Recipes Make Magic
Senior Cook
Having spent a good deal of time in wide variety of Mexican cities and communities over the years, I've come to love the foods, as well as learning to cook them as authentically as possible.
This is my version of Chiles Rellenos, and at the risk of your finding the recipe quite lengthy, I wanted to be sure to retain authenticity by properly explaining the methodology as carefully as possible, so please forgive my verbosity here.
This dish has proven to be a bit of a jewel among my moderate collection of assorted Mexican recipes.
If any of you are interested in other favorite mexican dishes, please ask and I'll also be happy to post my most authentic recipe for Chicken Enchiladas.
CHILE RELLENOS
(This is my own version - adapted with a couple of added ingredients not normally found in most relleno recipes).
I prepared this recipe for a one person/one meal but it can be doubled or tripled with some parts of the recipe ingredients frozen, such as the chiles once prepared and stuffed with the filling, and the accompanying relleno red sauce - i.e. a larger volume thereof. The batter however, is best left for a next meal, and made fresh, with ingredients increased to suitably accommodate the greater amount of servings.
The Chiles:
- 2 (or possibly 3, or 4, if you're really hungry) medium to large sized Poblano chiles.
( Anaheim chiles may be used as a substitute).
Remove the stem portions from the chiles by cutting out a large circle around the stem at the top of the chile, then discarding this entire stem part, and shaking the chiles vigorously upside down into the sink to rid them of as many of the seeds as possible.
Place the chiles on a suitable baking sheet in the preheated oven, approx. 6" from the broiler element, and broil until well blister darkened, turning once to blacken both sides.
Then place the chiles in a bowl & cover tightly with cling wrap (or place in a ziplock bag) to let steam for 10-15 minutes, which will facilitate removal of the blackened skin using a thin bladed small kitchen knife & your fingers. This will take a little time & care to ensure the chiles don't get cut up &/or pull apart, but not to worry if some blackened skin pieces remain on the chiles. Refrigerate the chiles while you move on with the next step of the recipe.
(Instead of the above procedure, you may find it easier to carefully make a slit up the side of each prepared chile, and gently stuff each one with the filling until you're just able to close the slit comfortably. If the chile refuses to stay together, you could try using a toothpick, but this should not be necessary.
However, I do feel a better result comes from using the no slit procedure outlined above.)
Ingredients for the chiles filling:
In a bowl, combine the following well:
- 2-3 oz. of ground pork previously sauted until cooked through & lightly browned . To this saute, add 1 tspn or so of finely chopped onions & cook for 2-3 more minutes along with 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, & add 1/4 tspn. each of salt & pepper.
(You may substitute ground beef, or italian sausage meat - (mild or spicy) - or other sausage meat of your choice.
- 1-2 rashers of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled.
- 1/2 finely chopped jalapeno pepper, seeds & ribs removed.
- 1 tspn. of dry taco seasoning. (Or 1 tbspn. of taco sauce if
available)
- 1/3 cup each of grated cheddar and gruyere cheeses.
Feel free to use other cheeses of your choice - e.g. Monterey Jack, or Jalapeno Jack, or Fontina, or Provolone, etc.
If you can get it, you might like to use Asadero mexican cheese, or Asiago as a substitute for any mexican cheese.
- 1 beaten egg as a binder.
Please keep in mind that once the chiles have been blackened under the broiler and most black skin removed, the residual chile 'meat' will still be quite soft even after cooling & refrigerating, and may be somewhat more difficult to handle & fill than you might have thought, so:
Carefully & gently fill each prepared poblano chile so as to cause as little damage as possible to these soft baked chiles, & set aside for later battering. ( It may help to freeze them just a bit, ahead of filling to facilitate the filling process).
Do not overstuff with filling - they should be lightly filled to prevent any of the filling from dropping out when handling, battering or frying.
My rule of thumb is to make the filled chiles not more than approx. 3/4" thick to facilitate handling & frying.
(P.S. - Some may prefer to forego adding any meat whatsoever to the filling, using only a variety of cheeses, and nothing much more - that's up to you.)
Depending on the size of the chiles, you may find the amount of filling to be more than you need for this meal portion, so just freeze any excess for future use another time.
Red Chile Relleno Sauce:
Place the following ingredients in a blender & blend well:
- 5-6 oz. of tomato sauce
- approx. 1 tbspn. finely diced onion
- 2 finely diced garlic cloves
- 1/2 tspn. oregano
- 1/2 tspn. dry taco seasoning ( any brand - I use Old El Paso) or 1 tbspn canned taco sauce if available)
- 1/2 tspn. flour
- 1/3 cup of chicken stock ( I use easy bulk chicken stock powder mix and hot water to make as little or as much chicken stock as I need ). It's OK to substitute water instead of chicken stock.
