Taco Cabana

[Martin]

w-what?? ok... when it comes to food preference, i usually take the 'to each his own' approach... but i've gotta say that chili's queso is beyond nasty... it's like canned hotdog chili combined with some cheez whiz. disgusting stuff... don't see how anybody could like it. -M

[okclee]

^^ Most of the mexican restaurants that have the runny cheese sauce are giving it away for free along with chips, salsa, and tortlillas. If you ask for "real" queso they will bring you a bowl along with charging you for it. All you have to do is ask for the queso that isn't free.

[jbrown84]

Yeah, the Blue Corn Cafe was NEW MEXICAN food but it was darn good. High quality. I really miss that place but their overhead was way to high. They should have leased a smaller place. We were talking about Blue Corn Cafe yesterday in fact. I think it was in the Best Mexican Food thread in the Food Court.

It was the "Most Missed Restaurant" thread, actually, but yeah, that was a great place. It always seemed pretty busy, but it was a big space and I'm sure you're right about the overhead. I actually interviewed to be a waiter there a few months before they closed.

[CuatrodeMayo]

w-what?? ok... when it comes to food preference, i usually take the 'to each his own' approach... but i've gotta say that chili's queso is beyond nasty... it's like canned hotdog chili combined with some cheez whiz. disgusting stuff... don't see how anybody could like it. -M

Come on...yes it is prolly made of those very things, but its not that bad. Although I could do without the "meat" chunks.

^^ Most of the mexican restaurants that have the runny cheese sauce are giving it away for free along with chips, salsa, and tortlillas. If you ask for "real" queso they will bring you a bowl along with charging you for it. All you have to do is ask for the queso that isn't free.

I like my queso a little runny.

besides...

it's free.

Not to mention, I've never found free queso outside OKC.

[Martin]

ha! i actually edited out the 'meat chunks' portion of my previous post... i thought it was a bit overboard comparing them to alpo. yes... it's that bad.

as for free queso, some of it isn't that bad. but i'll agree that it's generally better-tasting when not complimentary... except for chili's, of course. wretched stuff. -M

[jbrown84]

mmm, I totally agree with you about Chili's queso.


on the free queso: yes it's watered down, but it tastes good and it's free and I like it. actually my favorite free queso in the metro is at Abuelita Rosa's in Shawnee. I wish they'd expand to OKC. They are WAY better Ted's, Ricky's, Poblano, etc.

[mburlison]

...actually my favorite free queso in the metro is at Abuelita Rosa's in Shawnee...

Actually, they left OKC for Shawnee. The couple that runs the place had a location in downtown area, then April 19th, 1995 happened. They opened up Abuelita Rosa's on South Penn (there still may be a location there) for a number of years, then moved to Shawnee. I stopped in at the Shawnee location a few weeks ago, and to me it had dropped off in quality from what it had been on Penn. No question, though, when they're "on", it's really good.

[SoonerDave]

The Taco Cabana at I-240 and Walker closed about two years ago and has been in a perpetual state of gutting ever since. When I worked on the north side of town several years ago, I went to TC on May a couple of times and thought it was pretty good. That said, I don't necessarily lament the loss because I'm not that big a Mexican food fan. There are only so many ways you can slather congealed carbohydrates on a tortilla...on the other hand, my wife would put pudding and salsa in a tortilla if the idea crossed her mind. Her family borders on Mexican food addicts - and when it comes to nasty queso, try melting a block of Velveeta in a crock pot, the watch it start to harden the moment you turn of the heat. BBlyucuchhhkk!


-soonerdave

[kmf563]

Soonerdave - that's why all of these people think the queso is actually GOOD in these restaurants...because their idea of queso IS velveeta, sausage, and rotel in a crock pot. bleck. That is NOT queso.
I have yet to eat at a real mexican restaurant in this state. It all tastes the same - yes, even ted's - all of their food tastes like frozen patio dinners. What is with all the Tex-Mex? Give me real. If I want Mexican food I just make it at home.

[SoonerDave]

Our family pretty much gave up on Ted's about a year ago. Their prices, which were never great, finally just went to the ridiculous while their portions continually decreased, and we just stopped going.

