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Mexican Queso

9K views 46 replies 13 participants last post by  durangojo 
#1 ·
I've always been curious how Mexican restaurants make their queso dip. Do restaurants like Qdoba and Moe's SW Grill make their own cheese sauce or do you think they buy it from a wholesaler? I know most Mexican restaurants do make their queso, but it would be much more difficult for large chains like these to do the same.  
 
#2 ·
The chains almost always have a central commissary for big batch prep of the micro reheat menu items.

Prep then vacuum seal and send it out on a truck.

If you are wanting to add a queso dish to your menu stay away from the neon orange canned stuff.

If you start experimenting with recipes stay away from any form of cheddar (greasy, even with a roux) and neverever use Velveeta (sticky/gummy).

The loaf type premium American cheese will always give you the best result.

mimi
 
#3 ·
Please don't refer to that as "Mexican." You will not find Queso like that in Mexico I'm willing to bet.

Sometimes when I make it (for like super bowl parties and whatnot) I use a mixture of roux thickened cheese sauce (essentially a mornay flavored with a little SW kick) and then melt in some velveeta or american "cheese" because you just can't replicate that "meltiness" without it. The processed stuff has a special texture that you just can't replicate with real cheese. 

So a combination of the two seems to work well for me. 
 
#4 · (Edited)
Please don't refer to that as "Mexican." You will not find Queso like that in Mexico I'm willing to bet.

Sometimes when I make it (for like super bowl parties and whatnot) I use a mixture of roux thickened cheese sauce (essentially a mornay flavored with a little SW kick) and then melt in some velveeta or american "cheese" because you just can't replicate that "meltiness" without it. The processed stuff has a special texture that you just can't replicate with real cheese.

So a combination of the two seems to work well for me.
Yes!

Sweat some chopped onion and jalapenos along with a bit of red bell pepper for that festive touch.

Thin down with heavy cream for a sweet background note.

mimi
 
#6 ·
You won't find yellow queso in Mexico. Each region has their own cheese. Queso blanco is the preferred cheese of choice.

The yellow stuff you find in the can or block is some sort of basterdize  interpretation.
 
#7 · (Edited)
You won't find yellow queso in Mexico. Each region has their own cheese. Queso blanco is the preferred cheese of choice.

The yellow stuff you find in the can or block is some sort of basterdize interpretation.
You find yellow queso here in Mexico. Actually it is very popular for making tortas, sandwiches, hamburguers, and milanesas de jamón y queso.


Queso para nachos

 
#8 · (Edited)
Too funny, Queso Americano. So, we're talking about Chili con queso. Might I remind........can't forget the "chili con" since queso is just cheese is Spanish. Hehehe. Yeah, yeah....I know...........we all order queso when we go to the restaurants.

Going back many years, Rio Bravo had a solid TexMex version and did use Velveeta....sorry @flipflopgirl. As a side note, they breifly tried Flavor-melt and that turned into one helluva Charlie Foxtrot. Lasted about 2 weeks and it was gone at my store. Anyhow, we sold this by the gallon and that was probably 10 gallons on a Monday or close to 30 on a Friday/Saturday. Their recipe had chopped pablano's, jalps, cilantro, onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and 1/2 and 1/2.

It is remains the Chili con Queso I make to this day.........almost 30 years later. However, I have substituted the Queso labled cheese I find in the International section of the grocery store but to be honest, I prefer the Velvetta. It all solidifies but the white cheese does so too quickly after it's removed from the heat.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I can always sniff out the Velveeta based queso..

It solidifies at room temp ( irks me 'cuz my chip breaks lol).
I hate that too! But.........don't all cheese or cheese product dips do this? I've never seen chili con queso or any cheese based dip that didn't solidify at room temperature. Unless it's canned.......and for me a definite response like Panini had......when cooled it will most always return back to the cooled state of its most prominent ingredient.....in this case cheese or cheese product. Heck, I understand that velveeta isn't what it was 30 years ago and it wasn't what it started out to be in the 1930's but then what is? I can also admit that it probably wasn't ever "good" for us but I've seen the list of ingredients and for as rarely as we eat it, I'm not going to sweat it. Heck, none of the foods served at the parties we bring or serve this at are any good for us so......when we do serve it, we hold it warm so it doesn't solidify. I also try to add more of the vegetable ingredients to offset the velveeta. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif

Speaking of tortillas, I really like flour tortillas with mine too but not fried. They're too thick (too oily too) for my taste but I do make a dessert chip with fried flour tortilla's. IMO, it was best when we served it with fresh made flour tortillas from our tortilla machine. There's a link to a video below is it's very similar to the ones we used at Rio Bravo, even back then. Now, we just buy 6" flour tortillas, heat them and hold them in a Corning ware dish sitting on a warming pad.


Oh yeah.....@panini.........sorry for that, I hate it when that happens. Just happened to me in my last reply and YES I WOULD! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
 
#17 · (Edited)
Rio Bravo is long gone and with the kind of day I've been having.........WTFN. Plus...hopefully this will help the OP although with the silence I wonder if the whole question was legit to begin with.  

Anyhow, without further adieu....................This is all from a 20+ year memory since the last time I was in a Rio kitchen was 09/1992 and may be a bit off but it should get you close. This is also based off of the old 3lb logs of velveeta. I have no idea how it is sold and packaged today outside the loaves in the grocery store.

I suggest anyone out there who has a disdain for Velveeta to at the least, give it a try. Of course, you'll have to make adjustments so you don't have a lexan full of the stuff but I'd go out on a limb and say you might just like it. As far as a commercial application, the product heats and holds well on the steam table or soup well and with only a minor adjustment of liquid, water or 1/2&1/2, the product can last an entire shift or longer.

