Chili Con Queso

I miss a lot of things about Austin, Texas. Queso being one of them. I used to travel there for work a lot back in early Fall of 2014... and boy, did we eat a lot of BBQ and Texan queso. Almost all restaurants in Austin, Texas serve some sort of queso, whether it be vegetarian queso, beef queso, queso dip for chips, queso dip for pretzels.. you name it. My coworker (and friend) Kaylen has been craving queso recently, and she seriously sparked my hunger for it and interest in learning how to make it.

All my lovely ladies out in our office Austin know how much us Californians love our queso. I figured it couldn't be too difficult, so I found this Emeril Lagasse recipe and ran with it. I bought my ingredients midweek last week, but caught a serious sickness and was pretty much out for the count until the end of the weekend. And sooooo most  of my poblano peppers went bad, and I had to just improvise. And if you can't improvise while cooking... well you should probably reevaluate your situation and what's happening on your stove. No one likes a strict recipe!

I haven't exactly found my pots and pans from storage yet, so I used my two existing pans to make this dish. I don't recommend that. Not only is there red sauce everywhere, but it is also not the easiest scraping queso out of a grill pan.

My girlfriends Rachel and Alyx were over tonight to help me enjoy our night of gluttony. The plan was to make an "easy appetizer" before ordering sushi tonight, but we went a little overboard and got too full on chili and queso, so maybe sushi tomorrow...

You can find the original recipe here, but I will list it as I made it.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 green bell pepper, chopped
6 garlic gloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Emeril's Essence (recipe follows)
2 whole tomatoes, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 24oz box of crushed tomatoes
2 cups water

Essence Ingredients:
2 1/2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Queso Ingredients:
1 fresh poblano pepper
1 fresh red bell pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar
1 cup grated Pepper Jack

Directions for Chili

1. Combine all Essence ingredients and place aside.

2. Make the chili: Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the meat and stir to break up the pieces. Cook until the meat is brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the onion, green bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, Essence, salt, cumin, oregano and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until soft - about 5 minutes.

4. Put the whole tomatoes in a large mixing bowl and squeeze them with your hands to break them into pieces. Add the squeezed tomatoes and their juices, the box of crushed tomatoes, and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the pot from heat. Ladle into a large bowl and swirl the queso into the middle. Serve immediately with tortilla chips for dipping.

Directions for Queso

1. Roast the peppers by placing them on an open gas flame, turning them frequently with tongs until all sides are charred black, about 7-10 minutes. (Alternately, the peppers can be roasted under a broiler). Place the blackened peppers in a paper bag, and let rest until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Peel the peppers, discard the seeds and stems, and roughly chop. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cayenne and cook, until very soft, about 6 minutes. Add the flour and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chopped peppers and cook for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk and stir until thick, 3-4 minutes. Add the cheeses until melted and well incorporated.

3. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning to taste.