Spicy Queso!Queso!

It was not until I was 14 that I discovered “Queso”! And not just queso(cheese), I mean Queso! Warm queso sauce ladled heavily over homemade tortilla chips with plenty of pickled jalapeños on top! It was not until we moved to Houston in 1979 that I had my first real bowl of nachos. A classic cardboard tray filled with round tortilla chips and loaded with yellow cheese sauce and rings of pickled jalapeños. That’s when my nacho addiction began! Growing up in California, we had plenty of chips with melted cheese, just straight shredded cheese, not a queso sauce. There a few ways to achieving a creamy and smooth queso. The fastest version is that big block of cheese that melts like no other. You know which one I am referring to, right? Makes the best mac n cheese too! Velveeta! It works great when you need the cheese sauce fix fast, Lol! The version I am sharing with you today has a few more steps, but yields a delicious cheese sauce that’s good for all your nacho cravings. At the end of the blog post I will share a link for yet another version of queso that I used to prepare all the time. Don’t prepare the queso, whichever version you decide, until you have a good supply of homeade chips! Pretzels and crackers just won’t do!  #queso #nachos #texmex #foodieforlife

Spicy Queso

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
1-2 teaspoons crushed chile piquin or red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups whole milk, at room temperature

Directions

Heat the 3 tablespoons of butter to medium heat. Once butter melts, add the crushed chile pepper and cook for 1 minute stirring often. Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the room temperature milk. Cook, whisking often, until sauce becomes thick, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the hot sauce and chile limon powder. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the shredded cheese until sauce is smooth.