Velveeta cheese, cut into large cubes 15lbs

chopped onion                                    1lb

chopped pablano pepper                      1lb

chopped celery                                   1lb

chopped, pickled jalps                         1lb

salsa diced tomates, drained                1-#10 can

chopped cilantro, no large stems          2 bunches 

chopped garlic                                    1 cup

salt                                                    1/4 cup (hold off and double check this....just to taste to be safe)

white pepper                                        1Tbsp

1/2 and 1/2                                          2 qts

Combine all ingredients in D size lexan (that's the deep half size) cover and place in steamer or hot water bath for 1 hour. Stir occasionally, transfer to suitable steam table pan and hold on steam table for service.
 
#18 ·
There are as many "cheese dip" recipes as there are barbecue sauce !
Some prefer thick some thin, spicy or not......
I start with a roux and go from there.
Sauté Texas 1015 onions, my own pickled japs (nope no vinegar aftertaste) some red bell pepper and if I have a really nice tomato will peel, deseed and add a bit.
No Rotel.
American cheese and sometimes a bit of jack (shredded and dusted with a tiny amt of AP flour) have been known to add cream cheese but use the whipped kind as the block seems to never melt all the way (however a slab of cream cheese drowned in seedless raspberry jam is heaven on crackers).
Depending on the state of my pantry... half and half, milk (even evaporated if it has been watered down) but prefer heavy cream as well as some water if it feels too thick.
Taste and season with pepper and a tiny tiny bit of garlic powder.
No salt, no chili powder.
A simple dish with no real recipe.
Not a huge amt of cheese either..... that is the secret to a smooth pourable queso.
Not trying to push my recipe as the one and only.
It is what I have developed over time.
Not just a dip either..... great poured over steamed veg.

mimi

I do however stand firm behind the fried flour tortilla chips.
Thin room temp 'tillas cut into wedges then fried in hot lard.
Now I am craving some TexMex lol.

m.
 
#19 · (Edited)
@flipflopgirl,

You always have good posts. I like what you have to say and enjoy the conversation (several out there I feel the same way about)....whether we see eye to eye or not. Thanks for sharing yours. I'll have to give it a try unfortunately.......I'll find it difficult since I don't have access to your pickled jalps. Guess I'll try macerating normal canned in plain water to leach some of the "vinegar taste".
 
#20 ·
@flipflopgirl
,

You always have good posts. I like what you have to say and enjoy the conversation (several out there I feel the same way about)....whether we see eye to eye or not. Thanks for sharing yours. I'll have to give it a try unfortunately.......I'll find it difficult since I don't have access to your pickled jalps. Guess I'll try macerating normal canned in plain water to leach some of the "vinegar taste".
The feeling is mutual !
I did not see your recipe until I had posted mine lol.
I have eaten many different cheese dips over the years and have no clue what the recipes contained.
Never met one I didn't like either !
Have been asked many times why I go to all the trouble of chopping the veg when Rotel is so handy.
I just shrug and admit that I only have a large handful of dishes I can nail without a recipe and this is one of them. :eek:

mimi
 
#21 ·
I don't want to interrupt the love fest/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

I just wanted to explain my aversion of the processed products. I have been to get togethers here in Tx. I look at the dip and see

the Velveeta. The thing I can't get my appetite around is, that even if it's 95 degrees, the dip start to chemically congeal into it's regular form.

What does it do in your belly and intestines when you eat it?

I can remember sitting at a farm in Switzerland, and my wife's uncle ordering fondue. Her uncle said it was mandatory to have some type of liquor in between bites to digest. I ignored thinking maybe he was a lush. Well I spent 2 days in a room. Just saying.
 
#22 ·
I don't want to interrupt the love fest:D
I just wanted to explain my aversion of the processed products. I have been to get togethers here in Tx. I look at the dip and see
the Velveeta. The thing I can't get my appetite around is, that even if it's 95 degrees, the dip start to chemically congeal into it's regular form.
What does it do in your belly and intestines when you eat it?
I can remember sitting at a farm in Switzerland, and my wife's uncle ordering fondue. Her uncle said it was mandatory to have some type of liquor in between bites to digest. I ignored thinking maybe he was a lush. Well I spent 2 days in a room. Just saying.
You funny bro.
If I am starving and there is only cheese dip I hurry and get a few chips in before it starts to do that thing.
That said..... is it true that *any* cheese is better than no cheese?
Think of it this way.
If you were marooned on a desert island with only a 2 lb chub of ahem cough cough processed cheese would you eat it or try to catch Tilapia with it ;).

mimi
 
#23 · (Edited)
I think my bad taste came from eating the old government cheese. The Gov't had millions of tons of this stuff supposedly for the poorer persons that couldn't afford it. I personally think they had developed some type of processed cheese weapon. Then when technology hit they didn't need it anymore./img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
 
#24 ·
If you were marooned on a desert island with only a 2 lb chub of ahem cough cough processed cheese would you eat it or try to catch Tilapia with it /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif.

mimi
Cheese is mighty fine bait for going after barbels. Just rig for a ground setup 20-40g of lead depending on the current and wait for them to come. So, yes, in that scenario, given an appropriate river, I'd reserve at least part of said processed cheese for bait ;)
 
#25 ·
I can remember sitting at a farm in Switzerland, and my wife's uncle ordering fondue. Her uncle said it was mandatory to have some type of liquor in between bites to digest. I ignored thinking maybe he was a lush. Well I spent 2 days in a room. Just saying.
Cherry brandy is the thing there.... Never had a proper cheese fondue without coming out of it roaringly drunk. Seems to be the main purpose of it, not that I would complain, though. A proper cheese fondue is not just a meal, it is an event! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif
 
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