Chile Rellenos

Jen's Version 
(Acworth, GA)

We're baaaaaaaaack! For the few who noticed, Valerie and I took a little summer hiatus. During Val's visit to Atlanta this summer, we did a lot of eating, just not a lot of cooking. Now that school is back, and life can resume as normal, we are back to cooking and blogging i.e. back to never knowing what to cook for dinner!

Fortunately for me, The Chew exists. I can't remember if I've referenced this show before, but I adore it! I adore the hosts and chefs. I love the versatile themes and variety of recipes. I'm officially adding to my bucket list that I want to attend a taping of this show in NY. This means, I'm officially starting a bucket list.

Michael Symon made Chile Rellenos last week. I missed the show, but since I follow them on FB, this beautiful cheese stuffed pepper showed up on my wall. Two reasons I wanted to make it. I learned how to spell "chile relleno" and it had cheese.

I have to preface by saying I didn't really pick the best night for this due to an Open House at school. I decided to do a little prep before I left and finish the rest when I got home. For those wondering, you can prep this meal pretty well. The peppers stayed soft.

 

My roasting seemed to go well too. My peppers were getting nice and burnt.

 

And then I did the skin removal. This picture sums me up to a tee. I'm impatient and lazy. BUT, having a little skin on there didn't make a difference. And who really cares, there's cheeeeeeeese!

 

Now here is when I started to curse myself. It's 9 PM and I'm whipping egg whites and folding in different parts of an egg with flour and I just want to go to bed! I warn you, this meal has some prep work. Don't do it if you're hungry, tired, moody, tipsy...

 

I had this fleeting moment of happiness when I saw how pretty they were...

 At close to 10 PM, this was my masterpiece. I had started to lose my appetite, but don't worry, I ate it. I ate every single piece of it.

Michael made it look effortless, but I guess that should always be considered when trying to cook iron chef meals!

Chile Rellenos

Serves:4
(Recipe courtesy of Michael Symon)

Ingredients:
4 Poblano Peppers (about 1 pound)
8 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese (shredded)
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
4 large Eggs (room temperature and separated)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Flour plus 1/4 cup for dredging
1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil

Directions:

Turn 2 gas burners to medium-high heat. Place 1 Chile directly on each burner and roast, turning occasionally with tongs, until blackened and blistered on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a large heatproof bowl; repeat with the remaining 2 chilies. 

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the Chilies steam until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Using a butter knife or your hands, scrape away and discard the Chile skins, being careful not to tear the chilies; set them aside.

Cut a slit lengthwise into the side of each pepper, and remove the seeds and veins.

Season the inside and outside of the chilies with Salt and Pepper. Stuff each Chile, being careful not to tear them, with a quarter of the Cheese (about a heaping 2/3 cup) then set the Chilies aside.

Whisk the Egg Yolks in a medium bowl until lightened in color and frothy, about 2 minutes; set aside.

Place the Egg Whites and measured Salt in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the Egg Yolks and 1/3 cup Flour, and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined (do not deflate the Egg Whites); set aside. 

Heat 2 inches of Oil in a heavy bottomed Dutch Oven to 360°F.

Season the 1/4 cup of Flour with Salt, Pepper and Paprika. Dredge the stuffed Chilies through, shaking off any excess. Dip each Chile in to the batter, letting excess drip off then place in the Oil to fry until golden, about 5 minutes per side.

Remove the Chiles to a platter and serve with Rice and Beans or your favorite accompaniments.

Val's Version

(Denver, CO)

Summer is officially over. My oldest is back in school, reality after a long vacation back home has set in and I'm on the clock, full time, with the babies. We took a break from the blog so we could spend as much time as possible with each other and our families this summer, so we apologize to any avid followers (Mom and … Mom) that we may have that we disappointed during our summer hiatus.

Jen's not kidding when she says there's some prep work. By "some" she means A LOT. And by A LOT, I mean … more than enough for one person to handle when they are going over new school schedules, potty training a very active 2 year old and trying to distract, hold, comfort, console and quiet down a whining 10 month old. This is a very detailed recipe and is more appreciated when sipping on an expensive dry red while listening to Norah Jones and prepping for a romantic date night. 

In my dreams. 

Side note: I'm not a fan of peppers. So, when Jen shared the recipe for the week, I knew I'd have to make something different for myself. Or starve. So, to top off my anxiety of preparing something that not only was I not going to eat, but it was intense and challenging. I mean, who in the world knows how to roast peppers on a stove top and remove blistering skin without completely butchering the chile? Apparently experienced and well paid chefs do. And I guess now WE DO :)

I modified this a bit since I was really only cooking it for Mike and Cali. I purchased a third chile in the event I really jacked the first one up, but I did surprisingly well. And, I did a stuffed eggplant for me and Luke. 

As you can see I also added Pancetta. I am a firm believer in adding meat to anything with cheese. Or just cheese to anything. And pickles. I happen to love pickle cheese sandwiches!

This was definitely a first for me. I've never even considered this as a possibility. Just shows my lack of experience. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't call Jen to ask how I was supposed to char my chiles since I don't know how to grill or own a blow torch. 

Came out looking like they've been plagued, but that's the look we are going for. 

And this gem … don't even think you can work in a kitchen and not have any on hand.

I fried the Pancetta with some olive oil, garlic and a dash of pepper.

While that aroma was wafting into my senses, I carefully removed the outer skin of the chiles. Not an easy feat and quite exhausting, actually. I'm not sure if it would've really mattered if I'd poked a hole or left too many chunks of a charred casing, but I worked my tail off on those suckers. Looking back, I could've afforded some of Jens laziness.

Then you gotta work on the eggs, separation, peaks, whisking, more peaks ...

Prep your assembly line and get those chiles stuffed and coated!

Fry 'em up and observe your delicate creation! I FINALLY got myself an oil/candy thermometer :)

I only took a bite so I could sample my creation and outside of the chile part, it was really good. Great flavor and it melted in my mouth. Loved the combination of cheese with the Pancetta, too. 

My stuffed eggplant was tasty too. I substituted the sausage for Pancetta since I was already using that with the chiles. I may have used a little too much Parmesan, so would cut back on that and the salt next time, but it stood up pretty well on it own.

Chile Rellenos

Serves: 2 and a half
(Recipe courtesy of Michael Symon)

Ingredients:
3 Poblano Peppers
8 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese (shredded)
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
4 large Eggs (room temperature and separated)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Flour plus 1/4 cup for dredging
1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil

Directions:

Turn 3 gas burners to medium-high heat. Place 1 chile directly on each burner and roast, turning occasionally with tongs, until blackened and blistered on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a large heatproof bowl.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the chiles steam until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Using a butter knife or your hands, scrape away and discard the chile skins, being careful not to tear the chilies; set them aside.

Cut a slit lengthwise into the side of each pepper, and remove the seeds and veins.

Season the inside and outside of the chilies with salt and pepper. Stuff each chile, being careful not to tear them (good luck with that), with a third of the cheese (about a heaping 2/3 cup) then set the chiles aside.

Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl until lightened in color and frothy, about 2 minutes; set aside.

Place the egg whites and measured salt in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the egg yolks and 1/3 cup Flour, and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined (do not deflate the egg whites); set aside. 

Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy bottomed Dutch Oven to 360°F. Use a thermometer to keep an eye on the heat.

Season the 1/4 cup of flour with salt, pepper and paprika. Dredge the stuffed chiles through, shaking off any excess. Dip each chile in to the batter, letting excess drip off then place in the oil to fry until golden, about 5 minutes per side.

Remove the chiles to a platter and serve with rice and beans or your favorite accompaniments.