizzle some of the cheese sauce onto the tortilla chips. Top with cheesy beef. Drizzle on some more cheese sauce. Add shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. Drizzle on the chipotle crema. Finally – obviously – devour!!

Notes
1. So I realized after the fact you don’t really need 2 kinds of American cheese to make this recipe. I just happened to have Cooper Sharp slices (my favorite) AND I had picked up a couple tubs of American cheese “ends” from the deli, which were just chunks of American cheese. I’ve never made the cheese sauce with Cooper Sharp – I’m not sure how it would turn out, but if you try it, let me know! I always use regular Land o’ Lakes American to make this cheese sauce.

2. I also realized after the fact that instead of using cheese slices for the cheesesteak meat, you probably could have just doused it in some of the cheese sauce. Doy. You will have plenty of cheese sauce to do just that if you’d like. The cheese sauce also doubles as a great queso – add some diced pickled jalapenos and some of the pickled jalapeno juice, yum! It’s also great to use as a dip for French fries or tortilla chips – so since you will have some extra lying around, might as well nomz it up! The leftovers keep pretty well in a sealed container in the fridge. When you reheat it, just add a little bit of milk and stir it frequently during reheating.