Variations on the ubiquitous NYE queso dip...

[caseydog]

It is the time of year when Velveeta will be a hotter commodity than gold.

Millions will make Velveeta dip for NYE, and most will do the basic Velveeta and Rotel combo dip. But DC members aren't most people.

So, share your own favorite ways to make this NYE traditional artery-clogging treat.

I like to add some Campbell's cheddar soup and crumbled pork sausage to mine. I'm hoping to read some alternatives before I go shopping.

CD

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Thanks for the reminder. Will check with the boss before making a shopping list, if this is a possibility.

This is what we add:
1 package Jimmy Dean hot sausage, cooked and crumbled
about 3 small diced jalapeno or serrano chili peppers, some seeds
Frito scoopers

I wonder if a tsp smoked paprika would be good.

 

[buckytom]

I hope this works:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f7/buffalo-chicken-dip-6637.html

 

[blissful]

Since I've been making cheese, sometimes I run into a crumbly cheese, not as melty as I want. This kind of cheese sauce gets nice and smooth no matter what kind of cheese. I use it for mac & cheese and cheese dips, and cheesy potatoes and it would make a great queso dip with salsa.
Simple and fast
2 teaspoons sodium citrate
1 and 1/2 cups broth, milk, water, your choice
4 cups of cheese shredded or crumbled
Heat the sodium citrate in the liquid, then whisk in the cheese, 10 minutes in all and it is beautiful stuff.
Melty Queso Dip | Modernist Cuisine
With Queso dip, we use our homemade salsa but chunky chopped tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, red and green peppers are great to stir in.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

My only hint is that if you live near an Aldi store, use their version of Velveeta. It's smoother, creamier, and not as salty. Oh, and it's just a bit more than half the price of a 2# brick of Velveeta. I won't go back to Velveeta after using Aldi "Clancy Cheese Melt".

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I stir in chili (no beans) into my melted Velveeta.

 

[RPCookin]

I'm afraid to say that I've never made it. We don't really do much for NYE these days. We use it more as a holiday from the holidays, just recovering from the last week of festivities. We had a couple of friends over to dinner tonight, and that should pretty much close out the year for us.

 

[caseydog]

My only hint is that if you live near an Aldi store, use their version of Velveeta. It's smoother, creamier, and not as salty. Oh, and it's just a bit more than half the price of a 2# brick of Velveeta. I won't go back to Velveeta after using Aldi "Clancy Cheese Melt".

I have two ALDI stores very near me. I've never bought anything from them, but the lower salt content has my attention. I'll take your word for it that it is smoother and creamier, too.

Thanks!

cD

 

[caseydog]

I stir in chili (no beans) into my melted Velveeta.

My imagination tells me that probably has a good flavor, but I'm not so sure about the texture. Hmmmmmm.

CD

 

[Cooking Goddess]

You're welcome! We first started shopping Aldi in the second half of the 1980s - they were in our part of OH back then. They didn't move into New England until the second half of the 20-aughts, though. Way back when, their products were hit-or-miss. Good enough for scout outings, but not standard family meal items. I bought milk/eggs and some produce, mostly.

When we renewed our acquaintance up here, I was surprised at how big of a leap the product quality had taken! Item for item, I think their knock-off of what we've bought name brand at other stores is just as good, and sometimes better. The price difference is worth the difference in miles (8 to Market Basket, 14 to Aldi).

OH, and if you like Girl Scout cookies, it's really hard to tell the difference between the Thin Mints or the Samoas to the Benton brand. Just make sure you still buy some boxes of cookies from those cute scouts.

 

[CraigC]

Velveeta will never enter this house. Bad memories from the past. NYE will be a cheese and charcuterie board, bellinis with caviar and smoked salmon and we'll probably pop open the flower bottle of Pierre Jouet. BTW, we'll be asleep before midnight to keep the pugs, well one of them anyway, from barking at the fireworks.

