Hot Lava Stone Queso Fundido

From: Chef Jeff Tunks, Ceiba, Washington, DC. Yield: 4 servings.

4 oz. dried guajillo peppers

2 Tbsp. Spanish onions, diced

1 tsp. garlic, minced

1 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 oz. mirin rice wine

½ oz. chipotle pepper in adobo

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

Queso Fundido:

4 oz. grilled skirt steak

5 oz. Oaxacan cheese, grated

1 oz. julienne pickled jalapeno

1 oz. julienne roasted poblano

as needed for garnish, cilantro

For guajillo sauce: Clip the peppers open with scissors and deseed and stem. Roast peppers in a pan until lightly roasted, then submerge in water. Soak in water until soft. Meanwhile, saute onions and garlic until soft. Add peppers, onions, garlic, chipotles and the rest of the ingredients into a blender. Pulse blender on and off, adding a slow stream of the guajillo pepper water until it reaches desired consistency. Add salt to taste and reserve.

For fundido: In a nonstick pan, add the poblanos, jalapenos, julienned skirt steak and Oaxacan cheese. As cheese starts to melt, add guajillo sauce. Do not add too much sauce because the fundido should be thick.

In a 500° oven, heat molcajete or lava stone for 20 minutes.

For presentation: Remove hot stone from the oven and pour in the hot fundido. It should bubble. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with warm corn tortillas.