I'm still recovering from our recent trip to Mexico, if that is possible. As a result, I've been unable to post anything this week, until today, when I finally had some time to play in the kitchen.
One evening, when we were in Bucerias, we had the pleasure of having a woman come to our casa to cook an authentic Mexican meal for us. She arrived at around 12:30 to begin preparing our dinner. It was a full days work for her. As a result, I spent the afternoon in the kitchen with her, taking notes as she made things and shooting pictures.
One of the dishes she made was Chiles Rellenos. Here is Leonarda grating the white cheddar and Queso de Canasta for the Rellenos.
The battered roasted chiles are fried in corn oil
and were absolutely beautiful.
Here is the finished dish. She made two per person and they were huge. We had leftovers for the rest of the week. As soon as I got home, I knew that this was a dish I wanted to play with. I've always wanted to buy those beautiful mini sweet peppers that you see in the grocery store, so I figured this was the perfect time to try them.
Aren't they pretty? I'm not exactly sure why I am so drawn to this vegetable. The vivid and varied color? Their mini-ness? It boggles the mind, but I'm enamored.
To begin, I roasted the peppers. You can do this in the same way as a normal bell pepper... just make sure you don't lose any in the fire. These babies are small. If you need more instructions, please refer to my roasting pepper tutorial.
Once the pepper are nice and charred, put them in a ziplock for 15 minutes
before cleaning them.
For the filling, I decided to use white cheddar cheese and goat cheese. I love goat cheese. I'm sure I've mentioned this before.
You want to mix about 4 oz of shredded white cheddar with 3 oz of goat cheese.
Add 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro to the cheeses
and mix well.
Take each of the roasted pepper and slit them, removing any seeds you find inside.
Then stuff the pepper with the cheese mixture. I used a little baby spoon that I found in my drawer. It doesn't get much use anymore. That makes me sad..
Use half a toothpick to close the slit in the pepper so the cheese doesn't spill out.
Here are all my peppers stuffed. You probably won't use all the cheese mixture, but set it aside because you can use it to finish the dish.
The rellenos are cooked in a tomato based sauce. For this you will need 2 garlic cloves and about 2 tablespoons of onion.
Finely dice the garlic and onion
And saute in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil until golden.
Next, take 2 cans of tomatoes and puree them a blender.
Add the pureed tomatoes to the onion mixture and stir well. Simmer over low heat.
To make the batter for the rellenos, you will need 4 eggs.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks
and beat the egg whites until stiff with an electric mixer.
Beat the egg yolks
and fold the yolks into the beaten whites
until thoroughly combined.
Put enough vegetable oil in a small saute pan to allow the battered peppers to be at least halfway submerged.
It is critical that you thoroughly dry the peppers at this point, or the egg batter will not stick to them.
Dip each pepper in the egg batter
coating it on all sides
and place into the hot oil. You can use a spoon to drizzle the hot oil over the pepper. When the pepper is nicely browned
remove to the plate covered with a paper towel to allow the excess oil to drain off the peppers.
When you have fried all the peppers, dump the remaining batter into the saute pan.
When it is solid, use a spatula to flip it so that both sides are nicely browned.
Use the spatula to "flatten" the omelet and remove with the peppers when completely cooked.
Pat the peppers dry and put in the saucepan with the tomato mixture.
The peppers should all be covered.
Finally, take the egg "omelet" and put it on top of the peppers and tomato sauce, just like a lid.
The final step is a jalapeno cream sauce to top the rellenos. Turn on your broiler and roast 1 jalapeno and 1 tomato, both cut in half, along with 2 tablespoons of sliced onions and 2 garlic cloves.
Broil for about 15 minutes or until the jalapeno and pepper are browned and the garlic is soft.
Remove the seeds from the jalapeno
and put in a food processor,
along with the garlic and onion. Process until smooth.
Lift the skin off the tomatoes and add to the processor. Again, process until smooth.
Add about 1/2 cup of cilantro and process.
While the processor is running, add 1/3 cup of cream.
Finally, add 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt and mix well.
To serve, remove the egg from the top of the peppers and put on a plate.
Spoon the peppers out of the saute pan with some of the tomato sauce. Drizzle with the jalapeno cream sauce, sprinkle with the remaining cheddar and goat cheese mixture and top with roughly chopped cilantro.
Use a pie cutter to cut a wedge of the egg omelet and serve with the peppers that are on top.
I promise that in seconds flat, your plate will look like this.... Enjoy!
Sweet Pepper Rellenos
serves: 4 (Recipe also on Tasty Kitchen)
- 1 pint miniature sweet peppers, roasted
- 3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
- 4 oz white cheddar, shredded
- 2 T cilantro, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 T onion, finely diced
- 2 T vegetable oil
- 2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes, pureed
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 jalapeno, cut in half
- 1 roma tomato, cut in half
- 2 T onion, sliced
- 2 cloved garlic
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1/3 cup cream
- 1 t Kosher salt
Saute the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil until golden. Add pureed tomatoes and simmer over low heat.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat the egg whites until stiff with an electric mixer. Beat the egg yolks and fold into the whites.
Heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil over medium high heat. Dry each of the peppers thoroughly and dip in the egg batter, coating on all sides. Place into the hot oil. Use a spoon to drizzle oil over the pepper. Remove to a plate covered with a paper towel to allow the excess oil to drain. When all the peppers have been fried, dump the remaining egg batter into the saute pan. Use a spatula to flip and "flatten" it so that both sides are nicely browned. Remove when completely cooked.
Add the peppers to the saucepan with the tomato mixture. Take the egg "omelet" and put it on top of the peppers and tomato sauce, like a lid.
Roast jalapeno, tomato, sliced onions and garlic cloves under the broiler for about 15 minutes or until the jalapeno and pepper are browned and the garlic is soft. Remove the seeds from the jalapeno and put in a food processor, along with the garlic and onion. Process until smooth. Lift the skin off the tomatoes and add to the processor. Again, process until smooth. Add cilantro and process. While the processor is running, add 1/3 cup of cream. Add Kosher salt to taste.
To serve, remove the egg from the top of the peppers and put on a plate. Spoon the peppers out of the saute pan with some of the tomato sauce. Drizzle with the jalapeno cream sauce, sprinkle with the remaining cheddar and goat cheese mixture and top with roughly chopped cilantro. Use a pie cutter to cut a wedge of the egg omelet and serve with the peppers that are on top.
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