Queso Fundido

Queso Fundido simply means melted cheese, which, for me, is enough said about how fabulous this dish is, but I guess I'll elaborate a bit more. As much as I love fake, yellow, liquid nacho cheese, the melted cheese in authentic Mexican cuisine is much more sophisticated, rarely yellow...and actually cheese. The most common melting cheese here are queso asadero, quesillo and manchego, if you can find them stateside. If not, monterrey jack is the most popular substitute.

While this meal isn't exactly pretty or fancy, the process is very simple and the results are delicious. This particular recipe comes from my favorite Top Chef Master, Rick Bayless, with a few small changes. This dish is great as a snack or as a casual dinner and it definitely has it's place (and puts everything else to shame) at any sort of sport watching event.

Ingredients
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced
1 chile poblano, roasted, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 lb. chorizo
1/2 lb. melting cheese
flour tortillas
vegetable oil

Directions

1 - Put an 8-inch dish or 5-inch bowl (both oven-safe!) in a 350* oven.

2 - Heat a bit of vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Crumble the chorizo out of its casing and into the pan.

3 - Cook the chorizo, making sure to break it up into very small pieces with a spatula or a wooden spoon. Cook about 10 minutes.

4 - Remove the chorizo from the pan. Add a bit more oil and allow to heat again over low heat.

5 - Add the onion slices and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Add the poblanos and the jalapeños and cook for another 5 minutes.

6 - Remove the plate (carefully!!) from the oven and add the cheese to it. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melty.

7 - Add the onions, chiles and chorizo to the cheese, return to the oven and cook for another 5 minutes.

8 - Serve with a spoon and a nice, thick stack of warm, flour tortillas.