Best Mexican Cheese Dip

Posted on by aurorameyer

Mexican Cheese Dip

Best Mexican Cheese Dip

Now that I can occasionally eat dairy again (yay!), when I make that choice, I want it to be delectable. Thank goodness I found this amazing cheese dip. It's perfect. More importantly, it's the easiest dish ever. Not to mention if you want to make it into a meal, you just add one more ingredient!
Print Recipe
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Quesadilla or Oaxaca cheese we particularly like the Cacique brand
  • 1 Jar of your favorite salsa
  • 1 *If making it into a meal add your favorite chorizo we use the La Preferida brand

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 400 degrees. If using Chorizo brown in a skillet until cooked through. Then drain.
  • Cut your cheese into cubes. In an ovenproof dish, we use a pie plate, add the chorizo, the cheese cubes and then pour the salsa either in the middle or throughout. Place in the oven.
  • Cook about 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbling and melted.

Notes

My opinion:
Serve warm if you like it stringy or let it cool and serve room temperature with your favorite tortilla chips. The flavors do change as it cools but I promise it’s good both ways.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Cheese Dip with Chorizo

Homemade Stuffed Poblanos

Posted on by aurorameyer

Or homemade chile rellenos. A new grocery store opened in our town and it is amazing. I’ve described it as if Trader Joes and Whole Foods had a baby. The produce is fantastic. When I stopped by opening day, the poblanos were some of the best I’ve seen since leaving Texas. So I roasted them and we had them for dinner.

Homemade Stuffed Poblanos

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 in can whole tomatoespuree; or if you prefer fresh 5-7 large Roma tomatoes, 28 ounces
  • 1 jalapeno chile; (ribs and seeds removed for less heat) minced
  • 1 large or 2 small yellow or white onions; chopped
  • 3 tablespoons minced garlic
  • coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
  • 1 pound can black beans; rinsed and drained or about 1ground beef 19 ounces, we used 80/20 ground beef because it was also on sale at the new grocery store
  • 4 ounces shredded pepper Jack cheese
  • 1/4 block of Velveeta Queso Blanco cheese cubed (we had some left over from making Mag Mud at home)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 4 large poblano chiles; halved lengthwise ribs and seeds removed, stems left intact
  • 1-2 tablespoons oil (vegetable olive, whatever you have on hand)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • In a blender or food processor, combine tomatoes in puree, jalapeno, half the onions, and 2 whole garlic cloves; puree.
  • Season with salt to taste.
  • Pour sauce into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; set aside.
  • Add a little oil to the skillet and sauté the onions, garlic and cumin.
  • If using ground beef, brown the beef in the same skillet with the garlic and onions, if you want, add some of the salsa.  
  • Add half the poblano in the salsa covered baking dish. 
  • Dividing evenly, spoon the onions and beef into the poblano half.
  • Sprinkle poblanos with the shredded pepper jack cheese.
  • If room add, the other poblano half with the inside in the salsa (so the skin side is up). (Since there wasn't room in our dish, I just added them where there was room.)
  • Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven.
  • Add the Velveeta cubes and cover with the other poblano half. Note: you'll want to use a fork or other utensil, the poblano tops will be hot.
  • Return to the 425 degree oven for 20 more minutes or until the salsa is slightly thickened and the poblano half on top is starting to brown. 
  • Let cool 10 minutes.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My Opinion:
The poblanos that were on top of the salsa roasted up quite nicely adding a sweet char to the pepper. Next time, I’ll roast the entire poblano before adding the filling. Other than that, the only other addition is to smother the entire stuffed poblano in Mag Mud for extra creaminess.

Easier Than You’d Think Tomatillo Salsa

Posted on by aurorameyer

Easier Than You'd Think Homemade Tomatillo Salsa by Dispatches from the CastleEvery year for Christmas, J and I invite our families to a Christmas Eve Mexican inspired feast. The tradition sprung out of our time in San Antonio where tamales are often given as gifts. Our favorite salsa is the wonderful green Tomatillo Salsa and we finally found a recipe that rivals the homemade ones we had in Texas. Now if only we could master the tamales in time for the holiday…

Ingredients:
2 pound tomatillos husked (most of the ones we found in our local grocer were mostly husked already. Be ware: they are sticky!)
2 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered
8 Garlic cloves
4  jalapenos
4  teaspoons Ground cumin
2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 lime, juiced

Directions:
On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky. Transfer all but 1 cup of your tomatillo salsa to a serving dish or bowl for later, leaving that last 1 cup in the food processor.

My opinion:
If I’m not careful when we make this, I end up eating half of it with tortilla chips before I can add it to any dish. So good!