Daisy Martinez's Stuffed Poblano Peppers / Chiles Rellenos

Ingredients

• Pork Picadillo Stuffing
• 6 large fresh poblano peppers
• Beer Batter
• Enchilada Sauce
• Canola Oil for frying (about 4 cups )
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• Prepare the Picadillo (see recipe below). Set aside to cool. Roast the poblanos, turning until charred on most sides. It isn't necessary to char the skins completely. Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile make the Beer Batter (see recipe below) and Enchilada Sauce (see recipe below).
• Using the edge of your knife, scrape off the charred skin from the poblano.If you have some patches of skin that you cannot remove from your pepper, it's not a big deal.
• 1 Make a slit along the length of each pepper starting and ending aboutinch from eachend of the pepper.Keep the stem attached.
• Using a tablespoon , fill the peppers through the slit with the pork mixture. Do not over-stuff the peppers you should be able to press the edges of the slit together to completely enclose the filling.
• 3 Pour enough canola oil into a large saucepan or fryer to filltoinches.Heat over medium heat until the tip of the handle of a wooden spoon gives off a lively sizzle (aboutdegrees F).Hold each pepper by the stem and dip in the batter, turning to coat evenly.
• 2 Let excess batter drip back into the bowl. Sliptoof the peppers into the oil gently. Fry, turning the peppers with a slotted spoon, if necessary, to cook them evenly, until peppers are golden brown.Remove with the slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.Repeat with the remainingpeppers and batter.
• 350 Preheat oven todegrees F.
• Pour the enchilada sauce into a baking dish into which the peppers fit comfortably.Turn the peppers in the sauce to coat.Sprinkle generously with shreddedcheese.Bake for aboutminutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and golden.
• BEER BATTER
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 12 Oneoz can or bottle of beer ( or as needed) Do not open until showtime.
• One teaspoon fine sea or kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• None
• Putthe flour in a medium mixing bowl.Pour the beer in slowly, whiskinggently and constantly until the batter is thick enough to generouslycoat a spoon when dipped in the batter.Add salt and pepper.Set asideto rest at leastminutes.
• ENCHILADA SALSA
• One 8-ounce can Spanish-style tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
• 1 teaspoon chili powder ( or ground chili of your choice)
• 2 epazote leaves (Chopped)
• Fine sea salt or kosher salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Stir together all ingredients in a mixing bowl.The sauce may be refrigerated up to one day.
• STUFFING:PORK PICADILLO
• You may have heard of picadillo, ground beef or pork cooked with seasonings (think Latin Sloppy Joes). Picar means to cut, and picadillo means to chop fine.Whether it's pork, beef or a mix of the two, it's usually a filling for something like alcapurrias or empanadas or stuffed vegetables.The filling is left rather simple so the saltiness of the olives and the flavor of the pork come through.
• (makes about 2 1/2 cups , enough to fill 32 fritters)
• 2 tablespoons Achiote Oil
• 1/4 cup Sofrito mixture (see below)
• 1/4 cup alcaparrado (or coarsely chopped pimento-stuffed green olives and capers, pitted)
• One pound ground pork
• One tablespoon tomato paste
• Fine sea salt or kosher salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Place all ingredients into a food processor.Process until the consistency of a relish is reached.
• None
• Heatthe oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until rippling.Addthe sofrito and alcaparrado, and cook, stirring, until the liquidhasevaporated and the sofrito starts to sizzle, aboutminutes.
• None
• Addthe pork and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, until the porkiscooked through. The pork will give off a lot of liquid. Keepcooking,stirring once in a while, until the liquid has evaporated.Stir in thetomato paste and cook one to two minutes.Taste and addsalt and pepperif you like.Cool before using.The pork filling canbe made up totwo days in advance.
• SOFRITO
• 2 medium size Spanish onions, large chunk
• 3-4 peppers Italian frying peppers or cubanelle peppers
• 16-20 cloves of garlic
• 1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
• 3-4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and cut into large chunks
• 1 large red bell pepper, cored, washed, cut into large chunks
• 4 leaves CULANTRO — (if you have available to you)
• INGREDIENTS
• This recipe is featured on show 1718, Cooking Live with Daisy Martinez, taped at Mohegan Sun.