Chile Rellenos

Howdy! I have a fun Mexican recipe for you today.  When we lived in southern Colorado for a year, we were introduced to roasted chile peppers. They eat them on everything! We really enjoyed them, so I  bought a bag of fresh-roasted chiles to eat. I soon realized that most of my recipes only called for a teeny 4 oz. can of diced chile peppers. So I had to come up with some way of eating all those chiles! I remembered how much my husband loved eating Chile Rellenos at the local Mexican restaurant, so I decided to recreate that dish.

It took several tries to get it right, but I finally hit on a simple recipe. You start with roasted, peeled chile peppers. You can buy them whole in cans, or you can buy them fresh from the produce section, and roast them under the broiler.

Roasting your own peppers is easy. Just place them on a pan under the broiler, and when the skin on top is bubbly and blackening – turn them over and roast the second side. Then you put them in a plastic zip-top bag and let them cool. This helps the skin to loosen. Once cooled, use your fingers to gently pull off the blackened skin. Then they are ready to use this recipe!

Since this recipe includes eggs and cheese, we often have it for breakfast. But you can add it on the side to any Mexican-themed meal.

Chile Rellenos

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon butter

1 whole peeled chile pepper

2 eggs

1 TBSP milk

2 teaspoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 slice cheese, cut in strips

salsa, sour cream, guacamole (optional)

Directions:

Whisk the eggs, milk, flour, and salt together, set aside. Cut a slit in the side of the chile pepper, carefully stuff the strips of cheese inside. It is OK if the cheese breaks a little – it is going to melt anyways! Melt the butter in a small frying pan. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Lay the stuffed pepper in the egg mixture. Cook over medium heat, lifting the edges of the egg and letting it run underneath. When the egg is golden brown on the bottom, carefully run a spatula under one edge and flip it over the egg. Then flip the other edge over, kind of like an enchilada. Carefully turn the whole chile relleno over to the other side, and cook a few minutes more, or till golden brown on all sides. The egg should be cooked all the way through. Serve with salsa and sour cream or guacamole.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

 

Have you ever eaten fresh-roasted chile peppers? What is your favorite way to eat them?