Ro what?

For those of you who do not know Rotel (http://www.ro-tel.com/index.jsp) is a widely-used ingredient in dishes here in Texas. I spent one year 2001-2002 in Austin without being introduced to this ubiquitous canned good. But in 2006 when I moved down here and in with my friend Heather, she was shocked (dismayed?) that I had never heard of it. I looked at the can and asked (the audacity!), "Uhh...isn't it just diced tomatoes and jalapenos? Couldn't you just dice the things on your own?" BLASPHEMY!!

The typical dish made with Rotel (or is it Ro*Tel?) is queso. For those not in the know, that is the cheesy spicy dip that you use with tortilla chips. Personally, I've always chosen (outside of a restaurant, that is) the Tostitos brand queso (http://www.tostitos.com/prod_salsaqueso.php). It's available at such gourmand eateries as 7-11 or Walgreens, and it is delicious.

But tonight it was homemade queso. I had some friends over, and one of my friends left me a bag with the two ingredients and some really tasty tortilla chips. Oh, and did I say the other ingredient is Velveeta? Oh yes. That bizarrely shelf-stable yellow/orange cheese-like product. To date, I had never prepared anything with Velveeta either, except for maybe boxed mac and cheese. So this evening was a first for two things.

I announced to my friends that I had never made queso with Rotel and Velveeta. This shocked them. "You don't have a crock pot? But you like to cook so much!" questioned one friend. "I like my queso a little more watery so I do two cans to one block, but it's a question of taste." advised the one who brought the products. "How exciting!" I exclaimed.

I decided to stay with the advice I had been given as opposed to the advice on the box, which was to pair just one can of Rotel with the entire 32 oz (yes, you read that right) block of "cheese." Instead of microwaving in a bowl as my friend suggested, however, I decided to turn to the box for the cooking method - melt it over low heat in a medium sauce pan. I did not choose this method due to the friendly warnings about how queso in the microwave can bubble up like oatmeal, but I will say the concept of cleaning that fake cheese stuff out of the inside did give me pause.

My friend also warned me that I will never go back to bottled Tostitos queso. It is likely that she is right.