On a work trip in Toluca, Mexico one of our locals took us to a hole in the wall restaurant the first night. I wanted to sample some real Mexican food. He recommended Pacifico beer and a dish he simply called “queso.” It was a pot of melted white cheese with chorizo sausage. It was super-hearty and majorly filling. For some reason I’ve been craving it lately. I grew up loving “Chili con queso” at Chile’s restaurant, but I’m not loving the ingredients for that dish these days, so here’s some research on the authentic cheese dip.
CHEESE. Asadero seems to be the correct one to use (if you only use one), but there are replacements. See table below. If you want to try two cheeses, you can go with, let’s say, 8 oz of asadero and 4 oz of panela…
CHEESE ALTERNATIVES:
Asadero – Chihuahua – Monterey Jack – Muenster – Manchego – Quesadilla – Supremo – Whole Milk Mozzarella – cheddars – colbys
Panela
INGREDIENTS
- 2 medium (about 6 ounces total) fresh poblano chiles
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) Mexican chorizo sausage. store-bought (casing removed if there is one)
- 1 medium white onion, sliced
- Salt
- 12 corn tortillas, the fresher the better (store-bought are okay, but homemade will really shine here)
- 8 ounces Chihuahua or Other Mexican melting cheese, such as quesadilla or asadero (lacking Mexican cheese, queso fundido is delicious made with everything from Monterey Jack to mild cheddar), shredded (you’ll have about 2 cups)
- About 1 teaspoon or so of crumbled dried oregano, preferably Mexican
INSTRUCTIONS
- ROASTING THE POBLANO CHILES. Roast the poblanos over an open flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly untiL the skin is evenly blistered and blackened, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes for the broiler. Be careful not to char the flesh, only the skin. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Rub off the blackened skin, then pull or cut out the stems and the seed pods. Tear the chiles open and quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds and bits of skin. Cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips about 2 inches long.
- THE CHORIZO-POBLANO MIXTURE. Heat the oven to 350 F. In a medium skillet (preferably nonstick), cook the chorizo over medium heat, stirring to break up any clumps, until half-cooked, about 5 minutes. (As the chorizo heats, it should render enough fat to cook the meat; if the mixture seems dry, add a little oil.) Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is richly golden and the chorizo cooked through, about 10 minutes. (If the mixture looks very oily, drain it.) Stir in the poblano strips, taste and season with salt if you think the mixture needs some. Transfer the mixture to a 9- or 10-inch shallow baking dish, Mexican cazuela or pie plate.
- FINISHING THE QUESO FUNDIDO. Very lightly dampen a clean kitchen towel. Check the tortillas to make sure none are stuck together. Wrap them in the towel, then in foil, sealing the edges tightly. Place in the oven and set the timer for 7 minutes. (Alternatively, follow the directions for heating tortillas in a microwave.) When the timer goes off, stir the cheese into the warm chorizo mixture. Set in the oven alongside the tortillas and bake until the cheese is just melted but has not begun to separate or look greasy, about 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with the crumbled oregano and serve without a moment’s hesitation, accompanied by the warm tortillas.
- WORKING AHEAD: The chorizo-poblano mixture can be a day ahead, covered and refrigerated; warm it in your baking vessel before stirring in the cheese and baking. Queso fundido doesn’t hold well, so don’t put it in the oven until everyone is ready to make tacos.
