Chiles Rellenos

For this week's food adventure, I thought I'd try something from this cookbook we've had for a long time and never done more than look through:  Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook.  I like chiles rellenos, so why not?

Ingredients:
6 poblano chiles
1 Tbsp. oil
10 oz. tomatillos, husks removed and quartered
1/2 large onion, cut into chunks  
2 large tomatoes, cut into eighths
1 tsp. salt
1 c. thick cream (creme fraiche)
1 1/2 cups grated queso manchego (or Monterey Jack or medium-sharp cheddar cheese)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, separated
oil for frying

1.  Roast the chiles over medium heat until the entire skins are "charred."  They will blister and turnbrown.  You don't want to char the pepper under the skin, so turn them as needed.  When they are fully roasted, remove to a dish and cover with a warm, damp towel for 10-15 minutes.  This will make them sweat and will make the skins easier to remove.  Peel the chiles, cut a slit in the side and remove the seeds and membranes.  Set aside.

2.  Heat the tablespoon of oil in a large skillet.  Add tomatillos and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.  Add onion, cook for 3 minutes, then add tomatoes and cook another 3 minutes.  Stir in the cream and salt, cover and cook over medium heat until sauce begins to bubble.  Remove from heat and set aside.

3.  Stuff chiles with cheese.  Spread the flour on a plate.

4.  Beat egg whites until the form stiff peaks, then stir in the yolks one at a time.  Turn the chiles in the flour, shaking off the excess.  Dip each chile in the beaten eggs, so that it is well coated.

5.  Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet.  When hot, add the chiles one or two at a time.   Fry on each side until lightly browned.  Drain in a colander.

6.  Before serving, heat the sauce.  Add the chiles to it, cover and cook over low heat for 3 minutes, just until the chiles are hot. Serve immediately.

Notes:

1.  I modified the recipe from the start by not using the dried peppers it suggests using.

2.  As you can see, I poured the sauce over the chiles.  I expected the tomatillos to cook down more than they did, and I cooked them for longer than it says to in an effort to get them to do so.

3.  Manchego cheese is expensive.  We used muenster, like Tony's grandma used to.  It melts well and has a good flavor.

4.  Be careful not to let the oil get to hot.  Mine got a little hotter than I wanted for the last batch of peppers and not sure I cooked them well enough to melt the cheese very good.

5.  This was a lot of food.  One pepper was plenty, and would be good with beans and rice but not sauce.

6.  I didn't find creme fraiche in the store.  I looked it up and wasn't going to buy  buttermilk for just a few tablespoons, so I mixed heavy cream with some sour cream.

Ratings:

Sandy:  2.5

It wasn't such a good week for the Food Adventure.  The stuffed peppers had a good flavor with a subtle hint of heat to them.  And, the cheese melted smoothly and had good flavor.  But, the sauce was horrible and ruined the whole dish.  The large chunks of veggies it suggests did not cook down enough in the time periods listed in the recipe, or the additional time that I cooked it, and tomatillos are quite sour in large chunks.  I don't like to waste food and wasn't going to just dip the peppers and throw out those veggies.  I didn't particularly care for the cream on it, and I don't think it is solely because I substituted sour cream for buttermilk.  I would not make the sauce again.  I would top these with a little warmed salsa or pico de gallo instead.

Tony:  1.5

I feel bad that she worked so hard on it and it turned out so bad.  The peppers and cheese were okay, but the sauce was horrible.  My first bite was a large chunk of tomatillo and it was very sour.

Cost:
poblanos - $2.57
tomatillos - $0.84
tomatoes - $0.89
onion - $0.30
heavy cream - $2.29
muenster - $6.39

Total:  $13.28
*eggs, oil and flour are staples, the cost is not factored in the total