There it is my friends, a chile relleno with a side of frijoles refritos, the subject of tonight's WFD diary. Before we begin let's give a big Thank You and a hearty round of virtual applause to Mrs. Zello. This is her dish. I just wrote it up and made the beans.
First, some notes about the name; Chiles Rellenos means "filled chiles". In Spanish, noun and adjective must agree in number. Technically, one filled chile is a chile relleno, two are chiles rellenos. In our everyday parlance we don't observe this. We call 'em "chilly re-YAY-nos" and most everybody does. Also, the prefix re- does not mean the same thing in Spanish as it does in English. The Spanish verb llenar means "to fill". The re- prefix translates better as "well". The chiles are well-filled, rather than re-filled, since they are only filled once. Likewise the beans; "refried" beans are only fried one time.
The dish we're doing is a simplified version of a Mexican classic called Chiles en Nogada. This dish, Chiles with Walnuts, can be considered Mexico's National Dish. It was invented by nuns in a convent in Puebla, Mexico. These are the same nuns who invented the famous Mole Poblano. They had time on their hands and were fond of elaborate preparations. Us, not so much. We're just going to peel the chiles, stuff them with cheese, dip them in an egg batter and fry them.
Ingredients
The ingredients are chiles, cheese, eggs and flour. You'll also need some oil for frying and a sauce to serve them with.
There are two choices for the chiles; poblano chiles and Anaheim, or Hatch, chiles. We like to use poblanos when we can. Poblano means "from Puebla", so these are more correct since the dish itself is from Puebla. Poblanos are a little fleshier and have a better shape for stuffing. Poblano chiles become anchos when dried. The Hatch chile is the most widely available in the US. It's an American chile. The strain was developed at New Mexico State University and they are grown in the region around Hatch, NM. These work OK and are the ones most restaurants use.
We used two different cheeses this time, one to stuff the chiles and one to garnish. We stuffed them with queso Mennonita. This is a rich cheese with a high fat content that melts really well. It is not a native Mexican cheese but was brought to Mexico by Mennonites who were invited to settle in the state of Chihuahua by the Mexican government in the 1920s. The Mennonites are still there and still crafting this delicious cheese. I've never had the real stuff, but it's got to be great because the generic versions are so good. Sometimes this cheese is sold as queso Chihuahua. We like to garnish with queso cotija. This is a sharp, crumbly goat cheese from the state of Michoacán. It is often called "the Parmesan of Mexico" because of the way it's used, but since Parmesan is a cow's milk cheese, "the Pecorino Romano of Mexico " would be a more apt description. Monterrey Jack works just fine if the Mexican cheeses are not available in your area.
The eggs and flour are for the batter. For this batch we used 5 eggs for 3 large chiles. We probably could have gotten by with 4. At any rate. it takes a little more than one egg per chile. You'll need to separate the eggs. I like Jacques Pepin's technique where you break all the eggs into a bowl and then just lift out the yolks with your fingers, letting the whites slip through. The batter takes one Tablespoon of flour per egg.
Many Mexican recipes call for a plain tomato sauce. A lot of restaurants serve them in a plain white sauce that I take to be a chicken-stock velouté. We use an enchilada sauce, canned or homemade. We used a canned sauce this time.
Procedure
The first step is to peel the chiles. You do this by first blackening and blistering them over an open flame. Then you put them in a paper bag to steam for a few minutes. The skins will loosen and you can scrape them off easily with a knife. While the chiles are steaming you can grate a bunch of cheese to stuff them with. When the chiles have been skinned, take a knife and make a slit in one side of each chile. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Stuff each chile loosely with grated cheese, stitch up the incisions with a couple of toothpicks and roll the stuffed chiles in flour. This seems to make the batter stick better. Now it's time to make the batter.
Beat the egg whites with a whip until you get sort of a meringue. We whip them in a copper bowl, which is said to be the best kind for beating eggs. Now stir the egg yolks together and fold them into the batter, then the the flour. Heat half an inch of oil in a skillet and start your sauce warming on another burner. When the oil is hot, give the chiles a good dip in the batter and carefully lower them into the hot oil. They should sizzle. Fry the chiles until golden brown on both sides, turning once. That's all there is to it. Drain the chiles on a paper towel and plate 'em up. Put some sauce on each plate, float the chiles in the sauce. Spoon a little sauce over each one and garnish with crumbled cotija.
The Beans
Refried beans are so easy, it's crazy to use the canned kind. If you haven't made plain boiled beans, frijoles de la olla, use canned whole pintos. A 29-ounce can of beans is about the right amount for a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Heat some lard until it's almost smoking, dump in the beans and mash. I start with a potato masher and then switch to a slotted spoon. Regulate the consistency with the bean liquid, or put in a little evaporated milk at the end to make them creamy. Serve and garnish with cheese, easy.
So that's how we do Chiles Rellenos. What's for dinner at your house ?