Queso! is rich in history and different types of queso recipes from all over, however there’s only a couple queso blanco recipes and I would have liked more (true that pretty much any of these could be switched for white cheeses, but I would have liked to see a little variety)! Will be buying this for my kitchen collection!

As an Austinite, I give this cookbook my seal of approval. Lisa did her research and really knows her stuff. How many recipes could their possibly be for Queso? Well, she includes:

* Yellow queso
* White queso (trust me, the color represents a real difference!)
* Restaurant copycats
* More than one vegan option
* Versions with easier to source ingredients

I originally browsed this book several years ago, but I've turned to it many times since. Several friends of mine also own and love this book.

Readers, you may wonder if you (or I) need a cookbook full of cheese dip recipes. I would have to say yes. But then again, I'm a bit of a queso fiend!

Lisa Fain, aka the Homesick Texan, has a brand spanking new cookbook out and it's devoted entirely to the ooey gooey goodness that is queso. Cheesy, meaty, and even vegan, Fain's cookbook has it all.

It's interesting, and maybe a little eye opening, to realize that queso as I know it is such a Tex-Mex thing. Fain talks about moving from Texas to New York and discovering that the prevalence of even the basics for making queso were much less abundant in NYC in those days. It's also interesting to learn that there really is so much variation in the dish when traveling from region to region, even within Texas itself. And Fain explores all of those varieties!

The book begins with a breakdown of the basics - chiles and cheese and the abundance of difference choices between the two. Fain then jumps into a history of the dish, outlining some of the earliest references and recipes.

The recipes range from, as I mentioned, traditional cheese, tomato, and peppers variety akin to the Ro-Tel we all know and love - thanks to Lady Bird Johnson herself (though Fain notes the Johnson recipe calls for cheddar, which doesn't quite melt the way you want for true queso - and her note on that recipe makes sense as well) - to runnier saucier versions (the Arkansa Cheese Dip, for example). There are also thicker varieties like the Van Horn Chile Con Queso, which called for Muenster cheese, and Queso Fundido with Squash Blossoms.

There's a whole chapter on quirky quesos that includes the likes of Austin-Style Vegan Queso (for those who can't eat cheese and miss the wondrous concoction), a Chilled Chile Con Queso with Avocado (courtesy of an El Paso Junior League cookbook that calls for cottage cheese!), and even an Indian Queso with Jalapeño Chutney.

There are quesos with meat in them too. Like the Choriqueso with chorizo mixed in, Queso with Beef Picadillo, and Boudin Queso that even has a recipe for homemade boudin (which I've not tried because we have ours shipped home from Louisiana).

In addition to the queso, there are accompaniments as well - Tortilla Chips and Puff Tostadas (which are AMAZING with queso), homemade Pickled Jalapeños, which you need to make the bean dip part of the Bean Dip Queso, and Chile Jam (aka Pepper Jelly) for a surprising Green Chile & Cream Cheese Ice Cream Sundaes recipe. And then there are recipes for using the queso!

In the time since I got my hands on a copy, I've tried at least half a dozen varieties. My garden this summer produced just enough poblanos, anaheims, and jalapeños that it made sense to try a new recipe just about every weekend - I mean, I had to spread them out so I didn't catch too much flak for eating cheese dip every day. I totally would have otherwise :) The Damn Good Queso which claims to be a copycat version of a taco joint's famous queso and includes recipes for both a Green Chile Salsa Verde, Guacamole, and Fiery Red Salsa (which is amazing by itself too) is in my top two. Amazingly, or not, my favorite one so far is the queso base for the Bean Dip Queso!

Whether you're a fan of the traditional tailgating variety we all know and love or queso fundido. Whether you like yours spicy or mild. And whether you prefer it with meat, veggies, seafood, or straight up cheese only, Fain has something for you.

There are, if you're interested, a few recipes out in the wild that you can try. Fain herself has shared the Chili Parlor Queso on her blog. You can also check out this Houston Chronicle article, which includes four recipes!

You can’t go wrong with chips and dips and New Year’s Day is just around the corner. So it’s time to whip up some of these yummy recipes and share with some friends. This book helps out with the different ingredients needed for the taste you’re looking for. It also helps with the cheese choices. It also has a great amount of full-colored photos. There is page after page of mouth-watering queso dish options from authentic to Greek, from traditional avocado to adding crab. Enjoy!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

QUESO! / B01MT4WC2K

I feel like I should like this book more than I do, and I've been sitting on this review for awhile but I need to post it and get it out of my system: this is a good book, but it's not quite the book I wanted.

