(spanish) Translation: Chile with cheese.
Let me put it this way: GOODChile con queso can make a party. BAD chile con queso can break a party.
Chile con queso is a SIMPLE dish, sometimes people try too hard to make it more than it is. What follows is the recipe I use. This was obtained from a local, popular mexican food restraunt in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a small variation (I use Velveeta).
What you'll need:
  • 5 pounds velveeta style cheese. (see note below)
  • 2-3 cans Hernadez brand tomatoes.(they're very watery, for making salsa, if you can get the ones with some chile in it already)
  • freshly roasted green chile (I use between 3-6 pods depending on size, flavor, and mildness..I like it HOT)

What to do: I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT MICROWAVE I dont know why, but for some reason the cheese wont melt and the tomatoes explode. While fun to watch, it makes a mess and doesnt taste right.
Start out chopping the cheese into smallish blocks, about 1" cubes works good, melt them in a teflon coated sauce pan using just enough heat to make it melt. The goal here is to not dry the cheese out. Once it's fairly well melted add the other stuff. mix well, and leave it to cook for as long as you possibly can. Honestly, the longer the better, just dont burn it. Add water every so often if you HAVE to, but dont let it get too soupy. Rememebr to stir it. An alternative idea would be use a crockpot and let it cook all day (this is how restraunts do it).
Serve with good restraunt style tortilla chips (those massive 2-5 pound bags from costco...) and plenty of beer* and other foods.

Note about cheese: I prefer to use Velveeta because it seems to stay creamy longer once removed from the heat source. Most restraunts will use cheddar cheese, but they also add vegitable oil or lard, and lots of water.. They also make this stuf in VERY large batches. Not sure why, but it seems the more you make the better it tastes, and they keep it BOILING hot until brought to the table, at which point it's devoured rapidly not allowing it time to harden... velveeta is a safer bet for parties where people will just munch all night.

*If you're in the USA, and under 21, ignore that suggestion.