Torch the Party with Smoked Queso Dip

Cheese dip, or queso dip is always a fun and easy addition to your weekend cookout or evening party.  Usually people will go boring with it - go to the store and buy jars of the pre-made stuff. It's okay - we've all had it.  But it's boring and forgettable.  How about making your queso dip the talk of the event?  Here is a very easy recipe to make a home made queso dip that people will rave over.

The secret here is the smoking process.  I use a pellet smoker for this because it's easy to do (2 hours on the pellet smoker at 200-225 degrees), and there is just a hint of smoke in the dish.  That mild smokey flavor is the key.  It adds a "mystery" taste to the dish. It's delicious, and most won't know what it is.  They'll just know that they love it and that you made it.

Mild or Hot?

My recipe calls for medium green chile.  But really, use what you like.  I sometimes back off the heat and use mild chile depending upon who will be enjoying this.  Kids for instance usually don't handle heat well.  Want it hotter?  Heck yes, crank it up!

As I wrote this, the recipe below is intended for a wide audience - including seniors and kids.  Since kids generally shy away from spicy foods I kept this recipe on the mild side. 

The introduction of the two poblano peppers does not make this a spicy dish, but what the peppers do is leave a little tingle on the tongue after eating.  Enough to make it interesting.  We added just two ounces of diced jalapeno to make it interesting.  My kids commented on the spiciness, but it was just enough spice that they didn't shy away, though they were pretty proud of themselves for eating it.

Customization Options:

If you want to spice up this dish we recommend adding more peppers.  You can use hot green chiles instead of mild, You can add more jalapeno.  You can use ancho or jalapeno chiles instead of poblano.  You might even decide to add some chorizo.

Meats:

I have created this recipe using pork sausage, both the sweet and the hot varieties.  The consensus was that the sausage didn't add anything to this queso dip.  As a matter of fact, tasters routinely said that the sausage got in the way of the smoked tingle of the queso. As much as I LOVE sausage, I find that this recipe is better without meat.

Smoker or Grill?

This queso turns out best when cooked on a smoker.  The smoke adds that special "something", and is what makes this dip a WOW food.  However, if no smoker is available a grill will do just fine.

What kind of chile?

You can use pretty much any green chile you want.  Store bought or fresh.  I LOVE the Hatch green chile sauce available from the Fresh Chile Company in Las Lunas, NM.  Highly recommend.

Can I add meat?

Sure - this recipe is highly customizable.  I've added sausage and chorizo to this recipe before.  It's good, but the meat felt like more of a distraction to the wonderful smoked flavor of the creamy queso dip.

How best to eat it?

The idea is as a queso dip - with tortilla chips.  But you can also use this on burgers, dogs, poured over chips as nachos, and more.