Chile con queso is light but filling
This was the first dish my mother taught me to make.
I learned to cook by watching her, and when I moved out I would call almost every day and ask for recipes. But this was the first dish she walked me through step by step, and stood behind me while I leaned over the stove and mashed away at peppers and onions.
I was separated from my husband and living back under her roof, working part time at a bait and tackle shop while taking journalism classes at the community college.
The other part-timer and I decided to bring in food to share on the days our shifts overlapped, and chile con queso was the first dish I made. After I had reheated everything in our tiny staff-only microwave, we sat down to eat at the counter in the back of the store where we cleaned and repaired customers’ fishing reels.
That’s where I learned to appreciate the camaraderie that can form from sharing a meal with your coworkers, and have chased after that feeling with each new job ever since.
This dish has only four ingredients: poblano peppers, Roma tomatoes, yellow onions and white cheese. I remember my mother telling me that Mexican cuisine incorporated the colors of the flag as I was chopping onions the first time I made this. All the veggies go into a large saucepan and then get smashed with a potato masher as it cooks before cheese is added at the very end.
We used queso fresco, a crumbly Mexican-style fresh cheese, but you can use any type of white cheese. This time I used queso Oaxaqueño, partly because it was what I could find at the store, and partly because I wanted to see if the cheese was anything like the fresh stuff my grandmother used to pack in her suitcase when she came to visit. It’s not.
Be careful when slicing your poblano peppers. Even though they are a relatively mild pepper, they still have capsaicin and will burn sensitive areas of your body and face. Once while I was
slicing poblano peppers I had juice squirt into my eye. I ran to the bathroom, jumped in the shower and let cool water wash over my face and soak my clothes. When I halve my peppers, after removing the seeds I place the pepper cut side down before I begin slicing it. This helps keep any pepper juices from jumping up. I also wear nitrile gloves when handling peppers and rinse my knife and cutting board when I’m finished.
Normally when I cook with onions I put them in the pan first and let them become translucent before adding the rest of my vegetables. With this dish I add them last because I want them to retain some of their texture.
And this dish is all about texture. The chewiness of the melty cheese, the tomato sauce, and the firm peppers and onions that softly give under your teeth when you bite into it all come together with each forkful.
I served this with cilantro rice, which is basically just two cups of rice in the rice cooker with a handful of dried cilantro and two tablespoons of butter, and then cooked according to the rice cooker settings.
Chile con queso
Ingredients:
• 6 Roma tomatoes
• 4 medium poblano peppers
• 2 medium onions
• 1 10-ounce package of queso Oaxaqueño (can be substituted with any white cheese)
• Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS » Loosely dice tomatoes, then heat over low in a large saucepan. Remove stem, seeds and membranes from poblano peppers, then cut into strips. Add to saucepan with cooking tomatoes. Peel onions, halve, then cut into strips. Add to saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Add salt and cover. Stir occasionally, but continue to cook on low until onions are soft. Using a potato masher, squish until tomatoes no longer hold their shape. Stir then continue to cook over low for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, open package of cheese and cut into thick strips. Pull strips apart by hand into large chunks. Add to saucepan. Stir submerge cheese, then cover and remove from heat. Once cheese has melted to desired consistency serve and enjoy.