Chili Rellenos II

In this second version, I am going to make a fresh tomato sauce, using most of the steps of the first version, but this time won't grill the tomatoes or chilis. I still will peel the tomatoes and use the Farmers Market heirlooms.


To peel the tomatoes, boil a large pot of water and have a large bowl of water and ice ready. Core the tomatoes and cut an "X" on the bottom of the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water, top side down, for a few seconds until the "X" on the bottom of the tomatoes starts to curl the skin. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place them in the icy water. Now you can easily peel the skins off the tomatoes.


Proceed to make the sauce just like the first recipe, except cut the tomatoes in cubes before cooking and add the juice they lost while cutting them.


I also have a variety of peppers from the Farmers Market that I'm eager to try. I will "grill" them on the stove top over an open flame until they blister, then steam them like before to remove their skins.

There was a longish gap from when I started this post about a month ago. So from looking back at the recipe, I can say that the sauce and the variety of peppers were a hit.  I have successfully made the Rellenos several times now.  The first time, I used the smoked fontina cheese.  The second time, a lamb sausage and habernero cheddar cheese.  This past weekend, I used a spicy turkey sausage and a mix of smoked mozerella, habernero and aged cheddar cheeses.  The result was delicious.

The first time I made the batter, I looked up several recipes on line and chose one that had about a cup of flour, and half a cup of corn meal.  I was not impressed with the batter, and rather than try other people's recipes, I created my own.  The result was an amazing batter that is very forgiving.

For a large relleno, the portion that I have found to work is one egg white for a large chili, or 2-3 small chilis (such as jalapenos).  In a large bowl, whisk the egg white to a soft peaked merengue.  Add a dash of cayenne pepper (about 1/4 teaspoon), a dash of fine flour (about a tablespoon or less) and a pinch of salt.  I have been using a smoked chardonnay salt - but use any good salt.  Incorporate together and that's the batter!

Stuff the cleaned peppers with your filling - and I found that squeezing the pepper around the cheese will help to hold the shape.  Heat about 1/4 - 1/2 inch peanut oil in a frying pan.  Dip the stuffed peppers in the batter and mound the batter around the pepper.  Place in the hot oil.  You can mound more batter on top and around sides.  The batter will shape as you work with it.  Gently fry on all sides until the batter is GBD - Golden Brown and Delicious.  Remove from the pan and serve with the sauce.