Chile Rellenos with Salsa

I love, love good Mexican food and my all-time, hands-down favorite are chile rellenos. Chile rellenos means 'stuffed chile' and you can use a variety of ingredients as stuffing. Cheese is a popular one and probably the most requested, but you can use a meat mixture, shrimp, beans... really, anything you'd like.

I used Anaheim peppers today, but Poblanos can also be used, particularly when stuffing with anything but cheese because they're a little larger and not as fragile as roasted Anaheims.

We're going to start by making the salsa to top the rellenos when we serve them. The basic ingredients are green peppers, tomatoes and onion. I added a thinly sliced jalapeno and one roasted Anaheim chile.

Coarsely chop the vegetables...

... Put them in a pot and cover with water. The veggies are boiled for 15 minutes, then the heat is turned down and they simmer for one hour.

After an hour, add some caldo de pollo (a powdered chicken bouillion), oregeno and tomato paste. If you want the broth thicker, a small amount of cornstarch can be added. Here's the finished salsa, flavorful and aromatic... just the thing to top the rellenos with.

This salsa is excellent over fried eggs, too (and I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow!) Excess broth can be used for a soup base.

Now, let's get to the chile rellenos! Put the peppers on a tray and broil, turning as necessary, until all sides of the peppers are charred and blistered.

Remove them from the tray and place in a Ziplock bag. Seal the bag and let the peppers steam for 15 minutes. They will also cool enough to be handled during this time.
Peel the peppers, being careful not to tear them. Put them on a plate and refrigerate them for a while. 20-30 minutes is good. We don't want them to be warm when we put the cheese inside.
Make a small slit toward the top of the pepper and insert thin strips of cheese into the pepper.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

I think beaten egg whites are so pretty!

Beat egg yolks along with 1 tablespoon of flour.

So you end up with this!

Now, pour the yolks into the whites and fold them together.

Until you have this!

Roll your stuffed peppers in flour and dip in egg mixture, gently shaking off excess.

Fry in hot oil until browned.

Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Put the chile rellenos on a plate and cover with shredded cheese. Microwave until cheese melts. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the salsa over the rellenos and serve with beans, rice and flour tortillas.

These are a little bit of work but so worth it! You can find the recipe here.