Cooking Recipe Chile Rellenos (Stuffed Chiles)
Recipe Ingredients
Directions
Recipe by: The Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy ISBN 0-06-012344-3
This dish consists of large chiles or bell peppers stuffed with meat
or cheese, coated with a light batter, and fried. They are served in
a light tomato broth.
There is alays an exclamation of pleasure and surprise when a cazuela
of golden, puffy chiles rellenos sitting in their tomato broth is
presented at the table. If you have eaten those sad, flabby little
things that usually turn up in so-called Mexican restaurants in the
United States as authentic chiles rellenos, you have a great surprise
in store. Here is yet another prime example of the fine feeling the
Mexicans have for texture in their food: you bite through the
slightly crisp, rich chile poblano to experience the crunch of the
almonds and little bits of crystallized fruits in the pork filling.
Then there is the savory broth to cut the richness of the batter.
Chiles poblanos are imported in great quantities to large centers of
Mexican population here in the States but very few find their way to
the East. (Maybe this was true in 1972 when this book was published,
but these days they are readily available here in Cambridge. To me,
bell peppers are no substitute.) I am afraid the bell pepper is about
the only suitable substitute for appearance and size--you can always
spike them with a little chile serrano.
Assembling the chiles may seem like a long laborious task, but it is
no more complicated and time consuming than most worthwhile dishes,
and this dish is certainly worthwhile.
Prepare the picadillo:
Cut the meat into large cubes. Put them into the pan with the onion,
garlic, and salt and cover with cold water. Bring the meat to a boil,
lower the flame and let it simmer until just tender--about 40 to 45
minutes. Do not overcook. Leave the meat to cool off in the broth.
Strain the meat, reserving the broth, then shred or chop it finely
and set it aside. Let the broth get completely cold and skim off the
fat. Reserve the fat.
Melt the lard and cook the onion and garlic, without browning, until
they are soft.
Add the meat and let it ook until it begins to brown.
Crush the spices roughly and add them, with the rest of the
ingredients to the meat mixture. Cook the mixture a few moments
longer.
Mash the tomatoes a little and add them to the mixture in the pan.
Continue cooking the mixture over a high flame for about 10 minutes,
stirring it from time to time so that it does not stick. It should be
almost dry.
Prepare the tomato broth:
Blend the tomatoes, with the juice extracted from their seeds, with
the onion and garlic until smooth.
Melt the lard and fry the tomato puree over a high flame for about 3
minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Add the rest of the
ingredients and cook them over a high flame for about 5 minutes,
stirring.
Add the pork broth and continue cooking the broth over a medium flame
for about 15 minutes. By that time it will be well seasoned and
reduced somewhat--but still a broth rather than a thick sauce. Add
salt as necessary.