Recipes for Chiles Rellenos.Docx

Recipes for Chiles Rellenos (cont.) Prepare Chiles 4 Poblano or Pasilla chiles, roasted, peeled and dry. Tip: Roast where you can watch them, turning frequently, until skin is black, but chiles are not cooked, or they will become too soft. A barbeque is ideal for this, but you can put them on the burner over a gas flame on the stove. Also, when peeling, don’t fret if you leave small pieces of skin, just be careful not to tear. Remove seeds and attached membrane from chiles. Tip: There are 2 ways to do this. 1) Slit chiles down the side, gently open and pull out seeds leaving stem on chile, or 2) Cut entire stem out by cutting a full circle around the stem and pull stem out with most of the seeds attached leaving chiles that looks like a sacs. This is your choice. Pat chiles dry with paper towels. Stuff chiles with Oaxaca or Monterey Jack cheese in chunks, cubed, or shredded and use toothpicks to close around cheese. Coat dry chiles with flour. Note: Frying chiles in batter after stuffing is a matter of choice. While many like the omelet effect of the egg battered chiles, you can leave them green with no batter. Mexican chefs are fond of presentation in the colors of the Mexican flag. Prepare Batter for Chiles 4 eggs (one per chile) 2-3 teasp. Flour ½ teasp. Salt Separate eggs and beat whites until stiff Beat 3 egg yolks until frothy, and add flour and salt. Continue to beat yolk mixture until flour and salt is well blended Fold yolk mixture into stiff egg whites. Gently coat chiles with batter, using your fingers as spatula to close batter gaps. Saute in hot oil, 1 and ½ to 2 inches deep in fry pan until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels. Chiles Rellenos (from the kitchen of Estrada’s Hideaway) Prepare the Sauce (Do this first) 4 tomatoes (large, ripe, blanched or roasted, and peeled) 2 large carrots (1 in the blender with tomato, 1 shredded and set aside. ¾ medium onion, half in the blender, half sliced thin and set aside. 5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine 1 teasp. Mexican oregano 3 bayleaves 1and ½ Cup chicken stock Salt & pepper to taste Cornstarch and cold water to thicken sauce Olive oil (for sauté) Place peeled tomatoes in blender and add 1 carrot, garlic, oregano and ½ cup of chicken stock, salt and pepper. Blend to coarse, slightly chunky sauce consistency. Saute onion in a few Tablespoons of oil until soft. Pour blended ingredients into sauté pan with onions, add shredded carrots, remaining chicken stock and bay leaves and cook until some moisture is reduced. Mix a few Tablespoons of cornstarch with cold water until mixed well, and add to the sauce to thicken it. Cooking time is about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Place chiles on each plate and pour sauce over each. If you use Oaxaca cheese, you can crumble a little over the top of each chile. Chiles en Nogada 8 Poblano or Pasilla Chiles, roasted and peeled. Filling (Picadillo) Saute: 1 lb. of lean ground pork tenderloin 3 cloves garlic chopped fine ½ medium onion Add to meat mixture: 4 T. raisins 3 T. blanched almonds chopped fairly small 3 T. pine nuts 1 pear or apple or combination of both peeled and chopped to small cubes 1 and ½ peach peeled and chopped to small cubes ¼ C. citron chopped ¼ teasp. cloves 1 teasp. cinnamon 2 teasp. salt 1 teasp. coarsely ground pepper 4 large tomatoes, roasted, peeled and seeded tomatoes pureed Once all meat, fruit and nuts are cooked until done but not browned, stuff chiles with mixture. Walnut Cream Cheese Sauce (Nogada) In a blender: 1 C. walnuts, peeled. (by soaking walnuts in boiling water for about 5 minutes, the brown papery skin can be removed.) Inside of one bolillo (Mexican bun. Can substitute one slice of bread without crust.) ¼ block of cream cheese or equal amount of farmer’s cheese. 1 C. Mexican Cream (or equal amount of heavy cream mixed with sour cream 2:1) Dash of salt 2 teasp. sugar 1.5 teasp. Cinnamon 1/8 teasp nutmeg Half and Half to thin to nice heavy creamy consistency Garnish with Pomegranate seeds and flat parsley (green chiles, white sauce, red pomegranate = colors of the Mexican flag. History of Chiles en Nogada I have heard 2 versions of this story. The story in our cookbook said that when the liberator of Mexico, Don Agustin de Iturbide finished the final campaign to liberate Mexico from Spanish domination in Puebla in 1821, a grateful Cantina owner had little to offer him and the troops, but wanted to demonstrate their appreciation by preparing a banquet. In the war-torn area, supplies were meager and he concocted this dish from the ingredients he had. Now it is recognized all over Mexico as a truly Mexican traditional dish, and is served at celebrations all over the country honoring the independence of Mexico. Iturbide was credited with the design of the present day Mexican tri-colored flag; White for religion, Green for Liberty and Red for Unity. Thus the dish in the colors of the flag. Another version is that the people of Puebla honored Iturbide by giving him a banquet on the 28th day of August, the day celebrating his naming after St. Augustine. “They” concocted this recipe in his honor. Yet another version attributes the recipe to 3 sisters of Puebla. Now, during that time of the year, late August, is harvest time for walnuts in Puebla and the fresh, delicate, milky flesh is sold by peasants who come into town from the country to sell their harvest on street corners. They are sold in the shell, cracked open so you can see the fine quality of the nuts. On the 28th of August there is a huge festival commemorating Iturbide and the liberation of Puebla. .

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