Queso Fundido Recipe - Favorite Dish From Guadalajara

A wonderful trip to Guadalajara, Mexico took us to Casa Fuerte

to taste the favorite dish of our dear friend Diana and her entire family - 

 Queso Fundido.

Diana's husband John is serving as the Mission President in the Mexico,

Guadalajara Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.

Their three year mission is coming to an end at the end of this month

and my friend Barb and I snuck in a short trip to see them before

they come home.

Diana had told her husband that her wish was to be able to go 

into the kitchen of Casa Fuerte and  to learn how to make 

their Queso Fundido.

When we went there, she

introduced me as an American Food Blogger who would like

to feature their restaurant and their queso fundido on my blog.

She asked if we could come into the kitchen and learn how

it was made.

Felipe was our waiter who remembered Diana from previous

visits to the restaurant and he got permission for us to enter

the kitchen and they showed us step by step how they made

this fabulously tasty appetizer.

I just love any opportunity I get to enter a restaurant kitchen and see

how it is run.

At the entrance of the kitchen we met this sweet senora who was making

the wonderful homemade corn tortillas which would be served

with the queso fundido.  Just to her right was the large pot of

tomatillo sauce which would also be part of the dish.

The stone molcajetes which are often used in queso fundidos around

Mexico are heated on this gas grill to make them piping hot.  I had

wondered how they heated them.  We asked how they cleaned them

too and Felipe showed us a stiff wire brush.

Still in the kitchen, Felipe shows us that the block of oaxaca cheese is

first breaded with plain bread crumbs and then deep fried.

The block of cheese is then placed in the piping hot stone dish 

and then steaming hot tomatillo sauce is poured over the cheese.

The sauce immediately begins to bubble from the heat of

the stone bowl.

The dish is garnished tableside with some fresh cilantro

and then the waiter cuts the cheese block into smaller

pieces with two table knives.  The smaller pieces

of cheese allows the cheese to melt into the sauce a little

easier.

The appetizer is presented with pico de gallo, soft corn tortillas, crisp whole

corn tortillas and bread and crackers.  

These are the tortillas that our senora was making.  She also had a pile

of what appeared to be overcooked corn tortillas, but later we

realized that these were to be served along with the soft ones

almost like chips but not fried.

Although we focused on the tortillas, I had to feature the bread with

the fabulous presentation of the butter wrapped up in these 

corn husks and tied at the top.  What adorable little butter packets.

Since we went for lunch we ordered a couple of plates

of guacamole and the queso fundido and that was our

entire lunch.  

Can't you just taste this?  It was amazing.

My favorite dish in Cabo is a queso fundido  at Los Deseos

also presented tableside in a molcajete.  My daughter Jessica

had just given me a molcajete for Mother's Day so I was

happy to come home and figure out a recipe to recreate it.

Felipe was so adorable and sweet.   I told him 

that I would feature this on my blog.  

He said excitedly, "WHEN?!!"

I had to laugh a little and said, "Next week?"

  I told him the next

week, but it took a week longer.  Sorry, Felipe, but I hope you

get to see this post!

Casa Fuerte's Queso Fundido

Place a cleaned and seasoned molcajete (which you can

get online or at a local Mexican market - choose one with 

very small holes in the bottom or it will be hard to clean after use,

and season it with a little oil before your first use to help with 

clean up) in a 500 degree oven for one hour to heat up.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce and cheese.

Tomatillo Sauce

3 C. chopped fresh tomatillos

1 1/2 C. chopped sweet onion

16 oz. chicken broth or water

1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 - 3/4 tsp. salt

Place the tomatillos and onion in a medium sized saucepan

and pour the broth over.  Felipe said they just used water, but

I chose to up the flavor with broth.  Bring the broth to a boil

and boil for about 10-15 minutes or until the tomatillos and

onions are soft.  

Remove from heat and carefully put in a blender.  Be careful

not to burn yourself as you blend it.  Blend until almost smooth

and then add the cilantro and blend it until minced.  Season to

taste with the salt.  Set the sauce aside.

