Chiles Rellenos

This year my husband and I will mark our 30th anniversary. He's had this Sunset Mexican Cook Book longer. I couldn't even find a date on it for when it was published. Notice the pages are no longer bound. But I would never dream of throwing this book out because it has some great recipes.

When my husband was much younger and working the mean streets of Bakersfield he would occasionally stop in late nights to a Mexican restaurant on Baker Street where he would have a dinner of chiles rellenos. He learned from the Sunset book how to make the stuffed chiles and the puffy coating, and from the restaurant staff how they eat their rellenos. So this is how we do it now.

We start out with a can of whole green chiles, drained; a small block of Monterey Jack cheese, cut to about 1/2" X 1/2" slices, just shorter than the chiles; 3-4 eggs, separated; 1/4 t salt; 3 T flour + some for dusting; 1 T water; vegetable oil for frying. Flour tortillas, salsa, and chopped green cabbage and cilantro are for finishing.

Carefully place the cheese into the chiles.
Beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks.

Beat the yolks with the water, flour, and salt until thick and creamy.

Carefully fold the yolks into the whites.

Heat about 1 1/2" oil in a pan to medium heat. Sprinkle a little flour over the chiles to help the coating stick. Then carefully dip the stuffed chiles into the batter and gently slide into the heated oil.

Cook about two to three minutes each side, then drain on paper towels.

This is the part my husband learned from the restaurant staff. Chop green cabbage with cilantro.

Place a relleno on a warmed flour tortilla, sprinkle with the cabbage mixture and your favorite salsa.

Roll it into a burrito.Enjoy!