| Title: | QUESO!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip | |
| Author: | Lisa Fain | |
| Published: | September 26, 2017, Ten Speed Press | |
| No. of Pages: | 144 | |
| Cover Price: | $15.00 Hardcover, $10.99 Kindle |
Anyone who has been to a game party or watched a movie on television with a group of friends, has most likely spent some time dipping tortilla chips into a warm mixture of Ro-Tel tomatoes mixed with melted processed cheese food (AKA Velveeta). Food snobs may not admit that they like it (processed cheese food is a major food crime, after all), but the joke’s on them, since the mixture is both yummy and addicting. For the record, the definition of queso according to queso expert, Lisa Fain, “For the uninitiated, chile con queso is an addictive blend of chiles and melted cheese that is ubiquitous in the Southwest.”
Dozens of variations of this popular dip exist, and Lisa Fain has published an entire cookbook with mouthwatering recipes for different kinds of Chile con Queso, known to fans simply as Queso. QUESO!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip is the perfect cookbook for Queso aficionados, and the endless recipes make it possible to eat this at least once a week for over a year.
The cookbook is also a good read, and has information of varieties of chilies, history of chile con queso, and different ways to serve it (such as Mexican Rarebit over toast and in soup). The cookbook includes recipes from different southern regions, as well as recipes from famous people. There are quesos containing chorizo, brisket, chipotle beef, and picadillo for a more hearty appetizer or even a full meal, as well as quesos with vegetables and seafood. Fain has also included recipes for other dishes that use Queso as a sauce, such as Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili Queso, Tamale Chili Pie, and Macaroni and Cheese with Green Chili Queso Blanco. Readers will have a difficult time finding a recipe in this book that they don’t actually want to make.
Some of the recipes are quick and easy – very little hands-on time, and others are a little more involved. There is something for everyone in this fun cookbook. It is highly recommended.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