- Dashes of plain sugar, salt & pepper
- Optional: Juice of 1/2 lime
Place this blended mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, lower heat & simmer for approx. 4-5 minutes. Then strain through a sieve to remove onion & garlic dices to produce a smooth liquid sauce. Reserve to be reheated later when your chiles have been fried and are ready to serve.
As an alternative to this, I have instead used 1/2 of a 10 oz. can of red ( mild or preferably medium) enchilada sauce which is easier and also has a pleasing taste with the fried chiles.
( I get the Dos Amigos brand in the mexican foods section of the local grocery store.)
The Batter for the Chiles:
Whisk the following together briskly in a bowl to produce a medium to heavy thickness consistency of batter for coating the chiles: (add more flour if need be to ensure the consistency of the batter is thick enough to well & properly coat all of the chiles' surfaces for frying.
- 1/3- 1/2 cup, or more, of all purpose flour
-- 1/3 cup half & half cream, or whipping cream mixed with a bit of milk
- 1 egg yolk (reserving the white for separate whipping later until fairly stiffened)
- Dash of each of baking powder, baking soda, plain salt & pepper
- 1/2 tspn. olive oil
Whip the egg white by hand or with an electric mixer until fairly stiff and gently fold this whipped egg white into the prepared batter until just lightly mixed in.
Dust/coat each stuffed chile pepper with flour, gently shaking off excess, then dip the chiles into the prepared batter, coating them as well as possible.
Quickly transfer the chiles for frying into to an already well heated skillet (on medium/high heat) in which you have placed a fairly thin layer of vegetable oil up to no more than 1/4" level, & turn once until they have been lightly browned on both sides.
Serve up the finished chiles on a plate, & placed on top of a good layer of the red chile sauce which has been separately heated up on stove top.
This is not one of the easiest or least time-consuming recipes, but you'll have fun doing it as properly as possible, and hopefully, really enjoying this tasty mexican dish.
Words of advice and encouragement:
- I'm sure you'll find the meld of flavors to be truly delicious, as I do.
But like many recipes if they are being used for the first time, it may take several 'goes at it', to get it turning out the way you expected and thought it should be.
Examples might be that your batter is not thick enough to fully and properly coat the chiles for frying, or that the soft chile product is difficult to fill, or to turn over to brown both sides when frying, without falling apart a bit. I've seen even well experienced mexican 'nanas' not produce a good-looking finished dish.
So don't fret it, be patient and do your best - it'll still taste awesome.
This is my version of Chiles Rellenos, and at the risk of your finding the recipe quite lengthy, I wanted to be sure to retain authenticity by properly explaining the methodology as carefully as possible, so please forgive my verbosity here.
This dish has proven to be a bit of a jewel among my moderate collection of assorted Mexican recipes.
If any of you are interested in other favorite mexican dishes, please ask and I'll also be happy to post my most authentic recipe for Chicken Enchiladas.
CHILE RELLENOS
(This is my own version - adapted with a couple of added ingredients not normally found in most relleno recipes).
I prepared this recipe for a one person/one meal but it can be doubled or tripled with some parts of the recipe ingredients frozen, such as the chiles once prepared and stuffed with the filling, and the accompanying relleno red sauce - i.e. a larger volume thereof. The batter however, is best left for a next meal, and made fresh, with ingredients increased to suitably accommodate the greater amount of servings.
The Chiles:
- 2 (or possibly 3, or 4, if you're really hungry) medium to large sized Poblano chiles.
( Anaheim chiles may be used as a substitute).
Remove the stem portions from the chiles by cutting out a large circle around the stem at the top of the chile, then discarding this entire stem part, and shaking the chiles vigorously upside down into the sink to rid them of as many of the seeds as possible.
Place the chiles on a suitable baking sheet in the preheated oven, approx. 6" from the broiler element, and broil until well blister darkened, turning once to blacken both sides.
Then place the chiles in a bowl & cover tightly with cling wrap (or place in a ziplock bag) to let steam for 10-15 minutes, which will facilitate removal of the blackened skin using a thin bladed small kitchen knife & your fingers. This will take a little time & care to ensure the chiles don't get cut up &/or pull apart, but not to worry if some blackened skin pieces remain on the chiles. Refrigerate the chiles while you move on with the next step of the recipe.
(Instead of the above procedure, you may find it easier to carefully make a slit up the side of each prepared chile, and gently stuff each one with the filling until you're just able to close the slit comfortably. If the chile refuses to stay together, you could try using a toothpick, but this should not be necessary.
However, I do feel a better result comes from using the no slit procedure outlined above.)
Ingredients for the chiles filling:
In a bowl, combine the following well:
- 2-3 oz. of ground pork previously sauted until cooked through & lightly browned . To this saute, add 1 tspn or so of finely chopped onions & cook for 2-3 more minutes along with 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, & add 1/4 tspn. each of salt & pepper.