 

[caseydog]

You're welcome! We first started shopping Aldi in the second half of the 1980s - they were in our part of OH back then. They didn't move into New England until the second half of the 20-aughts, though. Way back when, their products were hit-or-miss. Good enough for scout outings, but not standard family meal items. I bought milk/eggs and some produce, mostly.

When we renewed our acquaintance up here, I was surprised at how big of a leap the product quality had taken! Item for item, I think their knock-off of what we've bought name brand at other stores is just as good, and sometimes better. The price difference is worth the difference in miles (8 to Market Basket, 14 to Aldi).

OH, and if you like Girl Scout cookies, it's really hard to tell the difference between the Thin Mints or the Samoas to the Benton brand. Just make sure you still buy some boxes of cookies from those cute scouts.

Well, I had my first ALDI shopping experience today. I have two of them within five miles of my house, but never shopped there. I went there primarily for that Velveeta substitute.

I will say, the prices are definitely low.

After ALDI, I went to Kroger to get all the stuff I needed that ALDI doesn't have -- which is a lot. I didn't have any change on me for a shopping cart. I had to be careful not to grab any of the next customer's stuff while bagging mine.

The place seemed to have kind of a cult following. I was clearly not a "regular" customer, and looked like a fish out of water.

Weird place.

CD

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...The place seemed to have kind of a cult following. I was clearly not a "regular" customer, and looked like a fish out of water.

Weird place.

CD

LOL, yes, I suppose it does seem like a cult following. And yes to the weird, too, because the entire experience is so very different from a typical American grocery store. I read your comments to Himself; he said he had the same "cult" and "weird" feelings about Trader Joe's the first time he went there.

I always have coins in my car, so the 25 cents didn't throw me for a loop. I didn't know about the take-your-own-bag thing, though, so I stuffed my purchases into boxes that they had out for that purpose. And I've never seen Aldi so crowded that purchases could get mixed up. Then again, I've never shop anywhere on a holiday. I actually prefer packing my own groceries. The baggers at any of the stores right by me are so clueless I end up repacking my bags after I leave the register area. WHY did you put my 5# bag of carrots on top of my tomatoes???

Sounds like the prices are agreeable to you, and Aldi is certainly close enough to your home. Unless you're really creeped out from today, go back. Give it a chance. Heck, before you know it you might become one of "us".

 

[caseydog]

LOL, yes, I suppose it does seem like a cult following. And yes to the weird, too, because the entire experience is so very different from a typical American grocery store. I read your comments to Himself; he said he had the same "cult" and "weird" feelings about Trader Joe's the first time he went there.

I always have coins in my car, so the 25 cents didn't throw me for a loop. I didn't know about the take-your-own-bag thing, though, so I stuffed my purchases into boxes that they had out for that purpose. And I've never seen Aldi so crowded that purchases could get mixed up. Then again, I've never shop anywhere on a holiday. I actually prefer packing my own groceries. The baggers at any of the stores right by me are so clueless I end up repacking my bags after I leave the register area. WHY did you put my 5# bag of carrots on top of my tomatoes???

Sounds like the prices are agreeable to you, and Aldi is certainly close enough to your home. Unless you're really creeped out from today, go back. Give it a chance. Heck, before you know it you might become one of "us".

It was weird, but not really unpleasant. I use my own insulated bags from IKEA for all my grocery shopping, so that didn't make any difference. I'm fine packing my own bags, and in fact, prefer it, but having the next customer's stuff being sent my way while I was packing was a unnerving.

I guess my biggest gripe was that the store just had such a limited inventory. That is probably why the prices are so low, but I'd have to get used to going to ALDI for some stuff, and then to Kroger for the stuff that ALDI doesn't have.

Trader Joe's is owned by ALDI, and it does have a little bit of the same "cult" feel. The nearest TJs is too far away for me to shop at on a regular basis.

I'm not saying that I'll never go to ALDI again, but if I have a shopping list of things I need, I'll have to think about whether I think ALDI will have it, and whether I have the time or patience to go to two stores if they don't.

