A Gringo's Guide to Mexican Cheeses

 

      Of course we have all used Mexican cheese at one time or another, but most times it is the bagged variety of Kraft (or whoever) Mexican Blend.  At small Mexican markets and some of the better volume groceries (Meijers, HEB, Walmart) you can find the small wheels of authentic types, some even shredded.  Since buying our Texas property we have learned much about this variety of cheeses, how they compare to American versions, and their best uses according to our preferences.  

      Most of the most popular varieties are fresh cheeses, such as queso fresco, panela, and asadero. The two most popular aged cheeses are Cotija and Chihuahua.  Four cheeses produced in Mexico are entirely Mexican inventions: Oaxaca, Cotija, Chihuahua and Manchego.

Oaxaca

Known as quesillo in Oaxaca and referred to as queso Oaxaqueño or queso Oaxaca in the rest of Mexico, this white, semi-hard cheese from Oaxaca is similar in flavor to unaged Monterey Jack.  It is notable for its texture; it's sold as rolled up balls of flat ropes that pull apart like string cheese, much like Mozzarella.  We use it often as it melts well and has a smooth texture.  This is one of our favorites.   

Manchego

This delicious cheese was introduced to Mexico from Spain. In Mexico, it's made with a mixture of cow and goat milk rather than sheep milk. We've used it on Toast with Prosciutto and Manchego.

Queso Fresco

This soft white cheese is a fresh cheese made with cow's milk, goat milk, or a combination of the two. It is sold in small rectangular pieces similar in size to adobo bricks, which is why it is also known as adobera. Queso fresco comes from Jalisco, in the western part of Mexico. It has a mild, slightly tangy flavor and crumbles and shreds easily, making it makes a fantastic topping for Enchiladas or Grilled Corn.

Queso Anejo

Queso añejo is the aged version of queso fresco. It does not melt when heated, Well-aged batches can become quite firm and salty (similar to ricotta salata or even Parmesan). It is an excellent garnish when crumbled on top of tacos, salads or other dishes.

Cotija

Cotija is a hard cow's milk cheese from the town of Cotija in the state of Michoacán, in western Mexico. It has a crumbly texture and salty flavor likened to Feta, but it is also known as Mexico's Parmesan cheese. Try this popular cheese atop dishes such as Chilaquiles, salads, pasta, or Spicy black Bean Dip. 

Asadero

Also known as queso quesadilla, Asadero cheese is great for melting. Try it with Hatch Chiles Rellenos and in this delectably melty grilled sandwich. 

Chihuahua

Queso Chihuahua has nothing to do with the dog – rather it originated in the state of Chihuahua. It’s sometimes referred to as “Queso Menonita” as the Mennonite communities in the area were the first to produce it. It’s aged, firm, and yellow and is often compared to cheddar. It’s a Mexican melting cheese and is used most in cheese dips. We love it in Hatch Green Chile Cheese Dip.

Queso Crema

This cheese is technically a cream. Queso Crema or Queso Doble Crema (Mexican Crema) which translates as “cream cheese.”. It’s used as a dressing for spreading or drizzle and is very smooth, rich, and creamy.  Very much like watered down sour cream. 

      We have in one form or another used all of the cheeses, some we like, some not so much.  It all comes with time.  Oaxaca, Cotija, Queso Fresco, and Chihuahua are our favorites.  Of course, when get back to NW Michigan it's usually the 'Mexican Mix" blend for us.  We never freeze these.  We enjoy them fresh all of the time.  

"Age is of no importance unless you're a cheese"

Billy Burke

Lost Maples Cafe Utopia, TX

 

      This day trip takes us about 24 miles east of our winter haven at Leakey.  The location is the scene from a local favorite movie, "7 Days in Utopia", about a local golf hero and his cowboy mentor, decent flick.  

       This is your typical small-town (pop. 228) cafe in a town not on the way to anywhere yet known by all the locals and believe me everybody knows everybody.  The menu is simple, yet loved by everyone, easily described as 'down home country cooking'.  www.lostmaplescafe.com 

Breakfast

Lamb Sliders

Rib Eye Steak with all the trimmings

      Barb and I drove over for the day, always enjoying the Hill Country scenery.  We arrived in time for lunch.  The parking lot was full as it always is.  We made our way inside and managed to find a seat.  Nothing like a cold drink and lunch.

      Barb ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwich Special w/Fries while I selected the Steak Fingers with Onion Rings.  

      We absolutely loved our meals.  Barb thoroughly enjoyed the chicken while the steak fingers were the best I've ever had since Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse in Belgrade, MT.  Delicious beef, HUGE onion rings, and a bowl of delicious white gravy.  The service was small town excellent.  There were 4 servers.  Ours was at our side immediately, the food arrived in 10 minutes, and she checked on us several times.  She even delivered a piece of complimentary Spice Cake for dessert.  Price of our meal was $31.15 and the food is much better than many more upscale restaurants.  Lost Maples Cafe, a bit of local history and well worth the price of the trip.  This is Barb's and my type of place, friendly folks, great service, and food that will spark many a fond memory.  They haven't seen the last of us.  This one is easy.  

