Four Cheese Chiles Rellenos Recipes

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN CHILI RELLENOS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack at about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place peppers onto the prepared baking sheet, and cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, about 10 minutes. Turn the peppers often to blacken all sides. Place the blackened peppers into a bowl, and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 15 minutes.
• Rinse cooled peppers under cold water to peel off the skins, and cut a slit along the long side of each pepper to remove the seeds and core. Rinse the peppers inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Stuff the peppers with strips of the cheese.
• Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with the baking powder. In a second metal bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until the whites form stiff peaks. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture. Place flour into a shallow bowl.
• Heat the vegetable shortening in a skillet over medium heat. Roll each stuffed pepper in flour, tap off excess flour, and dip the peppers into the egg mixture to coat both sides. Gently lay the coated peppers into the hot shortening. Fry peppers until lightly golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes per side.

FOUR CHEESE CHILES RELLENOS

Steps:

• Mix cream cheese and shredded cheeses.
• Stuff chiles with cheese mixture.
• Fry or bake as directed in your favorite stuffed chiles recipe. Serve with your favorite red chile sauce.

CHEESY CHILES RELLENOS

Steps:

• Cut chiles open lengthwise. Rinse; removing seeds. Place chiles on paper towels to drain. Combine cheeses; set aside 1/2 cup for topping. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cream and eggs until smooth., In a greased deep 1-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer half of the cheese, chiles and egg mixture. Repeat layers. Pour tomato sauce over the top; sprinkle with reserved cheese. , Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

REAL CHILES RELLENOS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack at about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place the peppers onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 8 to 10 minutes per side. When the peppers are about 80 percent blackened, place them a plastic bag, seal, and allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 20 minutes. Once cool, remove the skins and discard. Cut a slit lengthwise into the side of each pepper, and remove seeds and veins. To reduce spiciness, rinse out any remaining seeds with water. Pat the peppers dry with paper towels.
• Mix together the shredded mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Cheddar cheese in a bowl until thoroughly blended. Divide the cheese into 4 portions, and squeeze each portion lightly in your hands to make a cone shape. Insert a cone into the slit in each pepper, and pin the openings closed with toothpicks. Dredge each pepper in flour, dust off the excess, and place on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper or waxed paper. Place the peppers in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
• To make sauce, blend the stewed tomatoes in a blender until pureed, and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook and stir for about 30 seconds, and pour in the pureed tomatoes, chicken broth, vinegar, oregano, cumin, black pepper, hot pepper sauce, and cinnamon. Reduce to medium-low, and simmer the sauce until reduced by half and thickened, about 20 minutes, stirring often.
• Preheat an oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C), and warm a platter in the oven.
• To make batter and finish the chiles rellenos, mix 1/3 cup flour with salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until the whites form stiff peaks. Lightly mix the egg yolk and flour-salt mixture into the egg whites to make a fluffy batter. Remove peppers from freezer and coat them in flour again; shake off excess flour, and dip each pepper into the egg batter, using a spoon to gently but completely coat each pepper with batter.
• Heat frying oil in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Gently lay the coated peppers into the hot oil, and fry on both sides until the batter is golden brown and the cheese filling is hot, about 5 minutes per side. Remove peppers to warmed platter while you finish frying. To serve, ladle a generous spoonful of sauce onto plate, and place pepper on sauce. Serve peppers hot with a dollop of sour cream.

TRADITIONAL CHILES RELLENOS

Steps:

• Rinse the chiles.
• Preheat your oven to broil.
• Place the chiles in a 9 x 14 baking dish and place on the top shelf of your oven. (I use a cookie sheet.).
• Watch and listen closely. When the skins start to make popping sounds and to char and turn black in places, take the chiles out and flip them over. Be sure and use a potholder so you don't burn your hands!
• When both sides are fairly evenly charred, remove them from the oven. You don't want them to be black all over, it is important that you do not over cook them.
• Wrap each chile in a moist paper towel or place in a sealed plastic bag to steam.
• After a few minutes, check them. Once the skin comes off easily, peel each chile. Try not to tear into the actual chile.
• Cut a slit almost the full length of each chile. Make a small "t" across the top, by the stem. Pull out fibers and seeds (this is where the heat is) and replace with a slice of cheese. I use a tea spoon for this to gently scrape/scoop the seeds out. It�s ok if you miss a few. You can set these aside, for a few minutes or a few hours if you put them in the refrigerator.
• Whip the egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer, until stiff peaks have formed.
• Heat the oil in a skillet until a drop of water sizzles when dropped into the pan.
• Beat the egg yolks with one tablespoon flour and salt. Mix the yolks into egg whites and stir until you have a thick paste.
• Roll the chiles in 1/4 cup flour and dip each one in the egg batter. Coat evenly (I'm still not very good at this step, but try not to coat the chiles too thickly). Fry, seam side down on both sides until golden brown. Place on paper towels to drain.
• Meanwhile, heat the salsa in a medium saucepan (either one or some of each). Place one or two rellenos on each plate and pour salsa over them. Serve them immediately! I recommend serving them with rice, beans, and tortillas. Sour cream is also good on these.

CHILES RELLENOS

Steps:

• Soften flour tortillas in a warm oven or in a microwave. This makes them easier to handle. I soften one tortilla at a time, build a relleno, and then warm another tortilla. If you warm them all at once, the last onces may get hard before you can roll them.
• Lay tortilla on flat surface, place 1/2 cup cheese in center of tortilla and place 1/4 to 1/2 can of chilies on top of cheese. Fold bottom of tortilla over the cheese/chilies (away from you), then hold that while you fold in both sides. Finally, fold top side of pouch back over the center and close by securing with a toothpick or two. This will need to hold the relleno closed while it's baking or frying (if it's loose, the insides will leak out). Repeat with the other tortillas until you have used all four.
• Place rellenos in deep fryer and fry for approximately 4 minutes on a fairly hot setting. If you don't have a deep fryer, place in a cast iron or other heavy skillet that has about 1 inch or so of oil in it, heated to a medium-hot setting. Fry on each side for about 2 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese in the center has had a chance to melt. If you don't want to fry, place rellenos on a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven (380 degrees F) for about 10 minutes (or until golden brown).
• While rellenos are cooking, heat salsa just until warm in small sauce pan over medium heat or about 1 minute in a microwave (on full power).
• If you fried the rellenos, drain on paper towels. If you baked them, go to the straight to the plate! Place chili rellenos in the center of a plate, remove all toothpicks, and cover each relleno in about half a cup of warm salsa. Serve immediately.
• They should be crunchy on the outside with warm melted cheese and chilies on the inside. Serve with refried beans, Mexican rice, warm tortilla chips, and a side salad.

BAKED CHILES RELLENOS

Steps:

• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Roast peppers on the top rack of the preheated oven until the skins are charred, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Set the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• While peppers are cooling, whisk eggs, flour, milk, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl until smooth. Slice the queso fresco into eight even rectangles, just shorter than the length of the peppers.
• Carefully peel off the waxy skin of the cooled peppers. Gently cut a slit down the length of the peppers and use a spoon to remove the seeds and membranes.
• Spread about 1/4 cup of the milk mixture on the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Wrap each pepper around a queso fresco rectangle. Place each chile/cheese wrap seam-side down in a single layer in the baking dish. Cover with remaining egg mixture. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the egg mixture has risen and the cheese is golden brown, about 30 minutes.