4 Levels of Chips & Queso: Amateur to Food Scientist

[chips rustling]

[chips clicking]

[mix squishing]

[liquid pouring]

[percussive music]

I'm Desi, and I'm a Level One Chef.

I'm Emily, and I'm a Level Two Chef.

I'm Saul.

I've been a professional chef for the past 22 years.

[percussive music]

Today, I'm making chips and queso.

I don't have to wait 20 minutes

or three hours for it to be done.

Four minutes and I'm ready to go.

Mine is great because it has chicken,

which is a little extra hearty.

Today, I'm making queso fundido

with homemade corn tostadas.

Too much cheese, it might be no good.

[Saul laughs]

No, I'm lying. It's always good.

[swooshing]

[pointer telescoping]

[pointer taps]

[bright music]

First things first,

we're gonna do the hardest part -

pour the chips in the bowl.

I would guess that Desi has maybe scoop chips.

Woo!

Almost threw my back out pouring them chips in there.

Scoops? What's scoops?

Look at that. See that circle?

Get a nice scoop.

I personally don't use this -

not because I'm better.

It just, it goes against my religion.

[bowl sliding]

[bowl hits floor]

I have here some corn tortillas.

Cut my tortillas into quarters,

just so they're about chip size.

I'm gonna be making my own corn tostadas

instead of chips.

Oh, what?

Saul's making his own tortillas?

That's crazy. I never would've guessed.

You can come to my house

一个d I'll teach you how to make tortillas, Emily.

I'm going be using blue corn flour harina.

This corn has already been nixtamalized

一个d it already went through so much to get to this point.

So this is like the easy way.

Lime up.

To get all the juices out,

you gotta roll it first.

Some of y'all don't know this.

I'm just gonna lay out my future chips.

Brush these down on this side with vegetable oil.

I'm gonna be adding water slowly,

一个d also, the water has to be room temperature.

Going to work this dough for five minutes,

or six or seven.

You know me, I don't have my numbers straight.

So you see? Doesn't stick.

It's nice and smooth,

like my face.

[Saul laughs]

[Emily] Salt. I like 'em pretty salty.

Pepper.

Tajin. Tajin.

Little spicy.

But it's gonna work.

Like homemade Doritos.

[Emily] It's chili peppers, salt,

citric acid, and lime juice.

[Desi] Emily's trying to steal my swag,

that's what I think.

So my dough is ready.

Since we're making chips and queso,

instead of having those sweet bowl tortilla dough,

we're gonna make some cute little tostaritas,

which is corn tortilla chips.

Okay, there you go.

That's cute. That's little. Very nice.

How do you know your tortillas ready?

When you see the top getting drier,

you're gonna keep turning, turning, turning

until that's nice and crispy.

My chip work of art is ready.

I'm gonna take it to the oven,

cook it for like 12 to 15 minutes

until they're nice and golden brown.

Now I'm gonna do ground turkey

with some taco seasoning.

I'm gonna be adding shredded chicken to my queso.

The first thing that I have

for my queso and chips

is the chorizo.

Shredded chicken goes really well into queso.

It just sort of melts into the dip.

It tastes good. Why not?

Man, I love chorizo.

They have so much seasoning in it.

Paprika, cumin, garlic, peppers.

And then while that heats up,

I'm gonna season my chicken.

[Desi] Just salt bae popping.

Pepper.

Cumin.

Chili powder.

Oregano.

Chop it up.

Please wear clothes when you're cooking,

'cause it hurts when this stuff pops on you.

I'm gonna cook it until it turns brown.

[Emily] Brown it on each side.

[Saul] I want to caramelize the chorizo.

I want this to be nice and crunchy.

Chicken is the superior poultry choice.

Personal opinion.

We still don't know the truth

why the chicken crossed the road,

so we can't say chicken is better.

My nose is telling me that this is probably good.

Chicken stock.

And then I'm gonna add my bay leaf.

[Saul] All the textures that we're getting,

the cheese is gonna be soft, cheesy,

so I wanna add some crunch

besides the tostada.

My chicken's been simmering for about 12 minutes

一个d should be ready to shred.

And I'm just gonna reduce my liquid

while I shred my chicken.

This can reduce quite a bit.

You're gonna use a little bit of it

to add to this chicken.

Just a sploosh.

[Desi] Let's add our taco seasoning now.

We have some chili pepper,

some cornstarch, some salt, onion powder,

some spice, and sea salt, a little potassium.

So I'm gonna put some chorizo on the side

'cause I'm going to garnish my queso fundido with chorizo.

Smells delicious.

I'm just gonna chop my garnishes.

I have scallions and cilantro.

In the meantime,

I'm gonna cut this avocado into thin slices.

That's it.

Now, you can't have chips and queso without cheese.

It's like going to the pool when there's no water.

Got the Velveeta cheese.

