Michelemarie
Executive Chef
Welcome Skydancer! I think you will like this site. Your dishes sound very good - could you post the recipe?
Hi, Cooking NewB - How to beat egg whites
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OP
OP
Skydancer
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2007
- Messages
- 18
Well, I'm still experimenting but I guess I could give it a try. With the Chile Rellenos I looked up 5 or 6 different recipes on the web and combined them and took parts from one and parts from another. Some of them had ingredients I liked better while some had better instructions for various aspects of the process. I also didn't always follow the recipe exactly and I'm not entirely sure what I did. Others are welcome to refine it if they want. So anyway, here's what I've got.
Chile Rellenos
Ingredients
1. 6 Roasted Poblano (Pablano?), Ancho, Pasilla or Anaheim chiles (peppers). I've tried Pasilla and Anaheim and prefer the Anaheim. The Pasilla peppers I found were significantly larger than the Anaheim so I only used 3.
2. 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese.
3. 1/2 cup flaked Queso Fresca or Ricotta Cheese. (I don't know what flaked means)
4. 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
5. 3 Roasted Garlic cloves
6. 2 green onions
7. 1/2 medium red pepper, finely chopped
8. 1/8 cup fresh cilantro (if you're not a cilantro fan, you may want to reduce this or eliminate it altogether).
9. 2 tsp salt
10. Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)
11. 6 cold eggs
12. 3 tbsp Masa Harina
13. 3 tbsp flour (or corn starch). I'm sure substituting flour or corn starch for the Masa Harina will work fine too
13. Corn Oil, lard or Shortening, 1/4 inch on bottom of frying pan. I think most people prefer animal fats but I'm working on becoming a vegetarian so I used the corn oil and it was fine. Another recipe said 2 inches so I think this is pretty much up to your tastes. I think I used a little less than 1 inch.
14. Lots of Salsa Verde (green chile salsa). I also have a recipe for Salsa Verde and definitely prefer the varieties made with Tomatillos.
Instructions
1. Roast the garlic (see below)
2. Roast the chiles (see below)
3. Mix ingredients 2 through 10 (with 1/2 the salt and 1/2 the pepper) together
4. Separate the egg yolks from the whites
5. Beat the egg yolks with the Masa Harina and flour or corn starch and 1/2 the salt and pepper. It seemed too thick to me so I added a little water but then it was too thin. So I'm still working on exactly how to do this.
6. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed
7. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites
8. Gently stuff the chiles as full as possible with the cheese mixture from step 3 without tearing them apart.
9. Heat the Salsa Verde or green chile salsa
10. Heat the oil/lard/shortening until a drop of batter sizzles and floats to the top (one recipe said 375 degrees but I don't have a thermometer that can measure the temperature)
11. One at a time, drop the stuffed chiles into the batter. Scoop out with a large spoon (include plenty of batter) and carefully drop into hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Drain them on a paper towel in a warm oven.
12. Pour hot Salsa Verde or green chile salsa liberally over the chiles. If you really like cheese, sprinkle them with a little cheddar cheese before pouring the sauce over them.
Notes
1. I'm still working on getting the batter consistency right so the amount of flour and/or Masa Harina or the consistency of the egg whites may not be entirely correct or I might not be doing the "folding" quite right.
2. Roasting chiles is not easy to get right (I still haven't) so you might want to consider buying some canned ones (I haven't tried them so I don't know if they're any good). I found them to be better if a little over-cooked rather than under-cooked.
3. I have no idea if the correct spelling of chile is chili, chile or chille and if the plural should be chilis, chiles, chilies, chilles or chillies.
4. You can make your own Queso Blanco. There are easy recipes on the web though I haven't tried that.
5. I've tried several different green chile salsas that I've found in the grocery store but none of them used Tomatillos. I found a good recipe for Salsa Verde with Tomatillos that I liked a lot more than the store bought ones.
Roasted Garlic
This was copied verbatim from a recipe I found on the web and I don't know where I found it so I hope it isn't plagiarism. Also, I might have had the heat too high because it only took me about 10 minutes.
Peel as much garlic as you wish. Lightly wipe a heavy skillet with olive oil. Add as many peeled garlic cloves as you wish, making sure however that they are no more than one layer deep. Over a moderate heat, begin to slowly roast your cloves. Flip them frequently to insure even roasting. They are done when they are a pale golden brown and are soft when pressure is applied. This will take about 30 minutes.
