Queso Blanco.. Re: [Sca-cooks] New Cheese

[Tara]

> Using fresh corn tortillas, cut into pieces and then fried is what
> I had in mind in my message. Fresh tortillas are quite common in
> many (most?) south/central Texas groceries, so it didn't occur to me
> that that might not be true everywhere.

No, they're not commonly available up here.  They're not *too* hard to
find, but you have to give some thought about where to look - mostly in
ethnic neighborhoods.  Honestly, never having seen them before running
across them at that one store, it would never have occurred to me to
look for them in leiu of buying Tostidos.  I suppose it was thoughtless
on my part.  I mean, of course people cooking traditionally would be
buying them, and therefore they'd be available in their neighborhoods.
I've never had trouble finding Indian or Japanese ingredients when I
want them.  And I am a nacho fiend.  So, it was quite a delicious
revelation when I did find them!

Stefan, what kind of oil do you use for frying them?  How hot do you
make the oil?  I figure, traditionally they probably would have used
lard - I know it was common in other foods of that cuisine.  Well, lard
is out of the question in this household.  I'm not keen on Crisco -
trans-fatty acids are not my cup of tea.  I guess I read Prevention
magazine too much...  I used canola.  It worked fairly well, but keeping
it below the smoke point made them fry a little slower than I would have
hoped, so they weren't quite as crisp as the ones I get at restaurants.

-Magdalena