Treasured Valley

– Recipe and pictures come from Treasured Valley reader Eric Nielsen.

Easy Chili Rellenos

I developed this recipe after observing how it’s done in a variety of restaurants. A nice part of my job in Point of Sale equipment is all the kitchens I get to see. I’ll put this recipe up against any in the valley, and it’s so easy I don’t even write it down. Do it once and you’ll never forget.

Step one is to blister the Poblanos. Some people like to fire grill them but gas grills don’t really add any flavor and starting a charcoal or wood fire just isn’t practical for the few minutes it takes. I blister them in the deep fryer.

Click below for the full recipe.

Blister the skin about 50% then place them in a paper bag to steam themselves for about 15 mins. I’m using the bag the Tequila came in.

While the peppers rest in the bag prepare your filling. Chili Relleno just means stuffed chili so you can stuff it with anything, I once got one stuffed with taco meat at a restaurant but I use sharp cheddar and Philly cream cheese. Slice the cheese and spread the cream cheese to make little sandwiches, much easier to handle than grated cheese and it will melt fine.

Remove the blistered skin from the peppers, here my wife is using a serrated steak knife which works well for her, you can do it with your fingers too.

Some cooks slit the side of the peppers to make a pocket but we core out the stem and placenta and rinse out the seeds. If you like it hot leave a few seeds inside, but you’ll be surprised at how hot a poblano can get when baked with the seeds in it.

Stuff the chillies with the cheese, notice the little sandwich are much cleaner to handle than shredded cheese, just be careful not to over stuff and split the pepper. If you do, don’t worry it will still work.

Next up is the batter. Real simple, 5 egg whites and one whole egg. Mix as much air in as you can to make them fluffy.

Pour the batter onto a hot griddle like pancakes.

Place the peppers on on side of the batter and fold them over like an omlette.

Don’t over cook them, just brown them.

The next step is to bake them. If you’re making a bunch to serve you can put them in a casserole dish, heat and serve, but I like to plate mine restaurant style with beans and rice. Use an oven proof plate. This one is a salad plate but you can use a dinner plate and put an enchilada on the other side of the beans and rice. Sprinkle the pepper and the beans with grated cheese. Here we’re using Colby jack which melts nicely. Place in preheated oven at 325 for about 15 minutes or just until the cheese is melted.

I usually just pour some enchilada sauce over the pepper before baking but we have vine ripe tomatoes so while the chillies bake I’ll make a simple fresh tomato sauce. Saute half a chopped onion with two cloves of crushed garlic in olive oil until soft then add one chopped tomato and chicken broth and simmer. Add black pepper and salt to taste.

Remove from oven and double plate them, they will be hot. Pour some of the tomato sauce over the peppers, garnish with some tortilla chips and serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Enjoy!

As a quick admin note, I’m working on getting a “printer-friendly” plug-in set up so that recipe will be easier to print. Also if you have a recipe that you want to share with Treasured Valley readers let me know about it here.