It's soft. You don't gotta grate anything.

It's a real nacho cheese flavor.

So for my chips and queso,

I'm gonna use some poblano peppers and jalapenos.

The poblano pepper is the mildest pepper out there.

Don't be afraid. It's not spicy.

And then the jalapeno, it's a little spicy.

Now I'm gonna broil this for like 10, 15 minutes.

I'll be right back.

I have fire-roasted chilies in both hot and mild.

Doubling the amount of chilies

without doubling the amount of heat.

And then I add vinegar

just 'cause I find these on their own

are usually not tangy enough for me.

[Desi] I'm gonna add little salsa.

Just a little. Don't overdo it.

I'm basically adding a lot of the same things

that are in salsa,

but I have a little bit more choice

in terms of what flavors go in.

Similar vibe, different thing.

[Desi] Like a little pizza with no crust right now.

Ta-da!

My peppers are broiled.

Now, the reason why I put it in a plastic bag

is because I want them to sweat

all the heat.

So like that will be easier to remove the skin.

These peppers are happy at this lovely sauna.

I'm gonna put 'em on the side.

And now let's do some cooking.

I'm going be making the corn and the epazote.

I'm gonna start with the onion.

I'm gonna make julienne strips.

Olive oil here.

I'm gonna add some salt to make them sweat.

We're sweating everything today.

[Emily] I am just taking out my seeds

一个d the kind of wet part of the tomato

so that my queso doesn't get too wet.

[Saul] And now, I'm gonna add the corn.

Push them with your fingers,

all the little hairs.

We don't want them.

And just cut 'em like that

so you don't have to clean the mess

that you are about to make.

[Emily] Butter to my pan.

Garlic, onion, smoked paprika,

cumin, chili powder.

[Saul] Lots of black pepper. I love black pepper.

And epazote, the Mexican-Italian cousin of the basil.

It's very similar.

And salt.

I'm just going to give my queso base another minute or two.

I just kind of wanna start the onion softening.

I'm not really looking for browning or anything here.

Add a little ground turkey.

You're really here for the cheese.

You ain't here for the ground turkey.

More circulation going before you heat it up.

I'm adding my chilies.

Tomatoes.

It's perfect.

So by doing this,

this will make it easier for you to remove the skin.

I wanna make some strips of this

'cause we're making rajas poblanas.

There we go.

Long strips of roasted poblano peppers.

And now, the jalapenos, the spicy.

Now I'm gonna add a little bit of heavy cream.

This is going to keep this dish creamier,

一个d it's gonna make it very rich.

I'm ready to move on to the most important part - cheese.

Finally.

I know everybody else is, you know,

putting it in a skillet.

Some people are using the oven.

We ain't doing that.

[hitting microwave]

Old school microwave style, baby.

Work smarter, not harder, baby.

For two minutes.

Relax for a second.

Charge your phone.

So what I have here is my base.

Now I'm adding a can of evaporated milk.

This makes it more liquidy and also 'reamy.

Now I'm gonna add some rajas in here.

Oh, look at this.

Now, to prevent my queso from being oily,

I'm gonna add some [indistinct].

Look how these colors are getting married.

I need a tortilla, now!

So I have four different cheeses here.

White American really adds that creamy mouth feel.

And Monterey Jack,

which really gives you the most classic queso flavor.

Sharp cheddar, which is like super cheese flavor.

And then mozzarella,

which just adds that stretchy, cheese-pull kind of vibe.

This Queso Oaxaca,

basically, it's like a Mexican mozzarella.

It's very stringy. Look at this.

Few more seconds and we're good to go.

[microwave beeping]

Look at that.

Let's see how the baby look.

Nice and smooth.

This is beautiful right here.

[Emily] And chicken.

When they all melt together, they make magic.

Now, Chihuahua cheese.

Doesn't come from a chihuahua.

It comes from the state of Chihuahua,

一个d that's how it's named.

It comes from there.

We don't want to melt it here;

I just want make sure all the flavors are married,

'cause when you're married, you're happier.

Look at me.

[Emily] My queso is ready to bake.

I'm gonna put it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

I'm gonna give it a little stir

to start combining the cheeses.

I'm gonna use my reserved chicken liquid.

It needs to be loosened up a little.

I'm gonna put this in the broil

until this is nice and caramelized.

We'll figure it out. I'll be back.

[Emily] I'm gonna put this back in the oven

for another 10 to 15 minutes.

This is ready to plate.

All that's left to do

is put it all together.

Gotta make it look fancy, though.

Look at that.

See the difference?

It looks like a lot of cheese,

but guess what?

It's not enough cheese.

That's four stars right there.

Move this very gently

so it doesn't spill all over the place.

[Desi] It's like a fresh cheeseburger at a cookout

right now.

[chips clicking] You guys hear this?

