Chiles Rellenos
Chiles rellenos means stuffed chiles. Typically, this means either Anaheim (or California) chiles or Poblano chiles stuffed with a white cheese, such as Jack, coated with an egg batter, and fried. This is a delicious and elegant Mexican dish, well worth the effort to prepare.
In the photo, the chiles rellenos are served with refried beans and a guacamole salad. The chiles may be garnished with a red or green enchilada sauce, a quick tomato sauce, or a medium Herdez red sauce as shown here, and finished with some grated cheese.
Before making this and most other dishes using large chiles, the chiles must be prepared by roasting, peeling, and usually seeding.
You can also use canned green chiles, and I have done that. It saves the work of preparing the fresh chiles, but they are a little harder to work with. They are missing their stems, which is a nice handle, and they are usually split wide open, so you roll them around the cheese instead of stuffing them. So after they are dipped in the batter they need to be handled more carefully.
For this recipe, prepare and seed eight Anaheim or Poblano chiles.
INGREDIENTS
8 prepared Anaheim or Poblano chiles
1 pound Jack or Longhorn, or Mexican cheese, cut into strips that will fit into the chiles
After the chiles are prepared, make a slit in the side near the top, removing the seeds and pith, and stuff with the cheese, leaving the stem intact.
For the batter:
3 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Separate the eggs, putting the yolks into a small bowl and the whites into a larger one. With a beater, beat the whites until they are stiff, and then fold in the yolks and other ingredients except for the oil.
Heat the oil in a large skillet to about 320 degrees, shimmering but not smoking (the oil, not you). Dip each chile in the batter and place carefully in the skillet without crowding, maybe three or four at a time. Fry until golden brown on each side. If you need to keep some warm while frying others, use a wire rack over paper towels on a cookie sheet and put them in a 250 degree oven.
If you wish, you can garnish the rellenos, sprinkle with cheese, and put under the broiler to melt the cheese before serving.