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Notes
on Making Chiles Rellenos
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Chiles rellenos (literally, 'stuffed peppers')
are super easy to make. Here are a few general tips:
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The chiles : The best chiles for rellenos
are fresh poblanos and related varieties. If you can grow them, plant Poblano,
Mulato Isleno, and Pasilla. Let them ripen to red or brown (the poblanos
in stores are almost always picked green). Stuffed jalapeno peppers
make an excellent (though sometimes spicy) appetizer. If you must,
you can get canned chiles already roasted and peeled. But there is
no comparison with using fresh chiles, especially fully ripe ones.
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Roasting : You can roast the peppers
over a charcoal grill or gas burner, but we generally spread them out on
tin foil and roast them under the broiler. Keep and eye on them,
and turn them to toast them evenly all the way around. It's ok if
they get a little black - that's just the outer skin separating and burning
- but be careful not to let them cook so much that the flesh dries out.
When a pepper has been toasted on all sides, drop it into a plastic bag
(don't use the extremely thin bags, as they may melt). Keep the bag twisted
shut. When all the peppers are in the bag, let it sit for 10 minutes or
so to sweat. (Alternately, wrap the roasted peppers in a damp towel.)
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Peeling : Rinse each pepper under cold
water and pull away the papery outer skin. Don't worry if it all
doesn't come off, but get as much of the loose skin as possible.
If the chile hasn't already split open, split it with a fingernail and
remove all the seeds. Try to keep the stem attached: it's a nice
touch to serve the rellenos with the stem protruding at one end.
If a pepper shreds, save the pieces. You can use them to patch other
chiles as you fill them. (If your skin is sensitive to the oils in
the peppers, try rinsing your hands in lemon juice while handling them.)
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The seeds : You can save the seeds
from the chiles and make an excellent condiment out of them. Toast
them in a dry skillet or in the oven until they start to brown, then grind
them together with dried peppercorns (in approximately a 2:1 ratio of seeds
to pepper). Store this spice in a sealed jar and use it to flavor
relleno fillings, soups, and other Mexican dishes.
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Stuffing : Though most chiles rellenos
you find in Mexican restaurants are stuffed with cheese, there are endless
possibilities. They are easier to stuff if the filling has enough
of a binder (cheese, egg, rice) to hold together when squeezed into a ball,
but even that is not a requirement. It's easiest to stuff all the
chiles at once and place them on a plate to hold them for the next step.
You can use a little bit of flour to bind the overlapped edges. If
a pepper falls apart as you are stuffing it, do the best you can to squeeze
the stuffing into a chile-shaped ball inside strips of chile. The
batter will help the whole thing hold together.
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Batter : There are lots of ways to
coat and fry chiles rellenos. Here is our favorite, which happens
to be very easy and requires almost no grease: Separate eggs (you'll
need 1 egg to coat 2-3 rellenos), add a pinch of salt to the whites, and
beat them until completely stiff. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour
over them. Add a teaspoon of water to the yolks, beat them briefly,
then fold them into the whites in a few strokes. That's all there
is to it. Dip each relleno into the batter and place it on a lightly
greased hot griddle or pan. You don't have to be careful about coating
the rellenos evenly. When you've dipped them all, you can carefully
pour the extra batter over the frying chiles.
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Frying : Cook the rellenos on one side
until the batter on the bottom has turned golden brown. Carefully
flip them over. It often works best to cook them on three sides,
to get all the batter to cook evenly. Serve them immediately or keep
them warm on a plate in the oven until you are ready to serve. Check
out our recipes for serving suggestions and sauces.
Enjoy!! And send
us email if you have any questions or want to tell us about your chile
relleno-making experience! |
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