This is your not so traditional Chiles Rellenos. Don't get my wrong, I love chiles rellenos, the way my mom makes them: shallow fried with the cheesy filling and egg coating. I also have made stuffed bell peppers with shredded chicken, but I feel that the bell pepper just gets too soft and liquidy, since it lets out too much of the water. So, I combined the idea of stuffed bell pepper and chiles rellenos and came up with this version! Love the smoky, earthy, hot notes from the poblano pepper when charred. Also, the poblano pepper holds up well to any filling!
Stuffing those with potato, cheese and chicken is the perfect filling. The cool part about this recipe is that you can stuff these peppers with whatever you'd like: ground beef or turkey, chorizo, rice, potatoes, cheese, quinoa, the list goes on.
The sauce I made is the mother of all mexican sauces. The red sauce made with guajillos of course, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Blended together gives you that beautiful, deep, red color sauce on the plate. In addition, the sauce adds a bit of smoky flavor for the stuffing to soak up as you eat it. Serve with a side of sauteed vegetables, rice, beans or add another piece of protein on the plate. I served it with a side of vegetables and a piece of carne asada for my husband.
Hope you enjoy!
Chiles Rellenos
Ingredients for Chiles and Filling
8 poblano peppers
4 yukon gold potatoes
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
2 cups shredded monterey jack
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp cracked pepper
Chile Rojo Sauce (red chile sauce)
4 roma tomatoes, cored, sliced in half
¼ yellow onion
2 guajillo peppers, seeds removed
1 garlic clove
1 ½ cup water
½ tsp kosher salt
Directions for Chiles and Filling
Boil a pot of water and cook the potatoes for 25-30 minutes, until fork tender. Remove the potatoes and place in a bowl to completely cool.
Heat the poblanos on the stove top over an open flame and char the chiles all around turning with tongs until blackened all around. Or char the chiles under the broiler.
Place all the chiles in a plastic bag, so they could steam. This allows for it to soften and is easier to peel the skin. Let them sit in the bag for 15 minutes before peeling.
With gloves, peel the peppers, or use a paper towel. It's okay if not all the skin comes off, the char on it gives it flavor. * Don’t rinse the pepper.
Using kitchen shears(scissors) make a slit across the top of the pepper, leaving the stem intact. Open the chile and cut out the membrane and remove the seeds. Repeat with remaining chiles. Put aside.
In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken and cheese.
Peel the skin from the potatoes and cut them into little cubes. Place in a bowl with shredded chicken and cheese. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Put aside.
Directions for the Guajillo Red Sauce
In a small pot over medium heat, simmer the tomatoes, onion, guajillo, and garlic in with one cup of water for about 10 minutes, just until the tomatoes soften. Remove from heat, let it sit and cool for about 10 minutes.
Place the ingredients in the blender with ½ tsp salt. Taste and season with a little more salt if needed.
Strain the sauce into a bowl, so you're left with a smooth sauce.
Assembling the Chiles
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large baking dish, around 10 by 8 inches, add some of the chile rojo sauce so it covers the bottom of the dish.
Take one chile and stuff about 1/2 a cup or more of the filling, depending on the size of the chile, into the chile and place in the baking dish. Repeat until all stuffed chiles are in the baking dish. Add more chile rojo sauce until it covers half of the peppers. Sprinkle some more cheese on top. **You don’t want the sauce to cover the entire pepper.
Reserve the rest of the sauce to add extra for each serving.
Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Garnish with diced onion, cilantro, queso fresco, radishes, or mexican crema.
Enjoy!