Roasted garlic is a wonderful addition to many dishes. When roasted it has a totally different flavor from raw garlic. The harshness goes away and you are left with an almost sweet, nut like flavor that is wonderful in many things or just very lightly salted and munched on.
Roasted Chiles
Ok, here's the hard part. There are several different ways to roast chiles. I've tried flame roasting them over a barbecue and that's not easy. I suspect oven roasting might be easier. These are also taken almost verbatim from web sites.
Once they've been roasted and peeled, cut a slit almost the full length of the chile. If you cut them all the way to the bottom, they'll fall apart and cheese will spill out as you're frying them. Make a small "t" across the top, by the stem. Remove the fibers and seeds. Be careful not to tear them apart. If you dust them with a light coat of flour before dipping them in the batter, it sticks a little better I think.
Note that you have to get them fairly well charred to be fully cooked. Since you're going to peel them, most of the charred parts will be removed and what little remains adds that distinctive roasted flavor.
Be sure not to roast more chiles at any one time than you can peel before they become completely cold. Once they are cold, the skin is very hard to remove.
Flame Roasted Chiles
You may use a BBQ or your stove top burner. (The original instructions said you could even use your electric stove top burner but I tried that for the first two chiles and abandoned it (and threw out the chiles) because it's too hard to roast them evenly).
For whatever heat source you use, you simply lay the chilies directly over the heat and with a pair of kitchen tongues, turn them frequently to ensure that the skins blister evenly. As soon as you remove the chili from the heat wrap it in a cloth or paper towel or put it in a brown paper bag or a plastic bad and let it steam for about 3 to 4 minutes before removing the skin under cold running water. (I found it too hard to skin them under cold running water though it might have worked better if I had).
Oven Roasted Chiles
1. Rinse the chilies.
2. Preheat your oven to broil.
3. Place the chilies in a 9 x 14 baking dish and place on the top shelf of your oven.
4. Watch and listen closely. When the skins start to make popping sounds and to char and turn black in places, take the chiles out and flip them over. Be sure and use a potholder so you don't burn your hands!
5. When both sides are fairly evenly charred, remove them from the oven.
6. Wrap each chile in a moist paper towel or place in a sealed plastic bag to steam.
7. After a few minutes, check them. Once the skin comes off easily, peel each chile.
I'll follow this with another post for the Salsa Verde.
Chile Rellenos
Ingredients
1. 6 Roasted Poblano (Pablano?), Ancho, Pasilla or Anaheim chiles (peppers). I've tried Pasilla and Anaheim and prefer the Anaheim. The Pasilla peppers I found were significantly larger than the Anaheim so I only used 3.
2. 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese.
3. 1/2 cup flaked Queso Fresca or Ricotta Cheese. (I don't know what flaked means)
4. 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
5. 3 Roasted Garlic cloves
6. 2 green onions
7. 1/2 medium red pepper, finely chopped
8. 1/8 cup fresh cilantro (if you're not a cilantro fan, you may want to reduce this or eliminate it altogether).
9. 2 tsp salt
10. Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)
11. 6 cold eggs
12. 3 tbsp Masa Harina
13. 3 tbsp flour (or corn starch). I'm sure substituting flour or corn starch for the Masa Harina will work fine too
13. Corn Oil, lard or Shortening, 1/4 inch on bottom of frying pan. I think most people prefer animal fats but I'm working on becoming a vegetarian so I used the corn oil and it was fine. Another recipe said 2 inches so I think this is pretty much up to your tastes. I think I used a little less than 1 inch.
14. Lots of Salsa Verde (green chile salsa). I also have a recipe for Salsa Verde and definitely prefer the varieties made with Tomatillos.
Instructions
1. Roast the garlic (see below)
2. Roast the chiles (see below)
3. Mix ingredients 2 through 10 (with 1/2 the salt and 1/2 the pepper) together
4. Separate the egg yolks from the whites
5. Beat the egg yolks with the Masa Harina and flour or corn starch and 1/2 the salt and pepper. It seemed too thick to me so I added a little water but then it was too thin. So I'm still working on exactly how to do this.
6. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed
7. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites
8. Gently stuff the chiles as full as possible with the cheese mixture from step 3 without tearing them apart.
9. Heat the Salsa Verde or green chile salsa
10. Heat the oil/lard/shortening until a drop of batter sizzles and floats to the top (one recipe said 375 degrees but I don't have a thermometer that can measure the temperature)
11. One at a time, drop the stuffed chiles into the batter. Scoop out with a large spoon (include plenty of batter) and carefully drop into hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Drain them on a paper towel in a warm oven.
