Chile Rellenos 101

The smell of roasting chiles is like no other, especially when your mind and your taste buds know what's in store. Smokey Chiles with ooooey goooey (yes, that's a technical term) melted hot cheese oozing out of them. Man, I wish I had leftovers right now!

Earlier in the week I had to make some for a client for dinner, 14 chiles in all.  Being that I was making so many, I thought I would take this opportunity to document my steps and share them with you. I came across some light bulb moments, and some not so bright ones, but all in all it was a great culinary success, and I am happy to share it with you.

Ready?
Let's get roastin!

I'm giving you the recipe at the end, just because this time, it would be easier to watch first...

Start off with Pasilla Chiles

make sure to wash & dry them as they are usually 

pretty dusty from sitting in the market produce section

Place them on the grill

or under the broiler, 

or on a dry grill pan on your stove top.

Since I had so many, 

it just made more sense to use the grill.

Plus, it gave me a chance to take in the great 

weather and beautiful breeze.

Grill the chilies until they are all blackened and blistered.

Make sure to flip them on all sides to get an even blister.

There are two reasons for this process

1. For the smokey flavor

&

2. The blistering helps loosen the
skin from the chile, 

leaving it easier to peel.
Peeling the chiles is necessary
so that the egg mixture sticks to the chiles
and doesn't slide off.
Ah yes, the dreaded peel.

Now, this step will also facilitate the peeling.

Place the charred chiles in a bowl and cover with 

plastic wrap for about 20 minutes. This will steam the chiles which will

make the charred skins separate from the chile.

& now for the good part:

Peeling them...

Ok, so it's not really the good part, 

that will come at the end. Look on the bright side though,

at least you won't have this many to peel.

 uhhh that's alot of peeling

Once you are done peeling, it's time to start

thinking about eggs.

My rule of thumb is 1 egg for every 2 chiles. 

This might sound like a little but the key is to have room

temperature eggs, this makes them easier to whip up

and, makes them go further. 

So here you have it trick number 1... 

Room Temperature Eggs

While your eggs are coming to room temperature

you can start cutting your filling...the cheese. (oh stop already)

My favorite cheeses to use are Oaxaca, Casero or Mozarella.

Oaxaca & Mozarella are very similar, they are great melting cheeses

and they provide that loooong stringy ooey gooey thing I was talking about earlier.

But, something about the creamy tenderness of the Casero cheese really intrigues me.

So...I used both and made two different types of chiles!

Cut them into long, thick strips just shorter than the chiles.

Next you will prep the chiles to be filled.

Make a slit down the center of the chile,

and insert the cheese.

close the chile and repeat...
once they are all stuffed, sprinkle them with salt.

The next step will involve flour for dusting.

Oh, and trick number 2:
Use a mesh strainer to dust the flour onto the chiles.
It provides an even
coating without getting your hands dirty,
and, just as important, it cuts down on waste!

looks like chiles in the snow ~
Now it's time for them to chill.

While your chiles are setting, and the flour is incorporating,
it's time to make the broth that they will be served with.
This is my preference,
of course, if you don't want a savory, spicy, tomatoey
(another technical term, I know I'm just all technical today)
broth for your chiles to bathe in that's perfectly fine.

I'm just sayin...

You'll need bullion, chipotle chile powder,
tomatoes,
onions, oregano,
cilantro, peppercorns and one of my favorites

Cumin.
It's smokey flavor is just so significant
and irreplaceable in Mexican cooking.

While that simmers away let's get our pan ready!
This is a bit different for everyone, depending on the size
skillet you are using. I'd like to say, fill up your pan with about
an inch of oil.
I use canola, but vegetable or corn would work just fine.

Like so:

Place it on medium heat and let it get to the
right temperature.

Now for the eggs.

Separate the yolks from the whites.
I used 6 yolks and 8 whites. Now, in hind site,
I should have used 4 yolks and 8 whites.
It would have given
my eggs a bit more fluff...
So there you have it, trick number 4:
1 yolk for every 2 eggs.

On with the fluff!

beat those puppies on medium high speed

Almost there!

Perfect!
You want stiff peaks.

Now, add a couple of pinches of salt,
and the yolks, one at a time.

Make sure to just mix, but not too much
you don't want to break down the fluff.

Just until it looks like this:

see all those bubbles, that's THE FLUFF


Here comes trick number 5: & this one was the light bulb for me
after years of making these and making a mess, it just came to me:
why not pour the mixture into something that I can EASILY dip 
the chiles into, without having to fumble around with a bowl,
and worst of all losing the chile in it and having to 
scoop it out with a spoon - ay ay ay!


So here you have it, my solution:

My blender

I placed the egg mixture into the blender
and simply dipped the chiles in one at a time.
Since it is a deep vessel
there is just the right amount of room to simply
dip them in and pull them out,
 each one comes out perfectly coated.
No muss no fuss.

Boy are we going to have these more often!

To check the temperature of your oil, place the handle of
a wooden spoon into the bottom of the pan.

See those little bubbles?

That means its ready.
If you have big rapid bubbles it's too hot,
no bubbles = too cold.

Ready  for the fryin...

Dip the chiles into the egg mixture and place in your pan.
Make sure not to crowd your pan, it will make the
oil temperature go down, plus it will be difficult to flip the
chiles once they are ready.

Speaking of flipping, you will know they are ready when they are
golden brown around the edges. Once they are golden brown, flip.

oooooh look at that golden brown color.

Once cooked on the opposite side,
remove the chiles and place them on a
paper towel to collect any excess oil.

4 down... 10 more to go!
(but you may stop here if you are only feeding a family of 4)

Oh, and you can't forget the broth!
Now, I know you were hesitant,
 or maybe you thought it was too much work.

But really....

is THAT not worth the extra time???

ooooey goooey baby....oooey gooey~

Yup, I soooo wish I had leftovers.


I really hope that you try this recipe out, it's easy,
 yeah it's a bit time consuming, but it's 
soooooooooooooo worth it!
& hey, while your at it, make a couple of extras and 
share them with someone you love...


Simply Food Love*




Chile Rellenos for 4
but you can make them for many more!
4 Pasilla Peppers
2 Eggs (room temperature)
1 cup of Oaxaca, Casero, or Mozzarella Cheese (cut into strips)
About 1/4 cup of flour for dusting
Salt
Oil

See instructions above...

Broth
3 cups of water
2 Tomatoes
1/2 small Onion
4 Pepper Corns
1 tsp Chipotle powder
3 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 Tbs Bouillon ( I use tomato flavor)
3 tsp Cilantro (used at the last minute when serving)

Place all the ingredients in a pot and simmer for about 30 minutes,
place cilantro on chiles and pour broth over.