"There's a lot more business out there in small town America than I ever dreamed of" 

Sam Walton

Wi Fi provided by AT & T Wireless & Winegard 5G 

Evett's BBQ Uvalde, TX

 

      We shop in Uvalde about twice a month.  It is 40 miles from our home, but they have all the big box grocery stores we need.  We usually make it a day trip, hitting what we need and having lunch before heading home.  This time we decided to visit Evett's BBQ. Evett's BBQ.  This is a small, family run operation famous for 60 years.  

      Located right across the street from HEB it is an easy commute as well as a listing as one of the Top 50 BBQ joints in Texas.  www.texasmonthly.com/restaurant/evetts-bar-b-que/  Still an honor, considering.   They not only offer on-site dining but carry out and catering as well.  On this day we decided to stop in for lunch. 

      The menu offers the usual suspects:  brisket, pork, ribs, sausage, etc.  They also have an enormous selection of sides.

The choices are varied and delicious

      Ordering is typical with a wall mounted order screen and you order right from the pit.  Barb selected the Sausage Sandwich, and I chose the Brisket Plate with Potato Salad and Green Beans.  

      We were satisfied with the meal.  Barb said the sausage was a bit bland, but I think she often expects spicy.  It was standard sausage after all.  I found the brisket moist and tender but could have had more spice.  The potato salad was excellent and the beans spicy, YUM!  They did ladle a bit of sauce over the meat, but there was no BBQ sauce available on the table.  The service was excellent and friendly.  All in all, it was pretty good.  The total for our meal was $28.19, about average at today's prices for beef.  On a scale from 1 star to 5.......

 

"Good barbecue comes from experience, and experience, well, that comes from poor barbecue." Aaron Franklin

WiFi provided by AT & T Wireless

        

General Tso's Smoked Pork Loin

 

      On the smoke trail once again.  This is new for us.  I love General Tso's Chicken, but this intrigued me.  I was able to prepare the loin with new rubs, injection, etc. intact.  This is definitely an Asian Style Pork with a smoke twist, a KOSMOS recipe.  I suppose you could call this Asian BBQ Fusion.  For this I used Oak Lump Charcoal and spiked it with seasoned oak wood as well.  

1 center cut pork loin

KOSMOS SPG rub

2 cups rice of choice

1 bag steamed broccoli florets 

Sesame seeds

1/2 cup General Tso's Sauce

Extra virgin olive oil

      Rub loin with oil and cover with SPG rub.  Rest in fridge overnight.  Be sure to add more oil the next morning, it will dry out overnight.  When ready to cook, preheat pit to 250F.  Place loin on pit.  The recipe actually calls for 350F, but I prefer lower.  Even at that temp it only took 90 minutes to finish.  

Oiled and SPG

On the pit

      Heat the Gerneral Tso's Sauce in a saucepan.  When internal loin temp reaches 125F, glaze with warmed sauce, leaving in pit.  When internal temp reaches 135F, glaze again and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Temp 145 & glazed

      Cook rice and broccoli according to directions.  When internal loin temp reaches 140F remove from pit and tent it to rest for 30 minutes.   When rice/broccoli are done, slice loin thin and serve over rice/broccoli and drizzle with remaining sauce.  Serve.  Not really spicy, but the smoke really compliments it.  

Sliced, ready to plate

"In any man who dies, there dies with him his first snow and kiss and fight.  Not just people die, but worlds die in them, but not my sauce"

General Tso (paraphrased)

WiFi provided by AT & T Wireless

Hibernating Bear w/Black Magic Sauce

 

      Now firmly in the depths of winter (lol) in South Texas it is time to try one of our black bear roasts.  I had planned to smoke one but decided to do this one in the crockpot.  This is a tried-and-true recipe from Montana Outdoors Magazine.  We made this in our small 2-quart RV crockpot.  

2 – 3 lb. bear roast 

1/2 cup chopped potatoes

1/2 cup chopped carrots 

BLACK MAGIC SAUCE

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tbsp butter

Add and simmer 4 minutes:

1/2 C cabernet

Add and simmer 5 minutes:

1 tsp salt

1 – 2 tsp pepper

1/1/2 tsp dry mustard

3 packed T brown sugar

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup prepared brown gravy

      Brown roast well on all sides.  Place in crock-pot with a cup or so of water and salt & pepper.  Cook on Hi for 3-4 hours.

Browning in a HOT skillet

Halfway done

      Turn down to Low.  Add potatoes and carrots in large cubes.  Add more water if necessary.  Cook another 3-4 hours.  Don’t lift the lid any more than necessary.  Check internal temperature to ensure @ least 165F.  While cooking, prepare the Black Magic Sauce.  

