Chile Rellenos

Chile rellenos is my new favorite thing to cook because it incorporates so many different techniques and simple ingredients. My roommate Marcela showed me how to make this and I have since cooked it a dozen times to practice small variations on technique. This is what I have discovered.

What you will need:
6 pasilla chiles
6 slices of cheese
about a cup of flour
about a cup of vegetable oil
2 8 oz cans of Mexican style tomato sauce


Passilla chiles
Also known as poblanos or chile negros.
Anaheim is more commonly used and a little less hot.
I like pasilla because it is bigger and the dark skin is kind of sweet. Doing a mixture of chiles is fun.

Cut a slit vertically toward the top and cut off the hanging seed section if you don't want it spicy.

Next place all of your chiles on a cookie sheet as close to the broiler as possible. The goal is to get the skin to become bubbly so you can peel it off. It's okay if the skin gets charred. Turn the chiles as needed so that the parts that are not yet bubbly are facing up.


Using your fingers and a sharp knife, peel the skins off.

Note: most recipes say to place the chiles in a covered bowl in order to steam them. The idea is to make them easier to peel. I tried this. While they were easier to peel, the roasted chiles also lost their texture and were soggy -- Not worth it.

Peeling chiles is difficult, but can be fun. It is also time consuming so I usually only cook 6 chiles each time. Sit down, get comfortable, turn on the TV and go to town. It doesn't have to be perfect and gets easier every time. Leave the stuff around the stem alone in order to make sure the stem doesn't fall off. (The purpose of the stem is entirely aesthetic, so don't fret.)




















Stuff the chiles with cheese through the slit. (I like colby-jack.)



Coat in flour.




Whip about 4 egg whites until they reach peak. Fold in the yolks.

Dip the chiles in the foamy egg batter and fry.

Tips for deep frying things: About 3/4 an inch of vegetable oil is good. First test the temperature by dropping a tiny amount of the egg batter into the oil. If tiny bubbles rise from underneath the item being fried, the oil is at a good temperature. Deep frying things usually takes about 2 minutes per side, and you have to watch it. Avoid getting any drops of water in the oil because it will pop like crazy and stress you out.



























Now make a simple tomato broth using canned Mexican-style tomato sauce (regular is ok), and thinning it out with about 2 parts water, and whisking in about 3 TBS flour.
Once the batter on the frying chiles turns golden, transfer them into the tomato broth.


They are ready to serve! Delicious gooiness inside and simple flavors with controlled heat, depending on how many seeds you leave in. Who wants to eat these with me?

I have been on a quest to try chile rellenos at as many restaurants as possible. Most places seem to cover them in a salsa-like thick sauce. In my opinion, this detracts from the flavor of what you are actually eating, roasted chiles and cheese. Also, the foamy egg batter in this recipe allows for the tomato broth to be soaked up, as opposed to a crisp breading.

*Note: I don't particularly enjoy taking pictures, so that is going to be the biggest challenge for me in this blog. So far all of the pictures I have gathered were taken by someone else or are stock photos.

In this particular entry, my mother got around to photographing me cooking and blogging about it before I could; So I stole the photos.

Welcome

Welcome to my food blog! I was considering writing a cookbook of all of the interesting things I have learned to make, but I enjoy comparing products just as much. I think a blog is a good medium to talk about my favorite thing: the food I like. I hope you enjoy the passed along information and leave lots of comments for discussion.

The main themes: international food, vegetarian/vegan friendly food (not exclusively), and snacks. Mostly I just want to talk about the things I eat -- Can you see why I had a hard time deciding what to include in a single cookbook?


My experience: 6 years of catering in Draper, UT, cooking at Sage's Cafe in Salt Lake City, international student friends, elongated grocery trips, and a lifetime of eating.

Me: My name is Elizabeth. I just graduated for the University of Utah with bachelors in Linguistics and International Studies, so I'll probably some of that geeky stuff in here. My specialty is teaching English as a second language. School was always my priority for like... the past 20 years and cooking my hobby, so I don't have much else to say. I mean, I like other things and stuff, such as movies, hiking, and my pet birds. Also, I have the best friends and family in the world!

いただきます
itadakimasu!
"I humbly receive"
Japanese people exclaim this when they are about to eat in order to show gratitude to the farmers, the soil, the cook, .. everything and everyone that had a hand in their reception of the meal they are about to enjoy.