Need chef opinion on flambe

[medtran49]

medtran, never heard of this dish until now with this thread. Then you add poblanos, onions and chorizo into the mix and I am dying.

So, please, please show an ignorant northerner how to make this... please???

I'll start a thread and add to it over the next couple of days as there are a multitude of ways to make queso fundido. We make at least 3 different kinds depending on mood.

 

[medtran49]

I have seen in case of fundido on some menus but not recently. I ordered it one time at a real Mexican restaurant where I had a language barrier and when they brought it out it was a cup of hard unmelted Monterey Jack cheese or some other white cheese and they had no idea I guess what to do with it and I couldn't even tell anyone about it because everyone pretended nothing was wrong.

So I guess that experience made me think twice before ordering fundido again. Not everyone flambees that same mixture but they melted I guess under a broiler or something and I'm honestly not tried that but it's probably fine. The places I get it they call it by what's in it so they call it hongos con queso for the one with vegetables and poblanos. And then they call the chorizo one something else. But the first couple of places I had it did call it queso flameado and it did not have much in it except cheese and rot gut. But it was good. It's hard to mess up melted cheese and yet I've had it happen to me twice.


If I had the proper pan for it and better insurance, I would be tempted to try it at home. Because I would char and peel the poblanos first and get a good brown on the mushrooms and I think mine would taste better. I think you could use one of those iron steak pans that has the wood casing around it if you didn't burn yourself trying to move it out of the oven and back onto the wood.

I bet hongos con queso included huitlacoche in the beginning. We purchased some fresh frozen once and tried it in a couple if dishes. Even though I love mushrooms and my DH likes them, we weren't impressed.

I've never seen mushrooms in fundido but can certainly see using brown ones, maybe some dried/reconstituted porcini in the mix.

The vegetables we normally see are poblanos, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Not necessarily at the same time.

You can safely flame at home. I do it on our stovetop that has a range hood over it in a heavy skillet. Keep a metal pan that's large enough to completely cover your cheese dish next to the stove and don't use too much booze. If things get out of hand, just flip the extra pan over it to smother the flames. If you want to be extra safe, have a household fire extinguisher or a box of baking soda handy.

 

[Texmex]

I bet hongos con queso included huitlacoche in the beginning. We purchased some fresh frozen once and tried it in a couple if dishes. Even though I love mushrooms and my DH likes them, we weren't impressed.

I've never seen mushrooms in fundido but can certainly see using brown ones, maybe some dried/reconstituted porcini in the mix.

The vegetables we normally see are poblanos, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Not necessarily at the same time.

You can safely flame at home. I do it on our stovetop that has a range hood over it in a heavy skillet. Keep a metal pan that's large enough to completely cover your cheese dish next to the stove and don't use too much booze. If things get out of hand, just flip the extra pan over it to smother the flames. If you want to be extra safe, have a household fire extinguisher or a box of baking soda handy.

I know one place used to put red and green peppers and theirs and it was actually good but they quit making it. I have a beef with anyone who uses poblanos that aren't charred and skinned. Poblanos have a wonderful mild flavor but if you leave the outside on there just bitter and hard.

I have not actually seen an onion in the ones I've been having but it just seems like they're ought to be some in there but that it should be caramelized so that's probably why no one's doing it. But it doesn't seem to matter. The ones with chorizo, the chorizo just overwhelms everything. That seems to be what most people like and I don't know if they have other things down in there or not. I didn't feel like the mushrooms were cooked well enough and that one I got that was alcohol soaked either. They need to be grilled up pretty good.

A couple of places use mushrooms and poblanos and a sour cream sauce to Top chicken with, and that is good to varying degrees depending on how it's seasoned. I made some at home and mine was not seasoned correctly. I mean it was still pretty good but if it's done right it's really good.

 

[Texmex]

I bet hongos con queso included huitlacoche in the beginning. We purchased some fresh frozen once and tried it in a couple if dishes. Even though I love mushrooms and my DH likes them, we weren't impressed.

I've never seen mushrooms in fundido but can certainly see using brown ones, maybe some dried/reconstituted porcini in the mix.

The vegetables we normally see are poblanos, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Not necessarily at the same time.

You can safely flame at home. I do it on our stovetop that has a range hood over it in a heavy skillet. Keep a metal pan that's large enough to completely cover your cheese dish next to the stove and don't use too much booze. If things get out of hand, just flip the extra pan over it to smother the flames. If you want to be extra safe, have a household fire extinguisher or a box of baking soda handy.

I have seen huitlaoche used and a couple of places and have not tried it.. but it was not in a case of sauce and I can't remember what it was on or maybe it was in a taco.

 

[medtran49]

We're watching an episode of Pati's Mexican Kitchen. She just made steak fajitas, cooking the steak, onions and peppers separately. As she finished the steak, she poured tequila into the pan and let it catch fire (gas stove). Boy did that tequila whoosh!

 

[medtran49]

With all this talk of Mexican food, I am well on my way to finally giving in and making tamales that I have been craving for weeks, but have been trying to ignore since they are so much work!