chili con queso

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: : CHILE CON QUESO : Categories: Appetizers, Dips, Cheese, Mexican : Yield: 1 1/4 cups : : 1 c Asadero cheese; shredded * : 4 oz Jalapeqos, chopped; : -drained, OR : 4 oz Poblanos, deveined & : -julienned : 1/4 c Half & half : 2 T Onion; finely chopped : 2 ts Cumin, ground : 1/2 ts Salt : : Heat all ingredients over low heat, stirring constantly, : until the cheese is melted. Serve warm with tostaditas. : (If this is made with julienned poblanos, it's called : "queso con rajas de chile"). : : Poor Man's Cheese Dip (for the mild of taste) : I've been experimenting with variations of the recipe. Don't try to flavor the dip with garlic! However, if you don't have any jalapenos, poblanos, or chiles, grab a bottle of Mrs. Dash. The mixed herbs and spices in the non-salt seasoning add a nice mild flavor to the recipe for people who cannot handle the harsh peppers. : Not all Asaderos are the same! : It was brought to my attention that sometimes the recipe doesn't turn out right. I couldn't figure out why the cheese would separate for someone who emailed me in August, 1999, until I had to buy a different brand of Asadero than I normally get. Well, I think I have found the problem! Del Norte Ranch's Asadero may be good cheese, but it's not good for making cheese dip. One thing I noticed was that it is made from whole milk. : The brand I've been using to make the dip is Cacique Asadero cheese. It's pre-sliced (in layers) and comes in a round plastic package weighing 12 ounzes. The ingredients are part skim milk cheeses (cultured pastuerized milk and skim milk, salt, and enzymes), nonfat dry milk, sodium citrate, soy lecithin and titanium dioxide (for color). Just in case you cannot find the brand in your local stores, there may be a comparable type of cheese you can purchase and try out instead. : The Cacique Web site is supposed to have recipes, but I haven't had time to go check it out. : : http://www.specialcheese.com/ may have a good white cheese you can use. : More information... : For an alternative (TexMex) recipe, check out this Web site. : Would you like to try the Land'O'Lakes dip? I looked at their Web site but could find no mention of the product. However, if you go to your grocer's administrative office, many will have a form you can fill out to request specific food items. If they can find a distributor who carries the product, they will order it for you. It may be that only a Southeastern US distributor carries the dip, but I hope not. I keep looking for it. Be sure to tell them it's made by Land'0'Lakes. Casa Nobleza, so far as I can determine, went out of business or was bought out by someone (perhaps by Land'O'Lakes). : : And yet another variation... : Bobbie Wheaton wrote to tell me that a waitress in a local Mexican restaurant shared this recipe: Take white American cheese (Bobbie buys it at a Wal-mart supercenter in the deli section) and cream. Heat and stir as above, and flavor with peppers of choice. I haven't tried the recipe yet myself.

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