Chile Rellenos by Sandi

I had a great cooking lesson from my sister in law Sandi yesterday. She taught me how to make chile rellenos. Here's how she makes them:

Buy nice big anaheim chiles (she prefers Anaheim for their flavor to the often used Poblano Chiles). Wash and dry them thoroughly.

Place the chile's on the grill to roast and blister the outer skin.  You may also do this in the oven broiler or over the open gas flame of your stove top.

Turn every two minutes or so as the outer skin begins to blister. Make sure all sides of the chiles brown. This will make removal of the outer skins easier.

When the chiles are completely blistered and brown remove from heat and wrap in a damp towel and place in a plastic bag. The heat from the roasting will then steam the chiles when sealed in the cloth and the bag. Keep them in the sealed bag for about 15 minutes.

The next step is to remove the chiles from the sealed plastic and towel and peel the outer roasted skin from the chiles. Take care to keep the chile in tact.

Once peeled lay them on a plate. They will be ready to be stuffed.

When peeled they should look like this. Now you may begin to prepare the cheese stuffing and batter.

 You will then slice a block of Monterey Jack cheese into approximately 1/2 " slices

 Cut the slices into french fry size strips. 

Take each chile and carefully cut a slit from the top stem 2/3 of the way down one side of the chile. You are creating a pocket to stuff the cheese. Be careful not to cut the chile all the way to the bottom.  You may want to remove the seeds of the chile. Some prefer to leave all or some seeds inside but remember the seeds create a lot of the heat so this is optional to remove according to your tastes and level of heat tolerance.

Put some flour on a plate and set aside.

  Place two strips of your monterey jack cheese inside the pocket of each chile.  When all the chiles are stuffed with cheese and the openings are closed. Dredge each chile in flour.

 

When this is done. Set the platter aside and prepare your egg dipping mixture.

My sister in law does the batter in batches of two eggs at a time to keep the dipping mixture light and fluffy. As you need more repeat the following directions for more dipping batter.
Separate two eggs, yolk in one bowl and egg whites in mixing bowl.

 You can break up the eggs yolks with a fork and set aside. Begin to beat the egg whites until light and frothy.

When the egg whites are stiff  then fold the beaten egg yolks into the whipped whites. Fold in gently.

 Dip a floured chile into the egg mixture even coating the entire chile.

Using vegetable oil (  several tablespoons to heavily coat your frying pan. (You are not deep frying the chile but cooking each side til brown).

Gently lay your chiles in the oiled  and heated pan.

Checking around 2 minutes for browness you can turn the chiles to brown evenly on the other side when it appears crisp and nicely colored.. (you can use a spatula to help turn the chiles while holding onto the stem of the chile)

 You may transfer into a warming oven until all chiles are fried  or simply place on a plate to serve.

This dish may be accompanied by a simple store bought or home made salsa or relleno sauce.  We enjoyed this delicious dish with a tossed green salad.  It was GREAT!  I can't wait to try this at home.  Big thank you to my sister in law Sandi for teaching me to make this great dish!