BTW, if you have an IKEA close to you (another store I have within 5 miles), these bags are great, and only cost six bucks. Insulated, so they keep your food cold while you stop for a few other errands, or if you live far from where you shop.

KYLVÄSKA Cooler bag - IKEA

CD

 

[Steve Kroll]

Velveeta will never enter this house. Bad memories from the past....

Same here. I don't have any bad memories; I was just never exposed to it much. I grew up in Wisconsin, where good quality cheese was always available. Velveeta, along with Kraft sandwich slices and Cheez Whiz, had a certain stigma attached and was looked down upon as "plastic cheese."

I have a queso dip recipe I like that calls for cream cheese and Monterey Jack, along with a can of mild green chiles, a pinch of cumin, and a few other things. Not authentic Mexican, but pretty good.

 

[medtran49]

Velveeta will never enter this house. Bad memories from the past. NYE will be a cheese and charcuterie board, bellinis with caviar and smoked salmon and we'll probably pop open the flower bottle of Pierre Jouet. BTW, we'll be asleep before midnight to keep the pugs, well one of them anyway, from barking at the fireworks.

Well,that didn't work so well, even giving them some Benadryl didn't help, though a large part of the reason why is because it sounded like somebody was firing a canon in the neighborhood.

 

[blissful]

Same here. I don't have any bad memories; I was just never exposed to it much. I grew up in Wisconsin, where good quality cheese was always available. Velveeta, along with Kraft sandwich slices and Cheez Whiz, had a certain stigma attached and was looked down upon as "plastic cheese."

I have a queso dip recipe I like that calls for cream cheese and Monterey Jack, along with a can of mild green chiles, a pinch of cumin, and a few other things. Not authentic Mexican, but pretty good.

Well that is it in a nutshell. In WI in the 1960's, we couldn't even buy margarine w/yellow coloring and anything non-cheese was 'anti-american or anti-wisconsin' would be the 'fake cheeses' or the 'fake butter'. It was illegal to buy margarine in the 'dairy state'. It was looked down on. The gov't didn't look down on it, they served it up for poor families.

My DH grew up in WI and in his family 7 kids, no dad, they lived on subsidies, that meant processed cheeses, that is the food of poor families, the families from the wrong side of the tracks.

I grew up in WI too and we had real cheese but it was so expensive so it was 'mom's', meaning, we kids didn't get to eat it. Then one day dad brought home some poor people's cheese, yeah, good stuff, processed cheese. We got to eat it.

Since I started making cheese, I can tell you, there are ways to make 'processed cheese' like Velveeta. Some recipes just add water, some water and oil, but they all also include cheese. It is superior at melting.

The difference between an excellent melty cheese dip and a processed cheese, is nearly nothing. A melty cheese dip gets solid at refrigerator temperature, that is what processed cheese looks like.

I don't look down on velveeta, because making a superior melting cheese makes a superior cheese dip product! And if you are going to make a melty cheese sandwich, use velveeta or processed cheese, it works and it tastes good. Or better yet, make it yourself.

 

[caseydog]

Well,that didn't work so well, even giving them some Benadryl didn't help, though a large part of the reason why is because it sounded like somebody was firing a canon in the neighborhood.

The city I live in is very strict about fireworks. Very harsh, too. They don't like having to put out fires started by nimrods with fireworks.

About 20 years ago, my friends set my backyard on fire on NYE. We put it out ourselves, and nobody got hurt, but I got the message.

CD

 

[buckytom]

A couple of years ago I blew off one of my eyebrows while holding up a roman candle on New Year's Eve at a friend's house. Then I had to go into work later that night with a red burn mark across my face.

Ahh m, good times.

 

[Just Cooking]

I've never had a Velveeta dip.. or anything Velveeta.. Now I'm curious...

My daughter discovered Aldi's when she moved to Missouri.. She swears by the store.. When I lived in MO, we stopped into an Aldi's once or twice.. I will revisit that experience when I get there..

Ross