[Desi] Now to make the fancy plate more fancy,

we're gonna add some chips.

[Emily] And garnish.

[Desi] I'm gonna add a little ground turkey on top

so no one's surprised.

So what the avocado is going to do,

this is the butter of my toast.

Of my tostadas.

And now I'm gonna add some of these peppers

一个d onions,

some of the rajas,

some queso fresco

because what's better than cheese?

More cheese.

A little bit of chorizo.

And now I'm gonna do some agave worm salt.

This is gonna add a little bit of smokiness,

a little bit of spiciness, and salt.

Do worms make salt?

It's basically a salt made out of chili powder,

salt, and agave worms.

It's basically like eating a delicious, crispy chicken wing.

Worm salt?

Yeah, nah.

Mm-mm. Leave that alone.

What's wrong with you?

This is the best protein you can get.

And for last,

some cilantro macho.

It's a male cilantro.

This is my chips and queso.

[dramatic thump]

And there it is,

my version of chips and queso.

[dramatic thump]

And this is my queso and chips.

[dramatic thump]

[orchestral music]

I'm hungry.

I worked the whole day for this.

I don't wanna waste any more time.

Ta-da. Even my chip looks great.

Am I allowed to try it yet?

Okay. Alright.

[chips crunching]

Mm. Mm.

Mm.

Super creamy.

And then you get like a little bit of freshness

from the scallion and cilantro.

It's delicious.

I mean, everything in this is just really good.

That's delicious.

See that?

See how you get enough using that chip?

I'm so glad I took time to properly shred the chicken

because it really melts right into the cheese.

It tastes like heaven queso.

You know, when you go to heaven,

it's a lot of cheese?

[dramatic thump]

Crunchy, salty, and creamy,

chips and queso are so tasty

一个d super versatile.

Let's see how each of our three amazing chefs made theirs.

[dramatic music]

Desi kept things simple

with a bag of scoop-style chips.

They're made from corn flour, oil, and salt.

The dough is shaped,

run through a roasting set for dehydration,

then fried, salted,

和修改大气包装袋装。

Emily used pre-made corn tortillas

that she cut into chips.

Corn tortillas are less supple than the wheat version

because they don't contain gluten proteins.

They may contain gums or hydrocolloids

like guar and cellulose that add some pliability.

They may contain additional chemicals

like propionic acid to reduce mold growth during storage.

Saul made his own corn tortillas

with blue masa harina,

a finely ground cornmeal.

Enzymes in the germ of the corn

interact with proteins

一个d increase nutrient bioavailability,

particularly of vitamin B3, or niacin,

which is essential for metabolism.

[dramatic music]

Emily added chicken

cooked to the safe temperature

of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cooked chicken is easier to shred

because much of the connective tissue is solubized.

Saul sauteed chorizo,

a coarse, spicy, pork-based sausage.

Emily garnished with cilantro,

also called coriander.

Some people are genetically predisposed

to sense a soapy flavor when they taste it.

You can't help your genes.

[dramatic music]

Desi melted Velveeta with jarred salsa in the microwave.

Velveeta is a processed cheese product.

Velveeta, so named because it melts smooth

一个d feels like velvet,

originally contained about 50% cheese.

Thanks to federal standards of identity

for processed cheeses,

these days, Velveeta is manufactured

mainly from blended milk, oil,

protein concentrates,

food starch,

whey protein concentrate,

一个d various preservatives,

一个d colored with annatto.

It does melt like a dream.

I think Desi has a great point about working smarter here.

Emily made an aromatic queso base.

She added evaporated milk,

which is made by heating raw milk under pressure

until it's reduced to half of its volume.

The result is a creamy, viscous,

slightly sweet milk.

White American, which she also added,

is a cheese made from a combination

of mostly cheddar and Colby,

一个d cannot contain skim milk,

whey powders, stabilizers,

or other things you might find in Velveeta.

She baked her cheeses into her base

一个d was careful to stir it occasionally,

which prevented scorching

of the whey proteins found in the cheeses.

Saul made a queso base of roasted rajas

by first roasting, sweating, peeling,

de-seeding, and chopping the poblanos.

Internal ribs have a high concentration

of spicy capsaicin compounds,

so by removing them,

he reduced the queso's spiciness.

Saul added Chihuahua and Oaxaca cheeses,

both cow's milk cheeses

named after the location they were first made.

[dramatic music]

Saul used cilantro macho,

which is similar to cilantro

but it has a larger, more elongated serrated edge

to the leaf.

He also added worm salt,

which is dried toasted ground larva

from the agave plant.

The ground worms are mixed with salt and dried chilies.

This tasty spice has been served

in food and drinks in Mexico

for hundreds of years.

Chips and queso are so delicious and satisfying.

Next time you find yourself with cheese and tortilla chips,

we hope you'll take some of these ideas

from our three creative and fun chefs.