Wild Mushroom Queso Fundido
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 ounce (about 1/2 cup) dried porcini, (or other wild) mushrooms
- Fresh hot green chile to taste, (usually 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno), stemmed
- 1 medium white onion
- 1 large ripe tomato
- 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons beer, preferably a full-flavored beer like Negra Modelo
- 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (you'll have about 2 cups)
- About 1 Dozen warm corn our flour tortillas
INSTRUCTIONS
Scoop the mushrooms into a small bowl, cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep the mushrooms submerged and let rehydrate for 20 minutes. Drain off the liquid, pressing on the mushrooms to remove all the water. Chop into 1/4-inch pieces.
Finely chop the chiles (seed them first if you wish), then chop the onion and tomato into 1/4-inch pieces. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chiles, onion, tomato and mushrooms and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the onion begins to soften and brown, 7 or 8 minutes. Add the beer and stir until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is once again dry looking.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the vegetables and stir slowly and constantly until just melted - too long over the heat and the cheese will become tough, oily and stringy. Immediately scoop into a warm serving dish (a small fondue dish with a tea light below is ideal) and serve with warm tortillas for making soft tacos.