Pancho's Cheese Dip
For many, many years, there was only one Mexican restaurant in town. For 'starters', they placed a big bowl of tostados on the table, along with a very commonplace tomato salsa -- and an absolutely fabulous cheese dip. Everybody wanted the recipe, but it was a closely-guarded secret. After the Tex-Mex craze hit and this restaurant started marketing a plastic version of their wonderful dip, I obtained the original recipe by nefarious means. :) Please do not be put off by the fact that it's based on Velveeta. This is 'cheese food' raised to a new level. Addictive! May I add that it is (quite literally) impossible for a cheese dish with such strong savory seasonings to have a 'sweet' undertone. And it's so thick you won't believe. When you rate 7 recipes and give 6 of them 1*, one wonders....
INGREDIENTS
Nutrition- 1tablespoon garlic powder
- 1tablespoon black pepper
- 1tablespoon Accent seasoning
- 1tablespoon ground cumin
- 2(28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes
- 5
- pickled jalapeno pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Measure first 4 ingredients into a small bowl, stirring well to mix.
- (Note: As tastes have changed over the years, I have gradually decreased the Accent slightly, measuring a scant tablespoon so it won't be too salty.) Pour 1 can of tomatoes, including juice, into the bowl of a food processor.
- Add 2 tablespoons of spice mixture and 5- 6 slices of pickled jalapenos.
- Pulse on and off briefly several times until ingredients are well-mixed and tomatoes are broken into small pieces but still retain some texture.
- (It should look like a thick salsa.) Pour tomato mixture into a medium saucepan.
- Repeat with remaining can of tomatoes, remaining spices, and additional slices of jalapenos, adding mixture to the saucepan after processing.
- If your food processor can handle it, grate cheese and then put in a large pot or Dutch oven; if not, chop cheese coarsely by hand.
- (A Cuisinart makes it easier, but it doesn't affect the final outcome.) Cook tomato mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently; bring just to the boiling point, BUT DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL!
- The instant the first bubble breaks the surface, remove from heat and pour over cheese.
- Stir well, until cheese seems to have melted as much as it's going to (which won't be much-- it will still be extremely lumpy).
- Using a ladle (or a coffee mug), pour approximately 3 cups of the mixture into the food processor bowl.
- Process approximately 20-30 seconds, until mixture is smooth.
- Remove lid from processor bowl and taste for'heat' and consistency.
- If it is not as hot as you'd like, add a few more jalapeno slices.
- It will be waaaay too thick, so add water (several tablespoons at a time), processing briefly after each addition, until it is the proper consistency.
- Each batch will require a different amount of water, depending on the ratio of cheese to tomato sauce, but you'll quickly get the hang of about how much to add.
- If you accidentally get one batch too thin, you can easily compensate by making the next one extra-thick and stirring them together.
- Although this makes a huge amount, it will disappear more quickly than you ever thought possible, so stock up on lots of chips!
- Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for days on end.