During the last heat wave I was trying to think of a no-cook appetizer for a Mexican-inspired party. Then I vaguely remembered having this wonderful marinated queso fresco somewhere. This could be the solution!
the mild white queso fresco (fresh cheese) is usually stored in water like feta.
I checked out the online recipes, and found that the top four sites all had exactly the SAME recipe, right down to the ‘1/4 tsp. of sweet paprika’. One mentioned that marinated queso fresco was popular in Costa Rica – I knew I had had it somewhere!
I proceeded to fiddle with the recipe(s) – all four of them, dropping the thyme and adding more paprika. Here is the final result, after several adjustments.
- 1 lb queso fresco, cubed
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. dried garlic ‘chips’
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 fresh jalapeño, diced
queso fresco and the spicy olive oil marinade. My first attempt, in this flat casserole dish, didn’t really coat the cheese the way I had wanted.
I first tried to marinate the cubes in a flat container but that didn’t work, so I ended up putting it all in an glass jar. The cheese cubes should be marinated at room temperature in the spiced olive oil for at least two hours (or more).
Queso fresco marinated in spiced olive oil for two hours or more, at room temperature.
Once I had fished the cubes out of the oil, the final presentation looked a bit blah, despite my brightly coloured bowl. I dashed paprika on top and added some strips of jalapeño. Ultimately I decided that diced jalapeño, added early in the marinade process, looked and tasted the best.
To serve I dashed paprika on top and added some strips of fresh jalapeño.
Comments:
very mild cheese, slightly salty, not overpowering, nice texture (me)
¡spICY! (Eleanor’s rather alarmed opinion, I didn’t find it spicy at all)
perfect combo with Margaritas (Mona)
marinated queso fresco with a Margarita, the perfect combo…
NOTES:
You can keep it in the fridge; just be aware that the olive oil turns solid at this temperature, and you have to bring it out for at least a half hour to get it to ‘melt’.
I used dried garlic chips rather than fresh garlic because fresh garlic does not keep that well in oil. If you do use fresh garlic then plan on eating it right away.
The leftover marinating oil can mixed with vinegar to make wonderful salad dressings! With these particular spices I found plain or white wine vinegar to work best.