Spicy Corn Churros With Roasted Tomato Salsa Con Queso Food

SPICY CORN CHURROS WITH ROASTED TOMATO SALSA CON QUESO

Steps:

• Special Equipment: A pastry bag and a large closed star tip (we used size 845 tips); deep-fry thermometer.
• Preheat oven to 350°. Toast cascabel until fragrant and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove chiles from baking sheet, let cool.
• Increase oven temperature to 450°. Roast tomatoes, fresnos and onion on a clean rimmed baking sheet until skin is browned and beginning to separate from flesh, 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a blender and add garlic, lime juice, and 2 teaspoons salt; blend until smooth. Add cascabel and blend until coarsely chopped. Let sit at room temperature until ready to serve.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook until incorporated, about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and continue to cook until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low, gradually add both cheeses, and cook, stirring constantly, until cheese is completely melted and queso is smooth. If it seems too thick, stir in a little more milk. Keep warm until ready to serve.
• Do Ahead: Salsa and queso can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill speperately. Bring salsa room temperature before serving; warm queso until smooth and creamy.
• Fit pastry bag with star tip. Whisk chili powder and 1 tablespoon salt in a small bowl; set aside.
• Bring milk, butter, cumin, 1¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ cup water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Using a wooden spoon, add flour and cornmeal in one go, and vigorously mix until dough comes together, about 30 seconds. Let sit in pan for 10 minutes to hydrate the cornmeal. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed, add eggs to dough, one at a time, making sure to incorporate each egg before adding the next (alternatively, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon). Dough will look broken at first; continue to beat, scraping bowl occasionally, until dough is smooth, glossy, and somewhat stretchy (pull off a small piece of dough and stretch it-it shouldn't break). Spoon dough into prepared pastry bag.
• Pour oil into a large pot to come halfway up the sides. Fit pot with thermometer and heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°. Holding bag at an angle so tip is a few inches above surface of oil, squeeze out dough, moving the bag as you squeeze so dough is piped in a 6" length into oil. Using a paring knife, cut off dough at the tip to release into oil. Repeat process to make 4 more dough lengths. Fry churros, turning once and adjusting heat as needed to maintain oil temperature, until golden brown on all sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Sprinkle warm churros with reserved chili-salt mixture mixture. Dollop salsa over warm queso and swirl to combine; serve with warm churros.

ROASTED CORN AND TOMATO SALSA

Steps:

• Preheat broiler and set rack 4 inches below. If your broiler and oven are separate, also preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with foil.
• Place tomatoes and jalapeños on one of the baking sheets and set under broiler, about 4 inches from heat. Broil for about 6 minutes, until skins are charred and blackened in spots. Using tongs, flip over tomatoes and jalapeño and continue to broil for another 6 minutes. The tomatoes and chiles should be softened and cooked through as well as charred. Tip tomatoes and chiles, along with any juices in the pan, into a bowl and allow to cool.
• Place corn on baking sheet and set under the broiler. Broil until you hear the kernels beginning to pop, 2 to 4 minutes. Corn should be nicely browned on one side. Flip over and broil for 2 minutes, or until you hear popping, on the other side. Remove from heat, allow to cool, then cut kernels from cob and set aside.
• If using the same oven to roast the onions, turn heat down to 425 degrees. Break up onions into rings and place on baking sheet in a single layer. Add garlic and place in oven. Roast, stirring every 5 minutes, until onions have softened and are lightly browned and charred on edges and garlic is soft and browned in spots, about 15 minutes. If some of the smaller pieces of onion begin to char more quickly than others, remove them sooner.
• Stem jalapeños and place with onions and garlic in a food processor fitted with the bowl as necessary. Transfer to a large bowl.
• When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, core and discard skins (hold over bowl to catch juices). Place in food processor with juice and pulse to a coarse purée. Add to bowl with chopped onions, garlic and jalapeño. Add the vinegar, season generously with salt (Rick Bayless recommends a generous teaspoon), and stir in the cilantro and corn. If desired, thin out with water.

SPINACH CON QUESO

Steps:

• In a large, heavy bottom sauce pan add cheese, salsa, and spinach.
• Stir constantly until cheese is melted and bubbling.
• Remove from heat and add sour cream.
• Stir well and add to a Corningware bowl so it stays warm for a long time.
• Eat with chips and enjoy!
• To re-heat: Put a lid on the bowl and put in the microwave for a few minutes and stir well.
• Or, pour it back into a heavy bottom pot and stir until hot again.

SPICY CORN SALSA

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Grill corn and poblano peppers on the preheated grill until corn has charred and peppers have softened, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the grill and let cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.
• Cut corn off cobs and dice poblanos; place into a bowl. Add jalapenos, onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper and mix together.