I thought I was picking up a cookbook... and I was... kinda. There are a lot of chile con queso recipes here, there's no doubt about that. There's only pictures of about half the recipes, which is never a bonus in my book because I want pictures of *all* the recipes. On the one hand, these are queso recipes so the pictures aren't going to vary a whole lot from each other until we hit the more complicated fare. On the other hand, there *is* more complicated fare deeper in--queso with pork and corn and mushrooms, and vegan queso--and yes, I want pictures of those. The pictures which are on the page aren't labeled (or weren't in the Advance Review Copy I received) which means that every 3-4 recipes there's 1-2 pictures and you have to try to match the pictures to the recipes. For a book that I want to browse through when I have a hankering to throw cheese in a pan, that feels like more work than I'd wanted.

This is also a touch of a history book... sorta. The author grew up in Texas (as did I) and was raised on the Velveeta-and-Rotel recipe that white Americans grew up on in the American South back in the day. Then she started branching out and researching the roots of the recipe and visiting different Texas towns to gather regional samples. She's looked into fondues and rarebits and other melted cheese dishes. All of this research has gone into little 2-3 page "histories" before each section of queso recipes, along with little paragraphs of historical context with each recipe.

I love food history so I feel like I should like these parts more than I do. There's a distressing shallowness to a lot of the history, like there's a deeper story and we're just getting a couple condensed sentences that would go on a Wikipedia stub until someone fleshed the material out properly. And the history we do get feels very much like a white outsider peering in--and sometimes in the wrong directions. From the very beginning, the author explains that her trek-for-queso took her from El Paso to Corpus Christi to Austin to Houston to San Antonio. I would've expected at least one jaunt over to Mexico while she "drove along the Texas-Mexico border". The first section of queso recipes features recipes from Los Angeles, Boston, San Antonio, El Paso, Arkansas ("Arkansas Cheese Dip"), Lubbock (a Velveeta-based recipe), and Lady Bird Johnson's Washington Post recipe.

Those feel like very unusual choices to set the stage for a book that is trying to be a history of queso. I feel almost like I'm reading a gentrification of queso--the Arkansas Cheese Dip is called "the term preferred by folks in Arkansas". Do you mean white folks in Arkansas? Because you can say "white folks". I'm assuming Spanish-speaking Arkansans still just called it chili con queso. (Though they probably didn't make it with "1 pound yellow American cheese" and ketchup, so maybe "Arkansas Cheese Dip" is the better term after all.)

I dunno, I feel like I'm being mean. As a coffee table book for Christmas, I think this is perfectly adequate. As an addition to your cookbooks to flip through when you want cheese to nosh on, I think it works. If you're interested in the history of chili con queso in America as adopted as part of the American culture, I think this is an interesting read. If you go into the book with that mindset, I think you won't be disappointed.

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

Thanks to NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for the opportunity to read and review Queso!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip by Lisa Fain! Queso! by Lisa Fain is a wonderful cookbook containing delicious variations on the chile-cheese dip. The queso recipes vary by region and ingredients. There's even a recipe for sundaes. The history of queso is included, along with descriptions and suggestions for cheeses and peppers to use in your own queso recipes. The only thing I didn't like about this book is that I would prefer the photos to be labeled with its recipe name. 5 stars for a scrumptious cookbook that made me crave queso!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary consideration!

My son loves ordering Queso in the restaurant, but I had no idea how to make it, seeing that I've never tried it before. It's not something we see too much here in Canada.
I enjoyed the recipe ideas and how easy they were to make.

QUESO!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip by Lisa Fain a cookbook dedicated queso. This book has a wide variety of different versions of one of our favorite game-time dips. Most do rely on processed cheese, but several use natural cheeses. 

The book explains the modern origin of Chile Con Queso, and tracks the history and regional differences of the dish. The recipes provided range from early appearances in magazines and Woman's clubs cooking publications, to restaurant versions that popularized the dish, and ending with modern vegan varieties.

It is a fun cookbook. Queso is incredibly comforting, delicious, and easy to make. Each recipe is presented with an explanation of the geographical origin of the version, and / or some tips on how to incorporate it into a meal. The recipes are straightforward, and easy to follow. The delicious entrees included prove that Queso is not merely a side or dip. I did not know that I needed a book completely about Chile Con Queso until I read this book.

I received this ARC from Ten Speed Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first cookbook that Lisa Fain put out called The Homesick Texan. There were tons of great recipes to be found in that one so when I saw this book, completely devoted to Queso, I couldn't wait to see what was in it!  We Texans love our queso! I learned in this book that many other regions of the country, particularly in the south, also love their queso, and have their own twist on it. I loved reading the history of queso in different places, and there are a couple I would probably even try, but being a Texan and a foodie, of course I think we make it here is *the* way to go. Still, it never hurts to have a new way or two to try out. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys appetizer recipes, party food recipes, or food blogs.

Cheesy, spicy dip. Classics to contemporary. Vegan and sausage queso biscuits. History and great stories behind the recipes by the author of the Homesick Texan.

wow , a huge array of chili and dips and other recipes to serve along with them .

This is a fabulously fun book all about Queso. I had a great time reading it and I went right out to get the ingredients for Queso for dinner tonight. It is a terrific book and the author did a great job.

