anyone have a great nacho cheese sauce recipe that doesnt involve Velveeta?

start with a bechamel?

i got nothing. need a game day dish that is more involved that a can of Rotel and a block of velveeta. i have Hatch NM chilis that i dont want to waste on fake cheese.

fake cheese is the best for nacho sauce though, as is mac n cheese sauce. heavy cream and american cheese melted in. you can add some smoked cheddar and the adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers to add a kick.

I found a few but I haven't tried them yet.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/09/cheese-sauce-for-cheese-fries-and-nachos.html

http://www.foodrenegade.com/creamy-mexican-cheese-dip-without-velveeta/

http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/2012/09/nacho-cheese-dip-no-velveeta.html

Check out modernist cuisine for a recipe that allows you to make a velveeta-esque cheese sauce flavored with any cheese you like and no roux/milk base.

http://modernistcuisine.com/2012/10/melty-cheese/

Are you willing to go fondue rather than nacho?
If so, this is the one I made this past Sunday and it was a huge hit.

1 12 oz bottle of beer, ale or lager are best, I usually use Bass or Grolsch
8oz shredded smoked Gruyere
4oz shredded cheddar
2 tablespoons AP Flour
1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard (I Use grey poupons version)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Bring the beer to a boil then let simmer until it stops foaming. Reduce to a low heat

Mix the cheeses together with the flour in a bowl. Add the mixture to the beer slowly while mixing. ONce all the cheese is in, add the mustard, salt and red pepper. Stir until the cheese it completely melted and smooth. Make sure you keep mixing so the cheese doesnt burn.

Put it into a fondue pot, spinkle nutmeg on the top.
Dip in your favorite fruits, bread, chips or whatever you like.
Chris

A real simple recipe is evaporated milk in a double boiler. Wait until its hot then start whisking in desired cheese. Very stable.

2nd the modernist cuisine call...that stuff is voodoo! Cheese, sodium citrate, carrrageen and beer. More beer = more sloppy. I make cheese slices out of it for burgers with really good cheddar and an aged gouda.

With a thermal circulator and an ISI whipper you can even spray it on.. :bigeek:

Where does one acquire sodium citrate easily? I need to try that voodoo sometime.

GlassEye said:

Where does one acquire sodium citrate easily? I need to try that voodoo sometime.

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under $10 on E Bay

Some of you know that I do a lot of Modern cooking and the recipie I tried out of MCFH including using Sodium Citrate (of which I have a large jar) to my pallet gives the cheese a plastice taste and artificial texture. Also the sauce came out very thin. Granted I only made the recipe once but I'm pretty good at executing recipies first time, so I should try it again. Actually Heston Blumenthal show cooking like heston, the cheese episode had a recipe for his burgers. I digress, will have to use the Citrate again and report finding. Roger That.

Velveeta......yummmmmmm

Try modernistpantry.com they have all the fixings (and more)

Some of you know that I do a lot of Modern cooking and the recipie I tried out of MCFH including using Sodium Citrate (of which I have a large jar) to my pallet gives the cheese a plastice taste and artificial texture. Also the sauce came out very thin. Granted I only made the recipe once but I'm pretty good at executing recipies first time, so I should try it again. Actually Heston Blumenthal show cooking like heston, the cheese episode had a recipe for his burgers. I digress, will have to use the Citrate again and report finding. Roger That

Click to expand...

The texture is a bit *ahem* artificial but that is the joy of it, having given it to a few people the texture often leads the tongue in a strange direction. Had someone swear it was out of a packet (and that they hated it) until they where given 2 lumps of the original cheese to try...light bulb then went on and they did a 180 turnaround and was found later that day with a spoon and the remaining compound cheese.

Having MC rather than the MCFH does the recipe include carrageen? That might make all the difference.

Nope no Carrageen in the MCFC. That might be the difference. Here's the recipe, how much would I add to this and when?

They have a calculator on their site now that lets you specify how much liquid, how much cheese and what consistency you would like and it will tell you how much sodium citrate to use.

eGullet has quite a few thread on the original Mac Cheese from MC which includes some discussion on converting the recipe for queso

Have a look through here:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/138296-making-modernist-process-cheeses-at-home/

The key difference is the carrageen that allows it to behave differently in the mouth due to way it shears.