Chile Rellenos
One of my favorite things to order at Mexican restaurants are the chile rellenos which I always pair with an enchilada. I’m predictable that way. Intimidated by the thought of making these little beauties, I finally bit the bullet to discover my fear of them being difficult to make was unfounded. I assumed it would be a challenge to remove the skins from the peppers but let me assure you, it indeed is not. The skins are removed from the peppers by either roasting them over a gas burner until they char or by broiling them to get the same effect. Then, you let them cool and the skins literally just rub right off.
I also learned something else new about chile rellenos. Chile rellenos are dipped in beaten eggs and not a flour based batter. Who knew?!? This Minnesota girl surely didn’t so I was pleasantly surprised in doing my research to find that there is little to no flour used in chile rellenos. Occasionally, the pepper is dusted lightly in flour of some kind to help the egg whites stick but they don’t have to be. I chose to keep it flour free but if you have difficulty with the eggs sticking to the pepper, you can dust the outside of the pepper in any type of flour to help it stick.
For the sauce, I use a unique enchilada style sauce with a little squash in place of part of the tomatoes to enhance the nutritional value without affecting the flavor. The pureed squash also serves to make the sauce more smooth similar to the effect of using tomato paste. Feel free to use this easy enchilada sauce recipe instead. Stuffing the chile rellenos is not super challenging either. Just slit the top open wide enough to fit your knife or a spoon inside and scrape out the seeds and as much of the pith (the white membrane) as you can. Then stuff the inside with a melty Mexician cheese like queso quesadilla or monterey jack. You can also stuff it with shredded chicken or picadillo if you’d prefer!
- 2 poblano or pasilla peppers
- 1 tablespoon almond flour or gluten free all purpose flour (optional)
- 2 whole tomatoes
- ½ cup pureed squash
- ¼-½ cup low sodium vegetable or chicken broth, to desired consistency
- ½ white onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 cups queso Chihuahua or Monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 2 eggs, whites and yolk separated
- coconut oil for frying
- Cilantro, additional cheese and avocado for serving as desired.
- Preheat broiler or if you have a gas stove, you can light the stove burner to high (this is faster if you have the option to use a burner rather than broiler).
- Using the broiler, broil peppers turning occasional until blistered and blackened all over. Remove from oven and let cool.
- If using the stove burner, place pepper directly on the burner and let blister on one side and then turn to blacken and blister the other side. Repeat with the other pepper and then let them cool.
- Once cooled, rub the skin off the peppers with your fingers and discard the skin.
- Slit the top of the pepper just wide enough to fit your knife or spoon inside and scrape out the seeds and as much as the pith (white membrane) as possible.
- Stuff the inside of the pepper with cheese (or other filling as desired) and set aside.
- In a blender, combine tomatoes, squash, broth, onion, garlic, chipotle pepper and lime juice and puree until smooth.
- Pour sauce into a saucepan and heat. Keep hot until ready to serve.
- In a small dish, separate the egg whites and reserve the yolks.
- Beat the whites until soft peaks form and then gently fold in the yolks.
- Prepare a cast iron or deep frying pan with enough coconut oil to be about ¼" deep and heat until very hot about 365 degrees.
- Dry the outside of the pepper with a paper towel or kitchen towel and then dip the filled pepper in the eggs. If you have difficulty with the egg sticking, you can lightly dust the peppers with flour and then dip them in the egg.
- Gently place the peppers into the oil and fry until golden in color. Flip to the other side and fry that side until golden.
- Remove from the pan and let drain on a paper towel. Plate the pepper and top with the heated sauce.
- Sprinkle with additional cheese, cilantro and serve with avocado as desired.
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