12. Pour hot Salsa Verde or green chile salsa liberally over the chiles. If you really like cheese, sprinkle them with a little cheddar cheese before pouring the sauce over them.
Notes
1. I'm still working on getting the batter consistency right so the amount of flour and/or Masa Harina or the consistency of the egg whites may not be entirely correct or I might not be doing the "folding" quite right.
2. Roasting chiles is not easy to get right (I still haven't) so you might want to consider buying some canned ones (I haven't tried them so I don't know if they're any good). I found them to be better if a little over-cooked rather than under-cooked.
3. I have no idea if the correct spelling of chile is chili, chile or chille and if the plural should be chilis, chiles, chilies, chilles or chillies.
4. You can make your own Queso Blanco. There are easy recipes on the web though I haven't tried that.
5. I've tried several different green chile salsas that I've found in the grocery store but none of them used Tomatillos. I found a good recipe for Salsa Verde with Tomatillos that I liked a lot more than the store bought ones.
Roasted Garlic
This was copied verbatim from a recipe I found on the web and I don't know where I found it so I hope it isn't plagiarism. Also, I might have had the heat too high because it only took me about 10 minutes.
Peel as much garlic as you wish. Lightly wipe a heavy skillet with olive oil. Add as many peeled garlic cloves as you wish, making sure however that they are no more than one layer deep. Over a moderate heat, begin to slowly roast your cloves. Flip them frequently to insure even roasting. They are done when they are a pale golden brown and are soft when pressure is applied. This will take about 30 minutes.
Roasted garlic is a wonderful addition to many dishes. When roasted it has a totally different flavor from raw garlic. The harshness goes away and you are left with an almost sweet, nut like flavor that is wonderful in many things or just very lightly salted and munched on.
Roasted Chiles
Ok, here's the hard part. There are several different ways to roast chiles. I've tried flame roasting them over a barbecue and that's not easy. I suspect oven roasting might be easier. These are also taken almost verbatim from web sites.
Once they've been roasted and peeled, cut a slit almost the full length of the chile. If you cut them all the way to the bottom, they'll fall apart and cheese will spill out as you're frying them. Make a small "t" across the top, by the stem. Remove the fibers and seeds. Be careful not to tear them apart. If you dust them with a light coat of flour before dipping them in the batter, it sticks a little better I think.
Note that you have to get them fairly well charred to be fully cooked. Since you're going to peel them, most of the charred parts will be removed and what little remains adds that distinctive roasted flavor.
Be sure not to roast more chiles at any one time than you can peel before they become completely cold. Once they are cold, the skin is very hard to remove.
Flame Roasted Chiles
You may use a BBQ or your stove top burner. (The original instructions said you could even use your electric stove top burner but I tried that for the first two chiles and abandoned it (and threw out the chiles) because it's too hard to roast them evenly).
For whatever heat source you use, you simply lay the chilies directly over the heat and with a pair of kitchen tongues, turn them frequently to ensure that the skins blister evenly. As soon as you remove the chili from the heat wrap it in a cloth or paper towel or put it in a brown paper bag or a plastic bad and let it steam for about 3 to 4 minutes before removing the skin under cold running water. (I found it too hard to skin them under cold running water though it might have worked better if I had).
Oven Roasted Chiles
1. Rinse the chilies.
2. Preheat your oven to broil.
3. Place the chilies in a 9 x 14 baking dish and place on the top shelf of your oven.
4. Watch and listen closely. When the skins start to make popping sounds and to char and turn black in places, take the chiles out and flip them over. Be sure and use a potholder so you don't burn your hands!
5. When both sides are fairly evenly charred, remove them from the oven.
6. Wrap each chile in a moist paper towel or place in a sealed plastic bag to steam.
7. After a few minutes, check them. Once the skin comes off easily, peel each chile.
I'll follow this with another post for the Salsa Verde.
OP
OP
Skydancer
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2007
- Messages
- 18
Salsa Verde
I'll post this recipe as I got it from the web and then tell you the modifications that I made.