This is one of the best cookbooks I have ever seen and had the joy of having! It was so informative and gave such great background to the cheeses and cheese dips and where they originated from! I absolutely cannot wait to see what else this author comes out with!! One of my absolute favorites for sure!!!

Cheese guys! My absolute favorite food in the world is Mexican and this is a book filled with 50 queso recipes! What more could I want in life? Well, let's start out with Queso! by Lisa Fain, popular food blogger, being a book full of recipes, yes. But it's also history and backgrounds on each of the recipes. Informative and delicious! You should read the text while eating one of the recipes of queso you made.

I love this book because there is something for everyone. All different types of queso recipes with different ingredients. Some feature more high end cheeses or ingredients, while others are for backyard get togethers. Different levels of spiciness will cater to everyone's personal favorites and I truly think this is the best for all people. I tried a couple of the recipes and loved them all. They were rich, spicy, had a kick, creamy, and cheesy! A cheese lovers dream!

Enough about cheese. Lisa Fain offers up a great cookbook here that is filled with interesting information about origins and more while you enjoy a tasty treat. The perfect cookbook for families to enjoy a treat together, prepare for a cookout, or a big football game on Sundays.

Lots of great recipes, history, and information in this queso cookbook .I tried a few that were really good, and will be making many more of these recipes.

Anyone who has been to a game party or watched a movie on television with a group of friends, has most likely spent some time dipping tortilla chips into a warm mixture of Ro-Tel tomatoes mixed with melted processed cheese food (AKA Velveeta). Food snobs may not admit that they like it (processed cheese food is a major food crime, after all), but the joke’s on them, since the mixture is both yummy and addicting. For the record, the definition of queso according to queso expert, Lisa Fain, “For the uninitiated, chile con queso is an addictive blend of chiles and melted cheese that is ubiquitous in the Southwest.”

Dozens of variations of this popular dip exist, and Lisa Fain has published an entire cookbook with mouthwatering recipes for different kinds of Chile con Queso, known to fans simply as Queso. QUESO!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip is the perfect cookbook for Queso aficionados, and the endless recipes make it possible to eat this at least once a week for over a year.

The cookbook is also a good read, and has information of varieties of chilies, history of chile con queso, and different ways to serve it (such as Mexican Rarebit over toast and in soup). The cookbook includes recipes from different southern regions, as well as recipes from famous people. There are quesos containing chorizo, brisket, chipotle beef, and picadillo for a more hearty appetizer or even a full meal, as well as quesos with vegetables and seafood. Fain has also included recipes for other dishes that use Queso as a sauce, such as Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili Queso, Tamale Chili Pie, and Macaroni and Cheese with Green Chili Queso Blanco. Readers will have a difficult time finding a recipe in this book that they don’t actually want to make.

Some of the recipes are quick and easy – very little hands-on time, and others are a little more involved. There is something for everyone in this fun cookbook. It is highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book is going right into my personal collection. Living in the southwest, I am always looking for ways to improve my tex-mex foods. I can't wait to host a party and wow my friends with a new recipe.
The directions are easy to follow and the story behind the recipe is a good tidbit for the reader when they are serving the dish to friends.

Who doesn't love queso? Great book about delicious food. Beautiful photography! And the variations are amazing!

Queso: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip is a delightful cookbook written by Lisa Fain.

As the title indicates, this book focused on queso and a variety of corresponding cheese recipes. Also, it includes food history lessons, recipe tips, and brilliant full-color photographs.

This book is divided into the following six main sections: Chile Con Queso: The Early Years, Tex-Mex Classics, On the Border, Quirky Quesos, Queso in the Wild, and Accompaniments, which include Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, Picked Jalapenos, Green Chile Salsa Verde, Tortilla Chips, and Puffy Tostadas. The recipes range from Chile Verde con Queso, El Paso Clili con Queso, West Texas Green Chile Queso Blanco, Bean Dip Queso, Southern New Mexico Chile con Queso, Queso Flameado with Mushrooms and Chipotle Chiles, San Antonio-Style Vegan Queso, Greek Queso, Frito Wedge Salad with Queso Dressing, Macaroni and Cheese with Green Chile Queso Blanco, Green Chile and Cream Cheese Ice Cream Sundaes, etc.

According to the Introduction, the author shared that "this book explores queso's many historical and geographical varieties.... As I drove across the Southwest discovering, researching, talking, and eating all things queso.... I've collected an array of recipes that celebrate queso in all its velvety, spicy, and special glory."

Queso is geared towards all ages, from young adults to older generations, and it's ideal for those interested in various cheese-style recipes.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Cheeeeeese!! So much cheese! This is the penultimate cheese-dip cookbook. That is a sentence I never thought I'd write, but hey, cheese! This cookbook features recipes for all sorts of delicious-sounding cheese dips - I'd love to get my hands on some spinach queso blanco right now.

So if you want to make cheese dip, this cookbook is for you. So much cheese.