Chiles Rellenos

I watch a lot of Bon Appetit videos. Recently, I watched Rick eat tacos placeros and was immediately compelled to make chiles rellenos. The woman in the video, Lupe, made them look incredibly simple to assemble and insanely delicious to eat.

My sister and I were doing our weekly grocery shopping a couple weekends ago when everyone was freaking out and hoarding food. We were at Wegman's and I guess only bougie bitches shop there because the organic produce was cleaned out. However, in the capsicum section, we found the most gorgeous poblano peppers and I immediately decided to make chiles rellenos. Bon Appetit didn't actually share the recipe in the video, but it was easy enough to deciper the recipe for the chiles rellenos and it was wildly successful and easy enough to do at home.

Ingredients [serves 4]:
4 large poblano peppers
4 oz. mild cheese (queso blanco, mozzarella, jack)
3 eggs, separated
½ cup + 1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon salt
+ oil for frying

The first step is to prepare the peppers. Blister them on an open flame - use your broiler if you don't have a gas stovetop - until the skins are completely charred.

Put the peppers in a bowl and cover (either with foil or cling film) and leave them to steam in their own heat for about 5 minutes. Once they're completely softened and limp, clean them by peeling off the skin, removing the seeds and membranes, and giving them a rinse.

Portion whatever cheese you're using into four long pieces and pop a piece into the inside of each pepper.

To prepare the batter, start by separating a few eggs. Whip the egg whites until they're just barely foamy and then add in 1 tablespoon of flour and a teaspoon of salt. Continue whipping until the whites come to stiff peaks. Then, incorporate the yolks until homogenous.

Dredge the peppers in flour before swirling them through the egg batter to completely coat them.

Fry the peppers in 325F oil for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown. I followed Lupe's technique of basting the top of the pepper with a little oil just to initially set the raw egg batter so it wouldn't deflate while the first side was cooking.

These turned out so pretty and perfect and I was incredibly pleased.

I served these with fluffy rice (with some leftover carnitas mixed in), pico de gallo, avocado, and some tortilla chips (which were made using leftover homemade corn tortillas).

The peppers are so tender and I love the slightly smoky flavor of poblanos, the batter is fluffy and crisp, the cheese inside is ooey and gooey, and it all comes together in such a harmonious package.

Here's the recipe page: