Cooking with Hargrove: Skillet Queso Bean Dip

Friday’s recipe of the week comes to us from Kimme Hargrove.

1 cup tomatillo (green) salsa
15 ounce can of refried beans
8 ounce block cream cheese
1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces pepper jack (or jalapeño) cheese, shredded
4 ounces mozzarella, shredded
Optional toppings:
Red pepper flakes (1/4-1/2 teaspoon, to taste)
Fresh parsley, chopped Sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine salsa and refried beans in a cast-iron skillet. Heat on low until smooth and hot, stirring frequently.
Add cream cheese, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir until cream cheese is melted and smooth. Add pepper jack cheese and stir until melted and smooth.
Top with mozzarella cheese (do not stir this in!), red pepper flakes and parsley.
Heat 10-15 minutes until bubbly. May need to broil on low for 2 minutes to get cheese slightly browned and bubbly.
Serve immediately IN the skillet with tortilla chips and sour cream.

A wife to James, and mother of 2 littles, Kimme Hargrove cooks for comfort and, well, to keep her sanity. She works part-time as an Account Executive for a marketing firm out of Greenwood and while cooking is just a hobby, her love for food (and sharing it) has translated in life to many things ‘culinary.’ She is a founder of Delta Supper Club and soon-to-be Coastal Supper Club, as her family recently relocated to Ocean Springs, MS. Kimme continues to write recipes for print and blog for Invitation Magazines (Oxford/Tupelo/MSU/Family). Her latest role as the Culinary Arts Coordinator at The Mary C. Cultural Arts Center in Ocean Springs, allows her to further her training as an instructor that began at Viking Cooking School in Greenwood, where her and her family used to reside.
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