Ingredients (~6 servings)
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup minced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 poblano chile, charred, peeled, seeded and diced
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup cooked corn kernels
- 1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
- 1 1/4 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
First, Roast the Poblano Pepper
You can do this by placing the poblano pepper over an open flame on your gas stove, or place the pepper on a foil-lined baking sheet and place it under the broiler.
Turn the pepper every couple of minutes, approximately every 2 minutes, until the entire skin of the pepper turns black. Total time before skin is fully charred is approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
Place the pepper into a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap to trap the steam and let the pepper steam approximately 10 minutes.
Once the skin has steamed off, you can peel the skin off of the poblano easily using your fingers. You can then split the pepper in half to remove the seeds, and then dice the pepper into small pieces.
Next, Begin Making the Roux Base
In a large saucepan, on medium heat, melt the butter.
Add the diced onion and cook for approximately 2 minutes or until the onion becomes soft.
Add the garlic and diced roasted poblano; cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The garlic will become fragrant but should remain light ivory in color and should not brown.
Begin Building the Queso Sauce
After cooking the garlic and onion, stir in the flour and continue to cook for approximately 1 minute, or until all of the raw flour taste is gone.
To create a lump-free texture, whisk the milk in slowly, a little at a time, until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Once you have added all of the milk, bring the queso sauce to a simmer over low heat.
Once you see that your queso sauce has thickened up slightly, add in the corn and diced tomatoes. Simmer for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until the tomatoes and corn begin to release some of their moisture.
After your queso sauce has reached the desired consistency, remove your pan from the heat and add the grated cheese to your queso sauce. Stir your grated cheese into your queso sauce until the cheese is completely melted and blended into the sauce.
At this time, you should taste your cheese sauce and add to it salt and pepper as needed for seasoning.
Keep in mind that queso will continue to thicken upon cooling, therefore, serve the queso hot with tortilla chips.
Poblano and Corn Queso
Ingredients
~6 servings
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup minced onion
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 poblano chile charred, peeled, seeded and diced
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup cooked corn kernels
- 1 roma tomato seeded and diced
- 1 1/4 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Char poblano over gas flame or broiler, turning every 2 minutes until blackened, about 6-8 minutes.
- Steam poblano in covered bowl for 10 minutes, then peel, seed, and dice.
- Melt butter in saucepan, sauté onions for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and poblano, cook 2 more minutes.
- Stir in flour, cook 1 minute.
- Whisk in milk, bring to simmer.
- Add corn and tomato, simmer 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Remove from heat, stir in cheese until melted.
- Season with salt and pepper.
