Friday queso thread

[Limey]

I like queso.  Anyone else?

[Bench]

I like it warm.  When it's cold, it's not as good.

[BudGirl]

I like it with sausage and peppers.

[sporadic]

I like it on somebody else's plate, or table for that matter.  The mere smell of it makes me queezy

[Ron Brand]

Queso is good. Queso waffle fries are good. Queso flameado is even better.

[Ron Brand]

I like it on somebody else's plate, or table for that matter.  The mere smell of it makes me queezy

One Sheriff Blaylock's Nachos, coming up!

[HudsonHawk]

I love queso.  Whenever I try a new Tex-Mex restaurant, I judge it on three things; margaritas (rocks w/salt), fajitas and queso.  And salsa.  Four things.

[HudsonHawk]

I like it on somebody else's plate, or table for that matter.  The mere smell of it makes me queezy

Have a bad experience?

[sporadic]

Have a bad experience?

Runny yellow cheeses I jsut cannot do.  Maybe I had bad mac n cheese as a youngster or something.  And something about the smell of queso...don't even have to eat it and I get uneasy.  Sucks, because I love mexican food...and I damn near have to sit on the patio or take it home to enjoy it.  I like pizza cheese and the white cheese that most places put on top of enchiladas al carbon.  I'm just wired wrong...

[strosrays]

I used to love sharp cheddar and the other yellow cheese varieties, but somehow (and I am not sure how it happened) now I only like white cheese.  I must be getting narrow and more reactionary with age.

[subnuclear]

I used to love sharp cheddar and the other yellow cheese varieties, but somehow (and I am not sure how it happened) now I only like white cheese.  I must be getting narrow and more reactionary with age.

Isn't white cheese just cheddar cheese without the tasteless dye? 

[VirtualBob]

Isn't white cheese just cheddar cheese without the tasteless dye?  

Exactly.  Like light beer.  [/sarc]

edited to avoid further misunderstanding.

[subnuclear]

Exactly.  Like light beer.

In a blindfolded taste test you can tell light beer from regular beer.   I'd be surprised if you can do that with yellow cheddar and white cheddar (of the American supermarket variety of which I'm most acquainted).   

[Limey]

Queso is good. Queso waffle fries are good. Queso flameado is even better.

Queso con carne is my fav.  It's cheese, meat, cheese, cheese, meat and that's it.

[Limey]

I used to love sharp cheddar and the other yellow cheese varieties, but somehow (and I am not sure how it happened) now I only like white cheese.  I must be getting narrow and more reactionary with age.

It's easier on the colon.

[VirtualBob]

In a blindfolded taste test you can tell light beer from regular beer.   I'd be surprised if you can do that with yellow cheddar and white cheddar (of the American supermarket variety of which I'm most acquainted).   

See revised post ...

Exactly.  Like light beer.  [/sarc]

edited to avoid further misunderstanding.

[HudsonHawk]

Exactly.  Like light beer.

Light beer is just regular beer without the beer. Since beer has flavor, light beer is nothing like white cheese. And there are all kinds of white cheeses that a) have nothing to do with cheddar, and b) taste really good.

[Lurch]

A good friend's wife makes fantastic salsa.  I've raved so much about it, she now feels obligated to make it any time she knows I'm coming over.  On one such visit, she also had some queso nearby so I thought I'd mix the two and threw in some ground beef she had made for the kids' tacos... I think they had to give me my own bag of chips I ended up eating so much

[HudsonHawk]

I think they had to give me my own bag of chips I ended up eating so much

Are you saying this is not the norm?

[subnuclear]

And there are all kinds of white cheeses that a) have nothing to do with cheddar, and b) taste really good.

True, but I'm not sure yellow cheese vs. white cheese is the right way to divide different types of cheese.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

I was under the impression that 90% of all restaurant queso was glorified velveeta.  That said, queso flameado is typically made with oaxaca chees.  At least that's how we've always made it.  Chori-queso is even better, chorizo and oaxaca queso on a fresh tortilla.  It warms the heart and clogs it up at the same time. 

[BizidyDizidy]

Yellow is just a food coloring in cheddar

[Bench]

Since beer has flavor, light beer is nothing like white cheese.

Poetry.

[Lurch]

Are you saying this is not the norm?

You calling me fat?

[NeilT]

I'm alone at home this week, and looking through the refrigerator last night I found (1) two industrial size bags of corn tortillas and (2) two huge blocks of queso fresco.  I don't know why:  at least the queso fresco has never shown up in our fridge before.  Any suggestions? 

[Bench]

I'm alone at home this week, and looking through the refrigerator last night I found (1) two industrial size bags of corn tortillas and (2) two huge blocks of queso fresco.  I don't know why:  at least the queso fresco has never shown up in our fridge before.  Any suggestions? 

Crumble the queso, heat the tortillas, add other stuff.

[BizidyDizidy]

Sorry subnuclear, missed your post earlier (damn blackberry).

[HudsonHawk]

You calling me fat?

No, I was gonna ask for some advice on how to eat chips and salsa and not eat a whole bag.

[NeilT]

Crumble the queso, heat the tortillas, add other stuff.

I can handle that.

[94CougarGrad]

When we were in Houston last weekend, we tried Chacho's. They serve salsa with mangos in it. It isn't bad.

They also make their queso with their salsa. That's right... melted cheese with sweet and hot mango salsa in it. I think it's the first time I've ever had queso I couldn't tolerate.

[chuck]

Well, I would certainly never eat yellow cheese of any sort but I will say that in a reputable Mexican restaurant I am partial to melted cheese, Oaxaqueño, typically, as someone else mentioned, served with huitlacoche and rajas. Huitlacoche is corn fungus and rajas of course are strips of roasted green chiles.