Now, I liked Ted's queso OK, but as I said I'm no reference point for mexican food of any variety because it just isn't my favorite "genre." I eat it more frequently than I would ever opt on my own because my wife and her family will just about eat anything with a tortilla around it. Easter Sunday? Fajitas. Family birthday lunch out? Mexican place near a truck stop. Weekend game afternoon/evening snack? Bag of tacos. No, I'm not kidding. It sometimes makes me want to scream when I hear her suggest Mexican food. Dinner last night? Taco salad.

AAAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(rant mode off).

-soonerdave

[jbrown84]

Soonerdave - that's why all of these people think the queso is actually GOOD in these restaurants...because their idea of queso IS velveeta, sausage, and rotel in a crock pot. bleck. That is NOT queso.

Then what, pray tell, is real queso dip?

[kmf563]

well, there really isn't a REAL queso dip because real mexican food doesn't include such an item.

But...the best tex-mex, semi-mex, whatever you want to call it queso definitely doesn't involve velveeta or any other processed cheese, let alone a can of spicy ketchup.

[jbrown84]

Show me how to melt cheddar into a dip and I'll agree with you.

There is a huge difference between Velveeta and Rotel and the watered down stuff they give you at Chelino's.

[okclee]

well, there really isn't a REAL queso dip because real mexican food doesn't include such an item.

But...the best tex-mex, semi-mex, whatever you want to call it queso definitely doesn't involve velveeta or any other processed cheese, let alone a can of spicy ketchup.

So what is the secret recipe for the perfect queso?

[jbrown84]

If I told you, I'd have to kill you. It stays in the family.

[okclee]

I need to know...........what have I been eating all of these years that I thought was queso? now I find out I have never had real queso

[Martin]

ahem. one does not simply melt cheese into a bowl in order to make queso... velveeta, cheddar or otherwise.

the first and biggest thing to understand is that queso is not a sauce made out of cheese, but a cheese-flavored sauce. queso is essentially a bechemel... like alfredo sauce, but flavored differently. if anyone's interested, i can go through the whole process. and i won't even have to kill you. -M

[okclee]

I am interested in the secret to making queso

[jbrown84]

Well, mmm, that is the case with the free queso, but the good stuff is simply melted velveeta with chiles and tomatoes.

[okclee]

I'm confused........free stuff , good stuff, real stuff

I just want some queso.

[kmf563]

Well, I use a combo of cheddar and monterrey cheese. If you get it fairly fresh (not a block of the hard stuff from the grocery department) and mix it with a little milk it melts just fine. Real mexican food tends to use goat's cheese for their traditional dishes, which is why i assume they don't really make a "dip" or queso. I personally don't like goat cheese and that's why I go with the typical tex mex choices. I also add real salsa instead of the flavored canned ketchup item. Sometimes I add sausage, others I don't. Just depends on the mood. But it tastes nothing like any of the restaurants cheez spread or that nasty velveeta stuff.

[Martin]

to each his own, jbrown. i won't diss the velveeta or cheez-whiz based quesos as they've accompanied me through many a football game.

to be fair, though, many of the restaurants appear to serve an instant mix that probably has some powdered milk in it... so it's just mixed with water. nothing like the stuff i make.

ok. here's what i do (i don't measure, so please work with me here!):

flour
butter or margerine
chicken boullion ( i use a product called "better than boullion")
rotel / your favorite salsa
heavy cream or half and half
cheddar or colby jack, shredded
some cream cheese (optional)

in a skillet, start by making a roux... melt the butter and mix in the flour. it should be a pretty thick paste. mix that around for about a minute to cook out the 'raw' taste of the flour. mix in the chicken boullion.

here's where you want to be careful. just like gravy, if you add liquid too fast, you'll end up with a lumpy sauce. slowly mix in the rotel. after that's mixed in, slowly mix in the cream until the sauce is just a bit thinner than what you'll want it. then allow the mixture to heat up a bit and mix in the shredded cheese and cream cheese. mix that in until it's melted and incorporated into the sauce. add cream or cheese until the sauce is just as thick as you want it... keep in mind that the sauce will thicken as it cools off.

hope i didn't rush through that too much!

-M

[jbrown84]

Have you ever had Rotel? It is not ketchup.

[Martin]

i'll second that... rotel is diced tomatoes and chiles... nothing like ketchup. -M

[okclee]

Have you ever had Rotel? It is not ketchup.

What about mayonaise?