Something Spicy

Pretty much every week, my bountiful basket offers me something that makes me pause and wonder, "What do I do with this?"  This week, that something was 6 Anaheim peppers.  I thought for a minute of gourmet burgers with roasted peppers and of home made green chili sauce, but decided to go for the obvious and make chile rellenos.  Too bad I've never made chile rellenos before.

I teach at a school with a heavily Hispanic/Latino population, and I've had chile rellenos made by my students and their families.  They are, basically, the greatest thing imaginable: roasted peppers stuffed with gooey melted cheese and fried to a golden crisp.  I felt a strange pressure to get this right.  When I told Nathan that I was going to try it, he got really excited which just added to the pressure.  "I must be a good cook.  I must be a good cook."


Step one is to roast the peppers.  Just put them on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven at 450.  Turn them once in a while until the skin is dark brown and blistery all over.  I was afraid of burning them (silly me) and did not let them get nearly brown enough.  Ah well, next time.

Once the peppers are blackened, put them in a paper bag and fold the top down to seal them in.  This allows the peppers to steam as they cool and is supposed to make them easier to peel.  I have a feeling cooking them more would have also made them easier to peel, so do better than I did and really roast those peppers.  I couldn't find a paper bag around anywhere, so I just put them in a bowl and stuck a plate on top.  Same thing.   Ashley, if you are reading this, you left some of your plates at the house on Ravenna.

split pepper, still good!

After the chili's have cooled enough to handle, peel the blackened skin off so you are left with slimy, but intact green peppers.  Cut a slit near the top of each pepper and slide in slices of monterey jack cheese.  Try to do this without splitting the peppers if you can.  I split one pretty badly, but held it together with toothpicks while I breaded it.  I pulled the toothpicks out before frying and it stayed together pretty well.

Once your peppers are skinned and stuffed, dredge them in some flower and prepare the egg wash.  In order to get a crust that was both substantial and airy, I separated 3 eggs and beat the whites until they were stiff, then folded the yolks back in.  Julia Child (I just noticed her initials - hee) would tell you to whisk the egg whites until they form the ribbon, but I still am not sure what that means.  It takes a while to get those egg whites nice and stiff, so this step is a good place to prepare your frying oil.  I am lucky enough to have married a man who owned a deep fryer, so preparing my frying oil involves having my husband get the fryer off the top of the fridge and set the temperature.  If you are not as lucky as I am, use a cast iron or heavy skillet and heat some peanut oil until flour browns when you sprinkle it in.

Dip your skinned, flour dredged, cheese filled chilis in your whipped eggs and immediately place them in frying oil.  Leave them for about 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Eat them while they're still hot.

mmm diet coke

The chilis I made weren't the best I've ever had, but they weren't the worst either, so I am considering this one a win.  I served them with some enchilada sauce and carne asada.  Don't ask me for an asada recipe - I bought it from the butcher's counter at my grocery store.  You can have an enchilada sauce recipe though, made with all fresh ingredients.

All Purpose Red Sauce for Mexican Foods

• combine 2-4 peeled, quartered tomatoes, 1 onion roughly chopped, and 2 cloves of garlic in a food processor and pulse until liquefied.
• heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a sauce pan and add the tomato mixture, simmer for 10 minutes
• add 1/2 cup chicken broth, 3 diced jalapenos (or other small chilis), a dash of cinnamon and salt to taste and continue to simmer until ready to serve