(Felipe told us the sauce was made from tomatillos, onions

and water.  He didn't mention salt or cilantro, but obviously

it had salt in it and when I made the recipe without cilantro,

the sauce was pale and unappetizing.  The addition of

cilantro gave it the color and flavor it needed.  He had

garnished it with fresh cilantro so it seemed like the perfect

addition.)

Deep Fried Cheese

12 oz. oaxaca or monterey jack cheese

I couldn't find the oaxaca so I used the monterey jack

( a one lb. block is a little big for the dish so I cut a little off

to make mine about 12 oz.)

2 eggs, lightly beaten 

1 C. dried bread crumbs (I used store bought ones)

Dip the cheese block in the egg wash, making sure that all of it

gets coated with the egg, then dip in the bread crumbs, coating all sides.

Place it on a plate and let rest in fridge for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile heat 2 - 2 1/2 inches of vegetable oil to 300 degrees.

I use my electric fondue pot for this.

Carefully place the cheese in the hot oil and quickly deep fry it.

You can see from the pictures at the restaurant that the cheese

is just barely fried.  Remove it carefully and let drain.  This would

work a lot better with a commercial fryer with a basket.  I used

a slotted spoon and a set of tongs and it does pull some of 

the breading off.  Set this aside.

(So here is the deal - I was making this the week after we returned

to try and figure out the recipe and we were having company.  I had

purchased a second molcajete from our local Mexican market.  On my

first block of cheese I didn't chill it after I had breaded it and I tried

frying it at 350 degrees.  The breading just floated right off.  On the

second block, I remembered that it helped the breading to stay on if

you placed it in the fridge first, so I did that and then reduced the heat

on the oil.  This time it worked fine.  

I went ahead and used both blocks, one that was missing 90 percent

of its breading and one that had all the breading.   They both turned

out fine so if you wanted to, you could maybe skip the breading part.  I am 

sure that it makes it a little tastier, but we ate from both bowls and

loved it - you decide!)

Bring the tomatillo sauce to a boil.

Remove the pre-heated molcajete from the oven.  Place it

on a heat proof plate or pad.  I think I am going to get 

a couple of those pads you can place dutch ovens on.  Place

the block of cheese in the hot stone bowl.  Pour the sauce almost

to the top.  This will make enough tomatillo sauce for two bowls.  You

can always use it for another dish.  Let the sauce come to a boil.

Use two table knives to cut the cheese into smaller cubes so that

the cheese will all melt.  Garnish with chopped cilantro.  

Serve with pico de gallo, guacamole, fresh tortillas and chips.

Here you can see the size of cubes the cheese was cut into an the

bubbling sauce.  The molcajete stays hot the whole time you are

eating so the queso fundido stays hot.  Just be careful to not

touch it.  Mine don't have these fun little iron holders but they

worked just as well.  They do get easier to clean with a wire

brush as they get more seasoned with use.  I didn't bother to

season mine with oil before I started using it and I should have.

Here Diana shows off how she ate hers, almost as a cheese taco.

I ate mine by tearing off chunks of tortilla and placing a little cheese

on each bite.  Any way you eat it, it tastes fantastic.

I have to finish by showing you how charming the entrance to 

the restaurant 

Casa Fuerte

is.  They have some kind of evergreen boughs strewn on the floor

so it smells so great as you walk in.

This is the entrance to Casa Fuerte.

It is actually in a suburb-like area of Guadalajara called 

Tlaquepaque.  

Tlaquepaque's city center was a jewel with wonderful

shops and furniture stores.  

I am so glad Diana had her wishes fulfilled and we had such

a wonderful time learning how to make this tasty appetizer.

And thank you to John and Diana for letting us share in a little

part of their mission.  It was truly a delight.

Even if you can't get to Tlaquepaque give their wonderful dish a try.

I will be posting with

Foodie Friday

On The Menu Monday