So I’m a pretty good cook, but I have probably deep-fried a grand total of 3 times in my life. But I have a hankerin’ for chile rellanos and the nearest Mexican restaurant is about 500 miles away, so it’s up to me to make 'em.
I think what I’m gonna do is:
roast up a few poblanos and skin 'em
stuff 'em with cheese & chorizo
refrigerate them so that they stay together while frying
coat them in flour & an egg batter
Deep fry in peanut oil
I know the trick to deep frying is that the oil has to be hot, so I have my handy candy thermometer out. I’m thinking 375 degrees is the trick. I don’t have a deep-fryer, this will just be in a pot on the stove.
Athena, I am not able to give any credible hints, but I want to add my best wishes for your endevor, as a good relleno is the ultimate in Mexican goodness and love…
There is a low rent burrito joint downtown that has that magic homestone hoodoo down to a T, and I hit them up at least once a week, often more----I hope you can find that special technique, and many happy meals ensue!!!
I make them several times a year, and here are the tips I’d offer you:
Use Poblanos instead of Anaheims (check!)
Cut a slit into the peppers BEFORE you roast them.
Spray with Pam, or rub with a little oil, before you stick them under the broiler. Turn them frequently, and transfer them to a paper bag after they start to blister but while they’re sitll “undercooked”.
I won’t argue with your stuffing, but I will say that I stuff mine ONLY with cheese. Queso Quesadilla is ideal, if you can get it. If I want “something else,” like chorizo, I do it as a topping or as a side instead of mess with the pureness of the Chile Relleno.
Flour, egg wash, CORNMEAL. Blue cornmeal is especially nice.
A skillet works just fine for me, just keep the oil hot (as you note), and no more than two at a time! (I don’t fridge; the flour-egg-cornmeal-straight to oil system with a modest cheese stuffing method works just fine.)
(7. Bonus cheat: use egg roll wrappers around your stuffed chiles sometime. Very easy, and it allows you to overstuff at will… especially if you overroast the chiles and they’re kind of falling apart.)
To add to my #4: Also, I’ve found that a block of Queso Quesadilla cut up into blocks and placed inside the chiles works much better than any other kind of cheese pre-prepared any other kind of way (i.e., don’t use shredded cheese and again, don’t overstuff the chiles! When in doubt, understuff them).
Try roasting them until the skin is completely black/blistered all over (I do it with tongs directly over a gas flame), put them in a plastic or paper bag to steam for a couple of minutes, then remove the peel under running water - it should come off easily.
The recipe I used had the following steps for the coating:
separate egg yolks from whites
beat whites to firm peaks
beat yolks then fold in whites
flour the roasted, peeled poblanos and dip both sides of the chile into the egg mixture before frying in a skillet
Sounds very different from Yossarian’s, but it turns out just like the ones in the Mexican restaurants here. A fresh chile relleno is far superior to the premade and reheated ones I get at the taco stand.
Thanks for posting this! About 20 years ago I was a guest in soemone’s home and she prepared wonderful chiles rellenos. She shared the recipe but someohow it stayed with my ex when we split up and blah blah blah…
She used the egg method that Aestivalis described. That’s the missing piece of the puzzle… I can’t thank you enough.
On last night’s Top Chef someone made some that did not seem wonderful, but did renew my wish that I could remember how to make them like Michelle did. I love this board.
They were INCREDIBLE. I now want to spend an afternoon making the stuffed chiles and freezing them so I can pull 'em out and make rellanos at the drop of a hat.
Batter was just as Aestivalis describes, with the addition of 1 T. of flour in the egg mixture (as well as rolling them in flour before dipping them).
I made a mistake in the OP - I froze them for an hour instead of refrigerating them.
Served them with some yellow tomato salsa I had in the freezer from last summer, and Mexican rice & refried beans. Oh, and a Margarita. Or two
God, I love good Mexican. It’s a lot of work up here to make it, but so worth it. The best part is - I have two whole rellanos left over. Won’t be as good as fresh made, but you all can think of me eating them at 7am tomorrow morning, with my coffe.