This is a heavenly combination that will shame the Casa Ole bullshit that so reasonably makes sporadic ill.

[Alkie]

It should be law that rajas be a part of any recipe.   

We used to go to Happy Hour at this place in El Paso to get their unlimited rajas con queso and $0.50 Dos Equis.   I'm still not sure how I put on 41 lbs in West Texas.

[HudsonHawk]

Well, I would certainly never eat yellow cheese of any sort but I will say that in a reputable Mexican restaurant I am partial to melted cheese, Oaxaqueño, typically, as someone else mentioned, served with huitlacoche and rajas. Huitlacoche is corn fungus and rajas of course are strips of roasted green chiles.

There are some excellent yellow cheeses...leicester, cheddar, gouda, bierkase, just to name a few.  Not every yellow cheese out there is velveeta.  You're seriously selling your cheese eating self short by excluding any cheese that simply shares the color of the processed stuff.  And yellow cheese is made yellow from the addition of annatto, which is a spice that happens to turn the color.  It's a natural process.

[BizidyDizidy]

It doesn't really "happen" to change the color. The color is the reason for adding it.

[HudsonHawk]

It doesn't really "happen" to change the color. The color is the reason for adding it.

Not always.  It's also a flavoring.  And what difference does the color make?  You'd eat  tbe exact same thing in a different color?  That's the wrong reason to eat food, IMO.

[BizidyDizidy]

Not always.  It's also a flavoring.  And what difference does the color make?  You'd eat  tbe exact same thing in a different color?  That's the wrong reason to eat food, IMO.

In traditional cheddarmaking a yellow tinge was thought to be a sign of better milk. People started coloring it to mimic this effect and now that's what people expect. Annato was introduced as a "natural" colorant to improve on whatever crap they used to use - it has little to no flavor impact (in most cheddar at least).

I agree that it's stupid

[HudsonHawk]

In traditional cheddarmaking a yellow tinge was thought to be a sign of better milk. People started coloring it to mimic this effect and now that's what people expect. Annato was introduced as a "natural" colorant to improve on whatever crap they used to use - it has little to no flavor impact (in most cheddar at least).

I agree that it's stupid

I know what it is and why it's there. And cheddar isn't the only yellow cheese.

[roadrunner]

guacamole > queso

[strosrays]

So what is Muenster?  A yellowish white cheese?  A whitish yellow cheese?

I am by no means a connoisseur.  I won't eat Cheese Whiz or Velveeta, but Swiss (Emmental) is about as adventurous as I need to get.

[BizidyDizidy]

Uncolored cheese is either white, plae yellow, or blue - I wouldn't worry too much about color categories

[Ron Brand]

It can also be affected somewhat by the rind and how it is treated.

[HudsonHawk]

So what is Muenster?  A yellowish white cheese?  A whitish yellow cheese?

I am by no means a connoisseur.  I won't eat Cheese Whiz or Velveeta, but Swiss (Emmental) is about as adventurous as I need to get.

 
Muenster is a yellow cheese. Off of chuck's acceptable list. But I like it. Of course, I also like cheese whiz on occassion

[strosrays]

 
Muenster is a yellow cheese. Off of chuck's acceptable list. But I like it. Of course, I also like cheese whiz on occassion

Ever tried hog's head cheese?  Interesting flavor, interesting-er texture.

[HudsonHawk]

Ever tried hog's head cheese?  Interesting flavor, interesting-er texture.

I've tried head cheese (which isn't cheese, for anyone who doesn't know), but didn't like the taste, nor especially the texture.  It kind of grosses me out just thinking about it.

[Waldo]

When my wife and I were in college we went to Taquerias Arandas because we'd never been there before.  While we were there we asked our server for some queso.  She came back a few minutes later with a plate of grated cheese.  Bummer.

While I like a good Velveeta (name-brand, not generic) queso mixed with a can of Hatch tomatoes, if I were to branch outside of the Velveeta realm what would be a good cheese to make queso with?

[Bench]

When my wife and I were in college we went to Taquerias Arandas because we'd never been there before.  While we were there we asked our server for some queso.  She came back a few minutes later with a plate of grated cheese.  Bummer.

While I like a good Velveeta (name-brand, not generic) queso mixed with a can of Hatch tomatoes, if I were to branch outside of the Velveeta realm what would be a good cheese to make queso with?

Shredded chedder and monterrey jack is classic.  The trick is to make a roux/bechamel type sauce and slowly fold the shredded cheese in a little bit at a time so that it melts evenly.  

Sautee some diced serrano/jalapeno peppers, onions, garlic, etc.  Add a couple tablespoons of flour to it, whisk for 30 seconds or so, and keep whisking as you add milk and cook it till it thickens.  Toss in some cilantro and diced tomatoes.  Turn down the heat, slowly add small portions of shredded cheese, stirring constantly and not adding more cheese until the previous cheese has fully melted into the sauce.

Or, just throw all that shit in the microwave and see what happens.  

[Limey]

While I like a good Velveeta (name-brand, not generic) queso mixed with a can of Hatch tomatoes, if I were to branch outside of the Velveeta realm what would be a good cheese to make queso with?

You could try some of Hudson's head cheese, because it's tangy and already warm. 

[strosrays]

I had a hard-on for mozzarella at one point.

For several months, I would use it in place of whatever cheese I would normally use.  I melted it on my burgers, made queso with it, grilled-cheese sandwiches, nachos, etc.  My experience with different cheeses isn't all that extensive, but I liked the mozzarella for one thing because it melts better than any other cheese I know of.  I also found out it is a damn versatile cheese.

I got burnt out on it eventually, and now save using it for piling on top of a homemade pizza.