Chiles Rellenos

Chile Rellenos Y Agua Fresca

Being a vintage gal I enjoy cooking retro recipes, but I am also a Latina vintage gal, so I enjoy cooking the food that I grew up on as well, Mexican food. Growing up, any family celebration meant a big get together and lots of good food. I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen to help out the women in my family slice, dice, and chop the ingredients for an incredible dinner. Watching everyone's excitement as the plates full of delicious food being placed on the dinner table was my favorite part as a kid, still is. My grandmother Mima, would always say to me "Cocinando comida deliciosa es solo un modo de dar amor a' la familia" translation "Cooking delicious meals for you family is one of many ways to show your love".

This was the first Mexican recipe that I cooked for my husband when we first started dating. He had never really eaten much Mexican food and I wanted him to enjoy one of my favorites. I was a little nervous that he would not care for a bit of spice, but he loved them! He even learned to cook them himself, so that he could enjoy them just in case I might be on a vintage run.

This recipe may sound extremely spicy to some, but there really not. It all depends on what type of chile & how you cook them. Here is my family's recipe, I hope you like it. Buen Provecho!

Ingredients-

6- Poblano chiles

4-Eggs

Monterey or Pepper jack cheese

Flour

Oil

Toothpicks(optional)

Ingredients

Place whole chiles on top of burner to make the skin blister. This will make it easier to peel some of the skin to make chiles tender.

Keep turning over and make sure they don't burn completely or they will become too soft and fall apart.

Don't worry if you don't get the dents in the chile. Place the chiles in the sink filled with cold water to cool off & loosen skin.

Gently wash off the skin. Then cut a little slit to remove all or some of the seeds. The more seeds you remove, the less spicy they'll be. Be careful not to yank on the stringy membrane or your chile will fall apart.

Place the chiles in a colander to drain. Removing the water will help to keep cheese from getting soggy & when you fry them it'll prevent your hot oil from splattering.

Slice cheese and stuff inside the chiles. You can use either cheese or mix both inside. Don't over stuff or it will pop chile open.

Secure with toothpick. If this makes you nervous, just make the slit for the cheese as small as possible. I don't use the toothpick when serving dish to guests. I use it for my husbands to be able to stuff with as much cheese as possible for him. Sometimes I wonder if I should just fry him the block of cheese!

Cover with flour. Set aside.

Separate egg white from yolks. Set yolk aside.

Mix egg white on high speed.

Mix till egg white forms peaks and holds it's shape

Add yolk and mix on medium speed. If you don't care for the yolks, then don't add to mixed egg whites.

Heat oil in a large frying pan and once it's hot, dip the chiles in the mixture one at a time.

Place three chiles and be careful, if the chiles have even a little water still in them, it will make the oil splatter.

Fry till light brown and then turn over. Try not turn over too many times or egg mixture will fall off. As each one browns place on a plate with paper towels to soak up oil excess. Set aside once all chiles are cooked to make sauce.

                                                                                            The Sauce

Ingredients

Ingredients-

Oregano

2 small cans of tomato sauce

small onion

3 garlic cloves

oil

Dice onions, garlic & crush 1/2 a teaspoon of Oregano into a frying pan with enough oil to cover bottom of the pan. About 4 tablespoons. Lightly brown the onion & garlic, but not too dark or garlic will become bitter.

Add tomato sauce and stir till mix bubbles. Remove from heat, place in blender and mix. If you prefer you can leave it chunky. Place chiles on dish and pour the sauce on top. You can garnish with a bit of Cilantro & serve.

I thought I would mention a couple of things;

Make sure your mixing bowl doesn't have an oily residue or egg whites may not mix properly.

You can substitute with Anaheim chile, but they will be spicier with not much space for filling.

If you try to use shredded cheese it will come out when turning over.

You might need to make extra egg mix,due to size of chiles.

You may want to open windows, vary rarely, but the seeds in the chiles may 'spice' up the room.

Wear gloves in case you forget and touch your eyes.

DON'T forget to remove toothpick, if you use them!!!