 

Black Magic Sauce

Done is @ least 165F. This is a little over

      When temp is reached and carrots/potatoes are tender, plate the roast, slice, and add the sauce on the side.  Meat reached temperature a bit early.  Next time I would adjust cooking times perhaps shorter.  The meat fell apart with no toughness at all, fork tender.  Very much like a rich pot roast.  A hearty dish; great for fall or winter.  Barb and I loved this.  Definitely our favorite bear recipe so far.  Even with the leftovers being used with eggs for breakfast the next day it was fall apart delicious.  

Fork tender

"To abhor hunting is to hate the place from which you came, which is akin to hating yourself in some distant, abstract way.”

Steven Rinella

WiFi provided by AT & T Wireless

      

A Look at Portable Power Stations

 

      Although we don't dedicate ourselves to solely boondocking as much as we used to, we still can.  We did it whenever possible for nearly 20 years, saving thousands.  But age has a way of changing how you think outside the box.  The new RV has 400W of solar panels and a 400AH Lithium-Ion battery.  We can stay 'off the grid' w/o electric or generator 5 days easily: with good sun, maybe 8.  There are, however, other considerations.  

      In the past 5 months while boondocking I needed a solution to power my CPAP without readily available 120VAC.  Further research and a recommendation from my best friend led me to the portable power station arena.  My friend uses a Jackery unit for his wife's CPAP needs.   

      This is not a new science but much improved.  There are many products out there relating to these needs and the best thing is the battery technology now so much better that you can use these for your RV, camping off grid, backpacking, and even home backup.  Yes, I said backpacking.  Although these units aren't light (some are smaller), they do offer recharge via solar.  Of course, they offer solar panels of all sizes that will easily fit their own individual product. 

 

 These are the top options available:

Best Portable Power Stations (2024): Power Capacity, Portability, Camping, and More | WIRED

      Jackery, rated #1 and Bluetti, #2 are at the top of their game.  Most offer 12VDC output at 2048-watt hours at 2000 watts with recharging times at 2 hours with solar connections, 12VDC cigarette plug or 120VAC.  

      Additionally, there are options for a complete home back up system.  For example, Jackery offers a 5000W home backup system with solar panel recharge.  Others are similar.  I'm not going to deceive you.  The prices for these systems can run from a couple of hundred dollars up to $5000.  Your individual needs and requirements will dictate this.  

      I can however quote you the specs and price of the unit I purchased for my needs.  The Jackery 300 Plus provides 120VAC power, the duration depending on the wattage required.  For me, it will provide wattage sufficient to run my CPAP for up to 6 hours.  Recharge time runs anywhere from 2 to 5 hours depending on conventional or solar.  

      The only drawback I have found with all of these units is their individual cabling and connector requirements.  It's like Microsoft and all the programs that can only run on that platform.  It was not easy for me to adapt the unit to any conventional cabling needed to connect from solar panels, car chargers, or USB unless you bought their particular items.  I have been able to recharge mine with conventional 120VAC when available, but also with a USB C to SAE connector for a set of portable solar panels I have.  

      In the end the unit works very well for my needs and once I circumnavigated the product connectivity issues, I have been happy.  Price for my unit is $299.  

"I bought some batteries, but they weren't included"

Steven Wright

WiFi provided by AT & T Wireless

 

Smoked Chicken Alfredo

      Welcome to the World of Winter Smoking here in South Central Texas.  Of course, the usual ribs, pork butt, brisket, etc. will be meeting the fire, but I am trying a few new things this year.  This is one of those.  It blends the best of wood pit smoke and Italian cuisine.  I used the wood pit with oak lump charcoal and splits for this process.  

Several chicken breasts (according to your needs, I butterflied mine)

KOSMOS Dirty Bird rub

2 jars alfredo sauce

2 Tbsp minced garlic

16 oz. spinach

1 pack cherry tomatoes

Salt n Pepper

Noodles of choice (no yolk noodles or Rigatoni work well)

      Season chicken breasts with Dirty Bird rub and salt/pepper to taste.

      Smoke the chicken at 275Fº.  When internal temperature hits 165ºF, pull off the heat. This won't take but an hour or so.  Let it cool down, and dice.

       Add a little butter and garlic to a kettle, and sauté on grill.  Add spinach and chopped Cherry tomatoes.  Cook down.

      Cook noodles; drain and set aside.  

      Grab a large enough pan to hold all the food.  Add noodles, spinach/tomatoes, and diced chicken.  Top with Alredo Sauce and put back into pit.  Grab large enough pan to hold all the food.  Add the noodles, spinach/tomatoes, and diced chicken.  Top with Alfredo Sauce and put it back on your smoker or grill.  Remove when chicken begins to darken so it doesn't burn.  Serve.  

      This was an easy cook taking only about 2 1/2 hours start to finish.  Tasty! This was an easy 2-3 days worth of meals for us. 

"Barbecue is like jazz. It can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be"

Bob Gibson

WiFi provided by AT & T Wireless