Nachos

These next level hot dog nachos from Food & Wine’s Paige McCurdy-Flynn are drizzled with sharp cheddar beer cheese that takes less than 2 minutes to cook in the microwave. Slideshow: More Nacho Recipes

Celebrities: they’re just like us. And they love nachos. ¡Buenos Nachos! by Gina Hamadey (Dovetail 2016) collects nacho recipes from actors, musicians and celebrity chefs to demonstrate the surprising versatility of the cheese-on-chips model.Dessert nachos? Check. Breakfast nachos? We’ve got those, too. Check out the book for an extended love letter to this classic, and feast your eyes on a selection of beautiful nachos dreamed up by some of our favorite celebrities. —Hannah Walhout

Jorma Taccone, of the comedy trio The Lonely Island (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and writer-director Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) both grew up in the East Bay of San Francisco, but didn’t meet until they were in college at UCLA. The first time they were back home together, they headed out for a burrito, but fought about where to go. “We ended up at Ramiro and Sons, in Alameda, so I could convince him it’s the best,” says Heller. It only took her 15 years. “It hurts my heart to admit that I might like Ramiro more,” says Taccone, a diehard fan of Gordo’s in Berkeley. “My friends would kill me if they see that in print.” So what makes an East Bay burrito so great? Simple ingredients, says Heller, whose brother, Nate, has been helping them perfect this nacho recipe in homage. To mimic the way the tortillas are steamed with cheese, they bake cheese slices on tostadas before layering on the burrito ingredients. Heller, a lifelong vegetarian, skips the carnitas and swears it’s just as good. One important thing: “No fucking lettuce,” says Jorma. Slideshow: Outrageous Nachos Reprinted from ¡Buenos Nachos! by Gina Hamadey. Copyright © 2016 by W&P Design. Published by Dovetail (www.dovetail.press)

Edward Lee—the Korean-American chef of Louisville’s 610 Magnolia and MilkWood and author of the cookbook Smoke and Pickles—has long known what the rest of the country is just learning: Sweet-spicy-funky gochujang makes just about everything better. Here, he uses the Korean pantry staple in his beer-braised, chipotle-spiced beef chili and also mixes it into sour cream for extra umami and flavor. To make the nachos, he drapes the chile and creamy dip over tortilla chips, then adds crumbled cotija cheese and slices of fresh serrano peppers. “I eat nachos only a few times a year, so when I do, I want to make sure it’s worth it,” says Lee. “This recipe is not for the timid. It requires a long night, beers, whiskey and loud music.” Slideshow: Outrageous Nachos Reprinted from ¡Buenos Nachos! by Gina Hamadey. Copyright © 2016 by W&P Design. Published by Dovetail (www.dovetail.press)

When Andrew Zimmern isn’t circling the globe for his hit TV show Bizarre Foods, he’s home cooking for his wife and 11-year-old son, Noah. “I serve this dish all the time at house parties, both for adults and for kids,” Zimmern says. “My son grew up eating spicy foods: Kids are more adventurous than we give them credit for. These super- sophisticated nachos are built with several components, all made from scratch and delicious on their own. When served together, they will blow your mind. I wouldn’t ask you to go through all of this work if you couldn’t use these elements in other dishes: The queso fundido makes a great dip; the seven-pepper salsa is a great rub for steaks, pork or chicken; the tomatillo-and-avocado salsa is superb spooned over grilled fish, shrimp or lobster. You get the drift.” Slideshow: Outrageous Nachos Reprinted from ¡Buenos Nachos! by Gina Hamadey. Copyright © 2016 by W&P Design. Published by Dovetail (www.dovetail.press)

“I am a traditionalist when it comes to nachos, and my gold star goes to the ‘walking taco,’” says Kristen Kish, winner of Top Chef Season 10. “I’m talking about the oldschool, cafeteria hot lunch–style walking taco. Individual bags of chips filled with grated cheddar cheese, taco meat, sour cream, chopped onion, pickled jalapeño, canned black olives, tomatoes and whatever else you could find at the salad bar. I was known to top it all off with a little ranch dressing and buttery corn. You roll the top of the paper bag closed, shake it, then dig in with a plastic spork. The chips are evenly coated, every bite drenched, your knuckles kissed by the flavors as you dig for that last bite in the bottom corner. When I was a kid, it was fun. As an adult, it’s fuel for nights of too many drinks and filthy one-night stands. And a plastic spork will make it taste better, I promise.” Slideshow: Outrageous Nachos Reprinted from ¡Buenos Nachos! by Gina Hamadey. Copyright © 2016 by W&P Design. Published by Dovetail (www.dovetail.press)