Ingredients
1. 2 large Anaheim Peppers (Chilies)
2. ½ pound Tomatillos (husked, rinsed, diced)
3. 1 ½ cup low-salt chicken broth (I want to leave this out)
4. 2 large green onions
5. 1 large serrano pepper (chile)
6. 1 large garlic clove
7. ¼ cup fresh Cilantro
8. 1 tbsp whipping cream
9. 1 tbsp lime juice (optional)
Instructions
1. Flame roast the Anaheim chilies and Chop them.
2. Combine the tomatillos, broth, green onions, serrano chili, and garlic in medium saucepan
3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat
4. Reduce heat to medium-low
5. Simmer until mixture is reduced to 1 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes.
6. Transfer mixture to blender. Add Anaheim chilies, cilantro, and cream.
7. Puree until smooth.
8. Season salsa with salt and pepper.
9. Add lime juice, if desired.
(Can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to small bowl; cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.)
My Modifications
1. I'm not a big fan of lime juice so I left it out.
2. I used roasted garlic
3. I'm not a huge Cilantro fan so I halved the amount.
4. I added about 1/2 medium red pepper, diced.
5. I prefer a rougher texture so I didn't puree it.
6. I'm trying to become a vegetarian so I left out the chicken broth. I found the taste quite good without it.
7. I fried the onions and serrano chiles in a light coating of olive oil first
8. Since I couldn't find fresh Tomatillos, I bought canned. Since they were already cooked, I cooked the other ingredients for about 10 minutes before adding the tomatillos. I suspect it wouldn't have made a difference though.
9. I used a mixture of green and red onions.
10. I cooked the sauce in the frying pan where I had fried the onions and Serrano peppers.
11. Since I'm lactose intolerent, I decided to use Masa Harina to thicken it instead of whipping cream. In retrospect, it's only 1 tbsp of whipping cream so I'll probably use that the next time.
12. I added about 1/4 tsp comino. (I think comino is the same thing as cumin so you could probably substitute cumin).
Salsa Verde (Green Chile or Green Tomatillo Salsa)
I'll post this recipe as I got it from the web and then tell you the modifications that I made.
Ingredients
1. 2 large Anaheim Peppers (Chilies)
2. ½ pound Tomatillos (husked, rinsed, diced)
3. 1 ½ cup low-salt chicken broth (I want to leave this out)
4. 2 large green onions
5. 1 large serrano pepper (chile)
6. 1 large garlic clove
7. ¼ cup fresh Cilantro
8. 1 tbsp whipping cream
9. 1 tbsp lime juice (optional)
Instructions
1. Flame roast the Anaheim chilies and Chop them.
2. Combine the tomatillos, broth, green onions, serrano chili, and garlic in medium saucepan
3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat
4. Reduce heat to medium-low
5. Simmer until mixture is reduced to 1 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes.
6. Transfer mixture to blender. Add Anaheim chilies, cilantro, and cream.
7. Puree until smooth.
8. Season salsa with salt and pepper.
9. Add lime juice, if desired.
(Can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to small bowl; cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.)
My Modifications
1. I'm not a big fan of lime juice so I left it out.
2. I used roasted garlic
3. I'm not a huge Cilantro fan so I halved the amount.
4. I added about 1/2 medium red pepper, diced.
5. I prefer a rougher texture so I didn't puree it.
6. I'm trying to become a vegetarian so I left out the chicken broth. I found the taste quite good without it.
7. I fried the onions and serrano chiles in a light coating of olive oil first
8. Since I couldn't find fresh Tomatillos, I bought canned. Since they were already cooked, I cooked the other ingredients for about 10 minutes before adding the tomatillos. I suspect it wouldn't have made a difference though.
9. I used a mixture of green and red onions.
10. I cooked the sauce in the frying pan where I had fried the onions and Serrano peppers.
11. Since I'm lactose intolerent, I decided to use Masa Harina to thicken it instead of whipping cream. In retrospect, it's only 1 tbsp of whipping cream so I'll probably use that the next time.
12. I added about 1/4 tsp comino. (I think comino is the same thing as cumin so you could probably substitute cumin).
csalt
Sous Chef
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2006
- Messages
- 909
Skydancer I am intrigued by your avitar> Is that a rabbit with a pancake on it's head?
OP
OP
Skydancer
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2007
- Messages
- 18
csalt said:
Yes, it is. I don't know exactly where it came from. A friend posted it as a comment on my MySpace page and I don't know where she got it from. For some reason, I find it the funniest picture I've ever seen.
