Chiles Rellenos Norteños con Anaheim

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or gas burner for charring the chiles
• •Stand mixer or hand mixer for whipping the egg whites
• •Wide heavy skillet for frying
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Wooden toothpicks, for any chiles that tear

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the chiles

   Set the Anaheim chiles directly on a hot comal, a gas burner flame, or under a broiler. Turn them with tongs until the skins blister and char in patches, about six to eight minutes total. You want them blistered, not collapsed. The flesh underneath needs to stay firm enough to hold the cheese. The chile Anaheim is thinner-skinned than the poblano, so it moves faster. Watch it.

   Do not over-roast. The Anaheim is a delicate chile. If the flesh goes limp, it will tear when you stuff it. The poblano forgives a long roast. The Anaheim does not.
2. 2

   Sweat and peel

   Transfer the roasted chiles to a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let them sweat for ten minutes. The skins will loosen on their own. Peel them with your fingers under a thin trickle of water if you must, but a dry peel keeps more of the chile flavor. Make a single vertical slit down the side of each chile and carefully remove the seeds and veins through the slit. Leave the stem attached. The stem is the handle and the visual signature.

3. 3

   Build the caldillo

   While the chiles sweat, blend the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and serrano if using with a splash of water until smooth. In a wide saucepan, melt the manteca over medium heat. Pour in the tomato puree. It will sputter. Cook for five minutes, stirring, until the color deepens from pink to brick red. Add the chicken broth, the cilantro sprig, the oregano, and salt. Simmer uncovered for fifteen minutes until the caldillo is thin but flavorful. This is not a thick salsa. It is a brothy bath the chile sits in. La cocina del norte tends light, not heavy.

4. 4

   Stuff the chiles

   Slide a baton of queso Chihuahua into each chile through the slit. Fill them generously, but leave a small margin so the slit can close around the cheese. If a chile tore during peeling, secure it with a wooden toothpick. Set them on a plate and dust each one lightly with flour. The flour gives the egg batter something to grip. Skip this and the batter will slide off in the oil.

5. 5

   Whip the capeado

   In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks. Add the yolks one at a time and beat just enough to combine. Sift in the half cup of flour and the half teaspoon of salt and fold gently with a spatula. You want a pale yellow, airy batter that holds its shape on a spoon. The flour in the batter is a norteño detail. It gives the capeado a sturdier set than the pure egg version from the south.

   Egg whites at room temperature whip to greater volume than cold whites. Pull the eggs out half an hour before you start. The bowl must be free of any trace of yolk or grease or the whites will not whip.
6. 6

   Fry the rellenos

   Heat the oil or manteca in a wide heavy skillet over medium-high until it shimmers, around 350F. Hold each chile by the stem, lower it into the batter, and turn to coat. Lift it out, letting excess batter drip off, and lay it gently in the hot oil seam side up. Fry two or three at a time so the oil temperature does not crash. Spoon hot oil over the top to set the upper batter. Turn once, after about two minutes, when the underside is deep golden. Cook another minute on the second side. Drain on a wire rack, never on paper towels, which will steam the bottom soft.

7. 7

   Bathe and serve

   Ladle a generous shallow pool of warm caldillo into each plate. Place one or two chiles rellenos in the pool, seam side up so the cheese stays where it belongs. Spoon a little more caldillo over the chiles if you like, but do not drown them. The capeado should still show. Serve immediately with warm flour tortillas and frijoles de la olla on the side. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy Anaheim chiles that are firm, glossy, and dark green, with no soft spots. The wrinkled or pale ones are old and the flesh will tear during stuffing. If your market only has poblano, you can use poblano, but you are making a different dish. Tell the truth about it.
• •Queso Chihuahua is the right cheese. If you cannot find it, queso menonita, queso asadero, or even Monterey Jack will melt correctly. Do not use cheddar. Yellow cheese on a relleno is a Tex-Mex move and it does not belong here.
• •The caldillo should be thin enough to ladle, never thick enough to coat a spoon. If yours reduces too far, loosen it with more broth. A thick tomato sauce on a norteño relleno turns it into a poblano dish, and that is not what you are making.
• •Fry the rellenos right before serving. They wait for nobody. The capeado is at its best in the first three minutes out of the oil. No me vengas con atajos like making them ahead and reheating. The batter goes soggy and the cheese seizes.

Advance Preparation

• •The chiles can be roasted, peeled, and seeded one day ahead and refrigerated covered. Bring them back to room temperature before stuffing.
• •The caldillo can be made one day ahead and reheated gently on the stove. Add a splash of broth if it has tightened.
• •The capeado batter and the frying must happen at serving time. There is no shortcut for this part.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)