Chile Rellenos

My husband loves chile rellenos (rey Eh-nos). A chile relleno is a Mexican version of a stuffed green pepper. Chile relleno literally translates into filled pepper. I decided to teach myself to make them. They are a little complicated and the first time I tried my chiles fell apart. I persisted.

You should always read a recipe through completely before attempting it. However, in this case you should DEFINITELY read this recipe through completely before attempting it. Visit all the hyperlinks. Make sure you have everything on had before starting.

Once you master this, you can stuff the peppers with cooked, seasoned ground beef or shredded pork. If you wanted to keep the dish vegetarian, you could stuff it with beans and rice.

Servings: 4 chile peppers

Time:  Active time 1 hour; Cook: 10 minutes, rellenos in about an hour

Hardware: To fire roast the peppers: A cutting board and knife, a roasting pan or cast-iron skillet, tongs, a large plastic container, paper towels

For the peppers: Measuring spoons and cups, 2 mixing bowls, two small bowls for the eggs, a hand mixer with very clean, beaters, a bowl for dredging, a deep, heavy skillet, tongs, a knife, a small spoon, a silicone spatula, kitchen gloves, a paper towel covered plate

 

Chile Rellenos

 Ingredients;

• 4 large poblano chile peppers
• 8 ounces shredded asadero (queso quesadilla) or Colby Jack (more/less)
• ½ + ⅛ cup flour
• 4 larges, separated eggs
• Salt & pepper
• Cumin or chili powder for seasoning
• Oil for frying

1. Separate the eggs. This is easiest to do if they are cold. However, egg whites whip up better warm, so leave everything out until needed. Make sure the bowl you will be using and your beaters are SPOTLESSLY CLEAN.
2. Wash the peppers. Dry them thoroughly. Place the whole peppers into the skillet or roasting pan. Then place the pan into the oven on the top shelf under the broiler and roast until the pepper skin is blackened and blistered. You may need to turn them once or twice. Cover the peppers with the plastic container and allow them to rest for 5 minutes. Wearing the gloves and using a paper towel, rub the blistered skin from the peppers. Be very careful not to tear the peppers while removing the skins. In my how-to for fire roasting peppers, I rinse the skins off, but don’t do that here (also don’t cut up the peppers). You want to retain that smoky char. You might want to look at those instructions though to get some idea of what you are doing.
3. Very carefully, as the peppers are soft, make a very small slice into the side to remove the seeds. If the pepper has torn, just use that tear. Carefully remove the seed and white membrane. You can use the spoon or your gloved finger. But be careful not to tear the pepper!
4. Season the peppers inside and out with salt, pepper and cumin or chili powder.
5. Place some shredded cheese into each pepper. Be careful.  Don’t force or overstuff.  The chile should still be able to close back up.
6. Place ½ cup of flour into the dredging bowl. Lay each chile into the bowl, gently. Flip. You want a very LIGHT coating of flour. Set them aside. But lay them so that the cut is closed.
7. Next, whip the egg whites in the clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. That means that when you remove the beater, the eggs will retain their shape and not collapse. In the second mixing bowl, beat the yolks, a pinch of salt, and the ⅛ cup flour. Then GENTLY, using the silicone spatula, fold the yolks into the white. You want to add the yolks to the whites and not the other way around. You don’t want the egg whites to collapse.
8. Fill the skillet half way up with oil. Heat it over medium high. You will know that the oil is hot enough if a drop of batter placed into the skillet sizzles and floats to the top immediately. If it sinks or doesn’t fry up, the oil isn’t hot enough.
9. When the oil is hot enough, dip the stuffed pepper into the batter, then carefully place it into the hot oil. Make sure that the cheese doesn’t fall out. I like to put the cut side down first to seal it closed. Fry until the chile is a crispy golden brown. Then carefully turn the chile to fry the other side. This takes about 2 minutes per side. Don’t crowd them, you may need to fry them in batches.
10. Remove the cooked chiles to the paper towel covered plate and keep them warm in the oven on the lowest setting.
11. Serve the chile rellenos immediately. Some people serve them with sauce, but I do not. If you want a sauce, use enchilada sauce warmed up. Lay the chile on the sauce, don’t pour sauce over the chile. You will get it soggy. Two rellenos with a veggie is a meal. I served one relleno as a side dish with black beans and rice and crispy fried beef tips with hot sauce.