A few weeks ago a friend of mine and I were at lunch talking about our most recent adventures in the kitchen and I proclaimed, “I am tired of buying velveeta cheese!” She literally flapped her arms erratically and told me that she had come a cross a recipe for it on Pinterest. I pulled out my phone and we looked at it. I stopped at the store on the way home from lunch and made it that afternoon. (Yes….I DO have issues!)
I was so excited.
And then I wasn’t.
Now…..American Test Kitchen did in fact create a recipe for American cheese. It makes wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches. I makes fantastic sliced cheese. But the all time favorite chile con queso….it does NOT. I have, however, made several batches of this cheese and will never buy individually wrapped slices of American cheese. (I say never loosely. There will be a time when I am in a crunch and will buy it or I will find it on sale so cheap that I can’t resist.)
If you want a similiar recipe that you can make melty velveeta chile con queso out of go here.)
Here is the Recipe:
1 TBS water
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatine
12 ounces Colby Cheese, grated
1 TBS Whole Milk Powder
1 Tsp salt
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 Cup plus 2 TBS whole milk
NOTE: Whole milk powder cannot be substituted for non-fat dry milk powder. That yellow can there in the picture is what you want. I found it at Wal-Mart in the Hispanic food section. It is all in Spanish….I can’t read a word of it! Once you have a can of it, you will be hooked. You can use it to substitute milk in recipes!!
NOTE #2: You CANNOT buy pre-shredded cheese. They add cellulose to it so it won’t clump. It will ruin this recipe!
Pour your water in a bowl and sprinkle your gelatin over it. Set aside.
Grate your cheese. (I did this in my food processor and then had to dump it in a bowl to change out the blade. Not my smartest move!)
Line your loaf pan with saran wrap. This mini-loaf pan is what I had on hand. The best pan to use is a 5X4. My cheese ended up a little short.
Sprinkle your milk powder, salt, and cream of tartar across the top.
Pulse a few times to mix it all together.
Heat the milk until boiling and then whisk together with the gelatin/water.
Pour into food processor.
Pulse in the processor until your cheese is nice and creamy. Use a rubber spatula to spread into your bread loaf pan, and refrigerate. (I forgot to take a picture! :)) Press firmly and wrap the saran wrap over the top. refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Now…. You can add flavors to this cheese. I am going to make some pepper jack and tomato basil! YUMMY!!! Just add the ingredients when you add the salt.)
