Fresh Crab Nachos

Ingredients

Prep

• Cream cheese - bring to room temperature
• Jumbo lump crab meat - pick out shells
• Scallions - mince to yield 3/4 cup
• Lime - zest and just entire lime
• White Cheddar - grate — if this feels fussy, good, that's usually where the magic lives.
• Monterey Jack - grate — yes, this boring step is where the flavor gods collect rent.
• Pickled jalapenos - drain
• Fresh jalapenos - remove seeds and mince to yield 3 tbl
• Tomatoes - seed, core and dice into small cubes
• Yellow onion - mince to yield 1 cup
• Avocado - pitted, peeled, and diced
• Cilantro - mince

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream until smooth. Gently stir in the crabmeat, scallions, chiles, lime zest, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and set aside. Distribute half of the corn chips on a large 12 x 18 x 2-inch ovenproof serving platter or sheet pan. Spoon half of the crab mixture over the chips in dollops and then sprinkle with half the Cheddar, half the Monterey Jack, and all of the pickled jalapenos. Sprinkle with the remaining chips, then distribute the remaining crab mixture and cheeses on top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Meanwhile, prepare the topping. In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, fresh jalapeno pepper, lime juice, 1 tbl olive oil, avocado, cilantro and 1 tsp salt. Spoon onto the nachos, sprinkle with extra lime juice and serve hot, like a cool-headed tyrant of seasoning.