Chiles Rellenos

Chiles Rellenos have been my favorite Mexican style dish since I think 1998 when my family took one of our last trips together with all six of us piled into the Suburban.  That trip was a two week trip to the Southwest including the Grand Canyon and then a week in Breckernridge.  On the southern loop we stopped for a bit in Carlsbad, NM and the absolute best chile relleno ever.  Well, in the 14 years since, I've been on a pseudo quest to find something as good, and Monday night I think I may have found it, though the cooking method needs a few tweeks.

 The stuff for the peppers.  Anaheim chiles, pepper jack cheese and parmesean.  The cheeses are a bit unique for the chiles rellenos that I've had in the past.  Most of the ones I've had use Monterey Jack cheese.

The dish was served with a gazpacho sauce here is the stuff for that sauce.  Cumin, garlic, worcestershire sauce, white wine vinegar, onion, carrot, cucumber, red pepper, celery and v-8 juice.

The tomato, onion, garlic, celery, and red pepper got pulsed through a food processor.

The rest of the ingredients joined the party.

The roasted chiles stuffed with the grated cheeses.  The chiles at this point went into the freezer to cool down for a bit.

The stuff for the batter.  baking soda, sugar, baking powder, salt, club soda, corn meal, white pepper and flour.

The chiles hitting the oil.  Nothing beats deep frying something.

The finished chiles.

The final plate.  The biggest change I would make is that the chiles spent too long in the freezer.  This meant that even though the oil was only 325 when I put the chiles in, the outside was cooked prior to the cheese being fully melted.  This, of course, is a difficult balance to keep.  Hopefully, next time I pull it off.