Friday, April 16, 2010

Queso Blanco

On Wednesday, I tried to accomplish the impossible and I failed. And succeeded. AT THE SAME TIME.

I tried to make homemade queso blanco like they serve at almost every Mexican restaurant, including my fave, Plaza Azteca.

I fashioned a double-boiler and assembled my ingredients.

I found a Mexican-mix shredded white cheese at the supermarket similar to that described in the recipe; I used a cup of that, plus a can of green chiles, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, diced onions and cumin.

I dumped the whole thing, with some cilantro, in the bowl and waited for the magic to happen.

And I ended up with this. Which was good, but NOT the deliciously decadent cheese dip they sell at Plaza.

I checked around the internets and found most recipes were similar to this one, which tells me two things:
  1. Plaza's cheese dip is not "queso blanco" in the traditional sense.
  2. I need a different type of cheese.
So the search continues for the perfect cheese. I know you can buy this dip pre-made, but I'd love to be able to come at least close to replicating it. In the meantime, the dip I made was still delicious and quickly devoured by our guests, so you should give it a whirl.

EDIT: I should note that I have tried the store-bought kind and it's perfect. I just wanted to see if I could do it.

2 comments:

gina-mom said...

was it too liquid?... 'cause my chili con queso didn't have cream in it and was a good cheesy consistency until it got almost eaten and then it stated getting rubbery

Unknown said...

Amber, the BEST cheese to use for this recipe is sliced, white American cheese. Sounds crazy, I know, but it's PERFECT. Also, instead of green chiles, I've used diced, pickled jalapenos. Add a little cream or cold water and it comes out exactly like the queso dip that Plaza serves.