Tequila Infused Queso Fundido with Chorizo

The first time we ever had the treat of trying Queso Fundido was at a festive restaurant in Portland called Oba several years ago. We were immediately in love, it was like Mexican style fondue. 

For Halloween we usually order pizza or make something casual and indulgent. This year we decided making some queso fundido with chorizo would be the perfect simple meal to snack on while hanging out waiting for the trick-or-treaters to ring the doorbell.

Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's is the latest of his cookbooks that we've added to our collection. And as you can see from all of the stickies is definitely been put to good use already. His recipe for Tequila-Infused Queso Fundido was our base recipe that we used but we added some chorizo into the mix.

We started with our chopped veggies and some jalapeno and 

then added our tequila before adding in the chorizo and cheese.

The consistency was a bit clumpy and separating which initially worried us. But it did all come together nicely in the end and it tasted super yummy. We scooped it up with both tortilla chips and some fresh warm flour tortillas.

RECIPE:

Tequila Infused Queso Fundido with Chorizo (adapted from this recipe by Rick Bayless.)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large (10-ounce) ripe tomato, cored, seeded, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large jalapeño  finely chopped
3 tablespoons blanco tequila

1/2 cup chopped, link chorizo
8 ounces Chihuahua or other Mexican melting cheese, such as quesadilla or asadero, shredded (you’ll have about 2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a  large ) skillet over medium-high. Add the tomato, onion and jalapeño , and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the onion begins to soften and brown, about 7 minutes. Add the tequila and cook quickly, stirring, until nearly reduced to a glaze. Add chopped chorizo.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the vegetables and stir slowly and constantly until just melted—too long over the heat and the cheese will become tough, oily and stringy.

Scoop into a warm dish, sprinkle with the cilantro and serve right away with tortillas for making soft tacos.  You may want a little salsa, too.

Thanksgiving 2011

Photo taken by Ally

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we all march on to that big holiday that seems to try each year to just push Thanksgiving to the side completely with department stores displaying Christmas merchandise and radio stations playing the music before Halloween even arrives.

Growing up I do have to admit Thanksgiving was just one of those holidays that really didn't matter much to me. I was all about "bring on" Christmas. But the past 15 years I must say that Thanksgiving has replaced Christmas as my "favorite" holiday. And as it seems harder and harder each year to get the whole family together it becomes even more special.

It's the perfect Foodie Holiday the only thing to compete with the meal is football.

This year we actually spent Thanksgiving DAY skiing @ Crystal Mountain postponing the gathering until Friday to be able to spend the meal & traditions with more of our family around the table. And even then the table was a few folks shorter than the usual because my mom and Bob have bought a house in Arizona.

When we returned home from our day on the mountain G started immediately making his Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie. He was pretty excited, this was his first pie.

He was determined to do it completely by himself pie crust and all. Although I did help in attempting to make his edges a bit more pretty.

It definitely looked like a contender in the dessert arena.

Friday we woke up to prepping as we do most Thanksgiving meals.

I started by setting up the dining room which is typically what I do first when hosting a dinner party

so we can focus on the food.

 

This year was inspired again by Rick Bayless and G decided he'd cook the turkey on the Weber and make Mesquite Grilled Turkey with Red Chile Adobo Sauce. After that we basically shaped the whole menu around a "Mexican Kick" kind of theme.

The family arrived. Ally got started on a project to make some oreo turkey place settings that we found on this site. (very cute.)

Photo by Ally

She also decided it was fun to take photos with my cameras so I must happily share photo credits with her today.

Photo by Ally

She finished up her turkeys and completed the table setting.

We started with appetizers:

Crab Rangoon Dip from the December 2011 Cuisine at Home magazine (sorry their recipes aren't online but there are a few very similar recipes for Crab Rangoon Dip on the Food Network site too.)

And a Smoked Salmon Cheese Ball also from the December Cuisine at Home issue.

We put everyone to work with prep chores along the way; Hunter grated the cheese,

It looked like G's turkey turned out beautifully done on the grill.

Photo by Ally

We served the turkey  with Jicama Cranberry Salsa that I got a bit more gutsy with by adding oranges, whole cranberries and jalapenos to.

And Chorizo and Cornbread Stuffing with added jalapeno

and Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle.

We decided to do our Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots dish in the crock pot this year. Which was genius in saving some needed oven space.

We also had Pan Roasted Brussel Sprout Gratin with Shallots.

This seemed to be the big hit at the table this year (the photo definitely doesn't do this dish justice.

Dinner was enjoyed by all

and a great menu it was.

Yes, we do love hosting Thanksgiving and cooking for our family.

After some initial kitchen clean up was and food digesting was done it was time give G's Bourbon-Chocolate Pecan Pie the true taste test.

It was pretty unanimous he did a great job on his pie.

Photo by Ally

It was a Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Rick's Braised Short Ribs with Arbol Chiles, White Beans, Mushrooms, and Beer



Greg in line @ XOCO, Chicago 2010



Rick Bayless is one of our chef heroes even long before becoming TVs Top Chef Master. We’ve followed his PBS cooking series, have just about every one of his cookbooks and have eaten at all 3 of his Chicago Restaurants: Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and XOCO. We’re true fans and followers I guess you might say.



Ahogado Torta @ XOCO

We had the most amazing dinner at Topalabamba with my sister and her boyfriend several years ago. We’ll never forget his trio of ceviches’ and goat empanadas from that meal. T also swears she actually saw him in the restaurant when she came out of the restroom. Since she’s the only one that was there this wasn’t verified by anyone else. Last year while in the windy city we tried Rick’s latest Chicago restaurant  XOCO. It’s more street fair food with some great tortas so while being low key and accessible Rick still comes through with great flavors. 

So being the Rick Bayless fan that I evidently am, I decided to cook something from his latest cook book, Fiesta at Ricks the newest to our collection, one or more times a month (maybe it was every week? That might be more than I can follow through with but it’s a good goal). Since the weather finally got cooler here on Sunday, braised short ribs sounded like the perfect comfort food to make. I decided on Braised Short Ribs with Arbol Chiles, White Beans, Mushrooms, and Beer. This recipe is actually on his blog as well if you’re interested in trying it out. Braised Short Ribs with Arbol Chiles, White Beans, Mushrooms and Beer

 I love the smells that emanate from the oven during braising. This recipe incorporated dried chile de arboles with a garnish of cilantro to give it that Mexican flare; otherwise, it was more American comfort food.
 

Searing Shortribs



Ready for braising in the oven



Next, the onions were added to soften before all of the other ingredients were added:  one whole garlic head cut in half, shitake mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, beef stock, dark beer (my buddy Jason left a Henry’s dark here last week for the game thought I’d go with that), one can fire-roasted tomatoes, three cans of white beans, thyme, salt, and pepper.

 Then it was in the oven for two-and-a-half hours to braise. To accompany the entree, I broiled some fresh asparagus coated with olive oil, salt, and pepper.



Shortribs after braising

We enjoyed some leftover Avalon cab (good deal from Pete’s for a mid-week sipper) from the night before (that doesn’t happen much) with our meal.

The next night we removed and shredded the meat from the bone and ate it more as a stew and it was just as delicious the next day.

 I am looking forward to my next Rick meal, maybe grilled rack of lamb with honey-pasilla glaze? But T wants to go with one of the seafood recipes, so we'll see who really gets to pick the next recipe.
 I toasted the chiles for about 30 seconds first, then seared the ribs with the chiles in the pot.