(You may substitute ground beef, or italian sausage meat - (mild or spicy) - or other sausage meat of your choice.
- 1-2 rashers of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled.
- 1/2 finely chopped jalapeno pepper, seeds & ribs removed.
- 1 tspn. of dry taco seasoning. (Or 1 tbspn. of taco sauce if
available)
- 1/3 cup each of grated cheddar and gruyere cheeses.
Feel free to use other cheeses of your choice - e.g. Monterey Jack, or Jalapeno Jack, or Fontina, or Provolone, etc.
If you can get it, you might like to use Asadero mexican cheese, or Asiago as a substitute for any mexican cheese.
- 1 beaten egg as a binder.
Please keep in mind that once the chiles have been blackened under the broiler and most black skin removed, the residual chile 'meat' will still be quite soft even after cooling & refrigerating, and may be somewhat more difficult to handle & fill than you might have thought, so:
Carefully & gently fill each prepared poblano chile so as to cause as little damage as possible to these soft baked chiles, & set aside for later battering. ( It may help to freeze them just a bit, ahead of filling to facilitate the filling process).
Do not overstuff with filling - they should be lightly filled to prevent any of the filling from dropping out when handling, battering or frying.
My rule of thumb is to make the filled chiles not more than approx. 3/4" thick to facilitate handling & frying.
(P.S. - Some may prefer to forego adding any meat whatsoever to the filling, using only a variety of cheeses, and nothing much more - that's up to you.)
Depending on the size of the chiles, you may find the amount of filling to be more than you need for this meal portion, so just freeze any excess for future use another time.
Red Chile Relleno Sauce:
Place the following ingredients in a blender & blend well:
- 5-6 oz. of tomato sauce
- approx. 1 tbspn. finely diced onion
- 2 finely diced garlic cloves
- 1/2 tspn. oregano
- 1/2 tspn. dry taco seasoning ( any brand - I use Old El Paso) or 1 tbspn canned taco sauce if available)
- 1/2 tspn. flour
- 1/3 cup of chicken stock ( I use easy bulk chicken stock powder mix and hot water to make as little or as much chicken stock as I need ). It's OK to substitute water instead of chicken stock.
- Dashes of plain sugar, salt & pepper
- Optional: Juice of 1/2 lime
Place this blended mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, lower heat & simmer for approx. 4-5 minutes. Then strain through a sieve to remove onion & garlic dices to produce a smooth liquid sauce. Reserve to be reheated later when your chiles have been fried and are ready to serve.
As an alternative to this, I have instead used 1/2 of a 10 oz. can of red ( mild or preferably medium) enchilada sauce which is easier and also has a pleasing taste with the fried chiles.
( I get the Dos Amigos brand in the mexican foods section of the local grocery store.)
The Batter for the Chiles:
Whisk the following together briskly in a bowl to produce a medium to heavy thickness consistency of batter for coating the chiles: (add more flour if need be to ensure the consistency of the batter is thick enough to well & properly coat all of the chiles' surfaces for frying.
- 1/3- 1/2 cup, or more, of all purpose flour
-- 1/3 cup half & half cream, or whipping cream mixed with a bit of milk
- 1 egg yolk (reserving the white for separate whipping later until fairly stiffened)
- Dash of each of baking powder, baking soda, plain salt & pepper
- 1/2 tspn. olive oil
Whip the egg white by hand or with an electric mixer until fairly stiff and gently fold this whipped egg white into the prepared batter until just lightly mixed in.
Dust/coat each stuffed chile pepper with flour, gently shaking off excess, then dip the chiles into the prepared batter, coating them as well as possible.
Quickly transfer the chiles for frying into to an already well heated skillet (on medium/high heat) in which you have placed a fairly thin layer of vegetable oil up to no more than 1/4" level, & turn once until they have been lightly browned on both sides.
Serve up the finished chiles on a plate, & placed on top of a good layer of the red chile sauce which has been separately heated up on stove top.
This is not one of the easiest or least time-consuming recipes, but you'll have fun doing it as properly as possible, and hopefully, really enjoying this tasty mexican dish.
Words of advice and encouragement:
- I'm sure you'll find the meld of flavors to be truly delicious, as I do.
But like many recipes if they are being used for the first time, it may take several 'goes at it', to get it turning out the way you expected and thought it should be.
Examples might be that your batter is not thick enough to fully and properly coat the chiles for frying, or that the soft chile product is difficult to fill, or to turn over to brown both sides when frying, without falling apart a bit. I've seen even well experienced mexican 'nanas' not produce a good-looking finished dish.
So don't fret it, be patient and do your best - it'll still taste awesome.
Last edited: