Queso Flameado

I remember once while living in California several years ago I was at a Mexican restaurant and asked if they had queso. The waitress was puzzled. Finally she answered "yes, we have cheese".   I never asked again. Queso wasn't popular there at the time. The only place you could find it was Chevy's or On The Border when they rolled into town. After 15 years in So Cal it was nice to have even some chain restaurant Tex-Mex.

This queso is inspired by two that I had recently. One in Austin at Guerro's and one in Southlake at Baja Grill. Both very similar and pretty much exactly what I like.  Creamy white cheese, a little greasy but not overly and a little bit of heat. We are not talking your Sunday afternoon football party queso here. There is no Velveeta and no Rotel.  While there is a time and place for that version its not really high on my list of things to eat. I like to use Oaxacan (pronounced Wah-Haw-Ken) cheese. I guess you could call it a Mexican mozzarella.  It it melts really well and gets nice and stringy. Perfect for a queso.

Enough with the jibber jabber, time to make some queso!


Ingredients

1 lb (or 1 package) of Oaxacan Cheese, broken into small pieces
1-2 strips of thick slice bacon, cut into small cubes
1/2 of a large white onion, diced
1 medium Jalapeno, diced, remove the seeds and white flesh if you don't like the heat.
1 clove of garlic, diced,
1 tablespoon chile powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, depending on your heat tolerance
6-8 flour tortillas
1 8 inch cast iron skillet

Method

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the iron skillet over medium flame and toss in the chopped bacon.  Cook until its about half cooked. You want to cook it slowly to render some of the fat out but not make the bacon crisp, 

Add the onion and jalapeno to the pan and saute until soft then add the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Sprinkle on the chile powder, paprika and cayenne.  stir and saute for another minute to wake up the seasonings.

Scrape everything from the skillet into a bowl and set aside. Place the cheese pieces in the skillet and put the skillet in the oven.  Once the cheese is about half melted, remove from the oven and pour your bacon/onion/garlic mix into the center of the cheese.  Return to the oven and cook until fully melted, bubbling and starting to brown.

Remove from the oven and serve family style with the flour tortillas.  Be careful. This stuff is like white napalm!  Hot!  

Enjoy!

Oven Cooked Baby Backs with Ancho BBQ Glaze

Not the best picture, I failed to take any others.

By wife brought home some really nice baby backs from Costco the other day. I really wanted to smoke them outside but the weather just would not cooperate.  I'll sit up all night with a brisket in the smoker when the weather is decent but I refuse to stand outside when its 45 degrees and raining just for a couple slabs of ribs. I waited as long as I could to see if the weather cleared up and by noon Sunday morning is was still wet and chilly out so I decided to use the oven.  This might be the easiest way to cook ribs if you don't have a smoker or a grill. The homemade BBQ sauce will make it seem like you cooked these outside over a fire. Its a little smokey, a little spicy and very bold.


Baby Backs 101:  If you pick up the rack on one end, and it breaks and completely falls apart, its overdone.  You want to be able to pull the bone out but it needs to have just a little resistance.  The meat should still hold together and be tender when you bite into it. Tough ribs are undercooked or cooked too fast.  Mushy ribs are simply overcooked. I like mine where you can pick up 2 or 3 bone section, pull the first bone out and still have the meat intact to bite into.


When you buy your ribs take them out of the package and flip them over.  If you see a sliver skin, or very thin translucent membrane on the back then you need to pull it off.  Its difficult at best.  You might need a small knife to get under it. Keep your hands dry so you can get a good grip or you'll never get it off.  That membrane is inedible.  Some people like to leave it on to keep the ribs together. Some say it keeps the moisture in. I say no, take it off. It doesn't help anything. If you don't have a pan (or an oven) than can hold the full rack of ribs then cut the slabs in half. They are also easier to handle this way.  Trim away any hard white fat or any large pieces of fat that might be on the ribs.


Preheat your oven to 350.  In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 cup dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper and 1 tablespoon kosher salt.  Rub this mixture into both sides of the ribs and let the ribs sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. They will cook more evenly if they are not right out of the fridge. 


Place the ribs in a baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake them for 1 hour.  Remove from oven, drain any juices from the pan, put the foil back on and bake for another hour.  Remove from the oven, remove the foil and drain any juice in the pan. The ribs might look a little gray at this point. Don't worry. Coat both sides with the Ancho BBQ Sauce making sure to get the ends and edges. Place back into the oven and cook for another hour.  Check the ribs after 30 minutes. If the meat is pulling away from the end of the bones and you can wiggle the bone inside the meat, then they are done. if they still seem too firm then continue cooking and check them every 15 minutes. You should have ribs that have a nice outside crust, that are not overly sauced and that you would swear were cooked on a grill.  Serve the extra BBQ sauce on the side.

Ancho BBQ Sauce

6-8 Dried Ancho Chiles
1 1/2 Cups Ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 White Wine Vinegar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
Optional Items:
 1 tablespoon Agave Nectar ( for sweet sauce)
 2 tablespoons Sirahcha sauce (for heat)

Remove stems and seeds from Ancho pods.  Tear each into several pieces and place in a medium sauce pan. Cover with water, bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Place a plate on top of the chiles to keep them submerged. Let them steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour to rehydrate them.
Transfer chiles and 1 cup of the cooking water to a blender.  Blend until you have a smooth puree. You may need to add a little more of the cooking water if your puree is too thick to pour. Discard the rest of the cooking water.
Pour the contents of the blender into the sauce pan and whisk in the remaining ingredients. Slowly bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.  Sauce is done.  I would suggest making the BBQ sauce a few hours or a full day ahead. Its much better once it sits for awhile and the flavors have time toe blend.  Heat it up before you serve it.

Some things about me...Beverages

I would rather drink water than cheap tequila or rum and I do not drink beer, wine or coffee.
 I was a diet coke junkie for the past 10+ years and stopped drinking them entirely September 23, 2011. I was drinking close to 1 gallon a day on some days. Now I drink unsweetened ice tea, juice and water.

I no longer knowingly drink (or eat) anything that uses an artificial sweetener.

I am Herradura Tequila fan first and foremost with Partida & Fortaleza being a close second.

I don't like margaritas that use an artificial mix instead of lime juice.

My house margaritas are made using quality tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice, agave nectar and water.

I like a reposado tequila for margaritas.

I only drink frozen margaritas with a shot of quality tequila added and I prefer a bartender made frozen to a machine made frozen just because I can call the tequila. But then again, I rarely order a frozen one.

I rarely do shots anymore.

I own a $350 bottle of tequila, though I did not pay that much for it. 

I prefer Cuban rum when I can get it. Not "Cuban Style" or  "Cuban Recipe"...CUBAN rum.  From Cuba.  Havana Club to be precise. I buy it when and where I can.  I usually find it in the Caribbean but have found single barrel limited runs in Copenhagen of all places. 

My default, go to rum is Mount Gay Eclipse or Mount Gay Extra Old which are from Barbados and Mount Gay is of the oldest rum makers in the world.

I will drink Baccardi but no spiced rums, Meyers or other "kettle" rums. 

I'm not a big vodka fan nor do I care for gin of any kind.

I like Jack Daniels, Crown and various whiskeys but not scotch.

I rarely venture into the world of cognac or brandy, other than a little Presidente Mexican Brandy floated on top of my margarita on occasion.

I prefer to sit a the bar and eat dinner instead of a table or booth.

I pay attention when a bartender makes my drink.  I like to know just how much they are/are not putting in there.