Chiles Rellenos

My very first attempt at chiles rellenos proved successful! I'm thrilled to share my experience/recipes with you! So here goes...

I started by roasting my chiles. I used both poblano and anaheim chiles.

Once they started to roast, I flipped them frequently to make sure they didn't blacken too much.

After roasting them, I put the chiles back into their produce bags to sweat. This makes the skin easier to peel.

I then cut some monterey jack cheese into thick wedges.

Peeling chiles isn't my strong point. Letting them sweat for about 30 minutes was definitely helpful.

I removed all the seeds and veins and rinsed the chiles... (rinsing them is an easy way to make sure they are clean but you can lose flavor when you do this).

Let them dry.

Instead of cutting them open with a knife, I found a place where they were already torn or thin. There's no sense in creating multiple openings. I then stuffed the chiles with cheese and used toothpicks to secure them... (I used thick wedges of cheese so I could stick the toothpicks in them).

Now, it's time to prepare the egg batter. I used one egg for every two chiles. Separate the eggs and beat the whites.

Once the whites were nice and fluffy, I folded in about half of the yolks.

I then coated the chiles in the egg batter and fried them in hot oil.

They all came out nice! Once I fried them all, I put them in the oven for about 5 minutes to make sure they were all nice and hot.

The sauce for the chiles rellenos is very simple.

First, I sauteed 1 yellow onion and some garlic.

I let them cool and blended them with a 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes. I probably should have used fresh tomatoes but I didn't have any. I also added salt and pepper.

I then heated the sauce on the stove until I was ready to use it.

For this meal, I also prepared beans and Mexican rice.

The beans are simple. I soaked them overnight and then cooked them for about 4 hours. About 2 hours into the cooking process, I added some chopped garlic and when they were finished, I added salt.

Here they are about halfway done...

For the Mexican rice, I used a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks... The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy. My mom got me this book for Christmas after we took a tamale making class and the teacher recommended it. It's excellent. 

Mexican Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups long grain rice
• 1 cup unskinned tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/3 cup safflower oil
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• salt to taste

Put the rice in a bowl or large measuring cup and cover with very hot water. Stir and leave to soak for about 10 minutes.

Drain, rinse in cold water, and drain again. Put the tomatoes, garlic, and onion in a blender and blend until smooth... just like the sauce.

Heat the oil and stir in the rice. Fry the rice until it turns a light golden brown.

Before:

After:

Strain the excess oil and stir in the tomato puree. Fry until the puree is absorbed. 

Once all the puree is absorbed, stir in the broth.

The chicken broth will also absorb and the rice will look like this when it's finished...

I made sure that the rice was soft, and the beans, sauce, and chiles were hot... then we were ready to eat!

This might just be one of my best meals yet!

If you read this entire post, thank you and I'm impressed! 

Also... I've been playing around in Photoshop to try and get a softer/vintage look to my photos. What do you think?