CORN MUFFIN CHURROS

Steps:

• Heat 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet to 340°. Combine the corn muffin mix, flour, sugar, baking powder, and just 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Add eggs, zest, and buttermilk. Whisk until combined.
• Put half the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (#844) and pipe 4-inch long churros into the oil, fitting no more than four at a time in the pan. Fry until nice and golden about 30 seconds. Turn once during frying period. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Repeat process until you have used up the batter and have about 24 churros made.
• Combine the other 1 teaspoon cinnamon with sugar to taste and sprinkle over the churros. Serve warm with either the chocolate sauce or caramel sauce.

SPICY, CREAMY CORN SALSA

Steps:

• Stir sour cream and mayonnaise until well combined. Set aside.
• Combine corn, diced tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, salt, pepper, and cumin in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream mixture. Fold in Cheddar cheese.

TRADER JOE'S ROASTED TOMATO SALSA

Steps:

• Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and,using the PULSE function, blend salsa to desired consistency. Trader Joe's version is semi-chunky. If it helps, add more tomato juice or water if the salsa is too thick and won't blend.
• Note that all the amounts for the ingredients are estimated.
• Serve salsa at room temperature.
• Note: prep time does not include roasting the vegetables.

RUSTIC ROASTED TOMATO SALSA (SALSA DE MOLCAJETE)

Steps:

• Set a small skillet over medium heat. Lay the chilis and garlic in the skillet and dry-roast until soft and blotchy black in spots, about 10 minutes for the chilis, about 15 minutes for the garlic.
• While the chilis and garlic are roasting, scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and pour into a medium bowl.
• Pull the stems off the roasted chilis and peel the papery skins off the garlic. Scoop them into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. Add the tomatoes, with their juice, re-cover and pulse a few more times, until the mixture is as coarse or smooth as you want your salsa to be.
• Pour the tomato mixture into the bowl with the onion. Add the cilantro and stir thoroughly. Thin with a little water, if necessary, to give the salsa an easily spoonable consistency. Taste and season with the lime juice or vinegar, if using, and salt, usually about ½ teaspoons If not using within an hour or two, cover and refrigerate.
• Note: If you're not planning to use the salsa within a few hours, wait until you're ready to serve to add the onions and cilantro.
• Using fresh tomatoes:.
• Roast 4 medium to large tomatillos, husked, rinsed and quartered, close up under a hot broiler until blistered and blackened in spots, then flip them over and roast the other side. Peel off the skin, chop them and use them in the salsa.

ROASTED CORN, TOMATO AND QUESO FRESCO SALSA

Steps:

• 1. Cut the Roma tomatos in half across the short axis. Squeeze, with the cut side down over a bowl or sink to remove seeds and juice. Dice the tomatos into a 1/4 inch dice and place into a large bowl.
• 2. Shuck the fresh sweet corn. I roast it over the open flame on my gas stove until there are brown spots and it is popping. Cut the stalk off the cob so it will sit flat. I stand the end of the cob up on the bottom of a wide flat bowl or pan and cut the kernels off with a sharp knife and let them fall into the bowl. Add to the bowl with the tomatos.
• 3. Cut the jalapenos in half length wise and remove the seeds and membrane. Slice each half of the jalapeno into very thin strips. Pile the strips up and cut cross-wise into very small dice. I always taste a small piece of the chili to make judge the heat before adding to the bowl-you can always add more, but it is hard to remove once added. Cut the roots off the green onions. Slice the onions thinly, including the lower half of the green part. Clean the cilantro--I wash it and spin it in my salad spinner to dry it. You can roll it in a clean dish towel also. Chop the cilantro including the upper portion of the stems. Add all items to the bowl.
• 4. Crumble the Queso Fresco into the bowl with the other ingredients. Add salt--I always start with around a teaspoon, and adjust after I have add the lime juice. Squeeze the juice of three of the limes into the bowl. Stir together and taste--I always taste with tortilla chips--and add more salt or lime juice if needed. This is ready to serve as soon as it is made, but, it can be made the night before. It will accumulate juice which you will want to drain if there is too much there.
• 5. I adjust all ingredients to suit my taste and/or those I am cooking for.

SOUTHWESTERN PIZZA CON QUESO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Place pizza crust top side down on a baking sheet, bake 4-5 minutes or until crust is golden brown and crisp.
• Remove from oven, and turn crust top side up.
• Shred chicken, and add oil to heat over medium heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering.
• Cut bell peppers and onion into thin slices.
• Add bell peppers, onion, and seasoning mix to a mixing bowl, toss to coat.
• Add vegetable mixture to skillet, cook 2-3 minutes or until tender.
• Add chicken, cook 1 minute, or until heated through. Remove skillet from heat.
• Spread salsa con queso dip over crust to within 1 inch of edges.
• Top evenly with chicken mixture, sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake 7-8 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• Remove from oven, and cut into wedges.