Queso

Method

1. grate4 min
   torn or grated, kept loose
   cheese into small pieces (+ Monterey Jack). Small and separate pieces melt before the pan has time to get hot enough to hurt them — a block dropped in whole forces you to hold the heat on far too long while the outside overcooks
2. simmer3 min
   low, until steaming and barely trembling
   evaporated milk (+ sweated onion), brought just below a simmer. Evaporated milk carries roughly twice the protein of fresh at the same volume, and that extra casein helps hold the fat in suspension
3. temper8 min
   heat off or at its lowest, a handful at a time
   + cheese, stirred until each addition has disappeared before the next goes in. Keep the pan under about 65°C — you should never see a bubble. Above that the casein network contracts and wrings out the butterfat, and the sauce goes from smooth to grainy with an oil slick in seconds. This is the step that decides the dish
4. fold3 min
   off the heat
   + green chiles + cumin + salt (+ jalapeños, + cilantro, + tomato), turned through. Drain the chiles properly first; their packing liquid is thin and will loosen the sauce past the point where it clings to a chip
5. season2 min
   warm, on a chip rather than a spoon
   to taste, loosening with a splash of warm milk if it has tightened. If it does break, take it off the heat and whisk in a tablespoon of cold evaporated milk — you are cooling it below the coagulation point and adding fresh protein at once. Reheat only over the lowest heat, stirring; a microwave will break it again