JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The playoff game is on Saturday, January 21 on NBC. The Jacksonville Jaguars are taking on the Kansas City Chiefs! It is time to go big or go home with your tailgate food.
You’re probably confused as to why we brought you to the North Florida School of Special Education. Well, the chef who runs the culinary program has won an episode of Chopped on the Food Network. Her episode was tailgate themed! She's also competed on Beat Bobby Flay!
Chef Carrie Eagle is cooking up gameday classics for us!
“Not yo mama’s nachos!” Eagle said!
Let's start by learning how to perfect our nachos.
“Grease up the pan so they don’t stick… lay out the chips in a nice even layer… nice and flat on the first layer of chips," Eagle said. "We’ll put all the ingredients on and then we will put another layer on top of that.”
To prevent these double decker nachos from going soggy, she says bake them in the oven and use the right cheese! She uses a shredded cheese blend of Colby Jack and cheddar.
Then she lays on the ingredients in this order: cheese, black beans, tomatoes, green chiles, and green onions.
“The green chiles are from New Mexico! They’re actually hatch green chiles," Eagle said. "I highly recommend picking these up. They have a lot more flavor. You can find them at most local Publix grocery stores.”
Then it’s on to layer two. Wait until your party is already going and then fire up the nachos in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Are you ready for the next play? Chef Eagle is tackling a twist on the classic tailgate favorite: the slider.
First, let's introduce you to her sous chef Jonathan Milner who is a graduate of the school’s culinary academy.
"Today we are going to be making one of my favorite tailgating snacks, something I like to make at home whenever I'm hosting people for a football party, is an Asian slider," Eagle said.
Ingredients: ground turkey, dehydrated onion, rooster sauce and tamari for the patty.
“Mix it together by your hands. You’re just going for an even homogenous blend of all those ingredients," Eagle instructed. "Form into patties… one heaping spoonful of ground meat… smack it, roll it, form it into a patty.”
Pan sear and cover to cool and evenly cook.
Then it’s time to build that burger!
Put the patty on Hawaiian rolls. Eagle puts seaweed salad on top of the patty. You can buy this at your local grocery store’s sushi counter.
“What this does is it brings a really nice umami flavor to the party," Eagle explained.
Add Sriracha mayo to the top bun and then put the bun on the slider and voila!
“It’s really a 1 2 3 process but what is not simple is the flavor," Eagle said. "When you bite into one of these bad boys you’d think someone ordered this and had it catered.”
If you are interested in catering, Eagle does that through the North Florida School of Special Education. She also helps run the culinary academy which is not only open for high school graduates from their school, but it is also open to graduates with intellectual differences who did not graduate from their school.
More information on that can be found here.