Chiles Rellenos

Since this refers to both dining out and cooking I thought I'd post here.Is the breading supposed to be soggy or have I just not had them properly prepared?The texture of the coating is hard to get past.I might try my hand at it.

Hi,

If you cooked this and it was soggy coming out of the oil, then your oil was not hot enough when you dropped your chili in. Also, you may have put your too many chilies into the oil at the same time, which cools the oil.

If you were served these in a restaurant, then it may be the problems I stated above. They may have held it over too long.

If you did carry out, it may still be the problems in the first paragraph. It may also be the your food steamed the exterior coating on the way home.

If there are other factors involved, then please advise.

Regards,

It's hard to say, it depends on the style of cooking.
I've had crispy-breaded ones, but they're a rarity. Most of the chiles rellenos I've eaten have had a soft (not soggy) crust that's rather eggy -- probably peaked whites somewhere in the process. It often gets softer by having a tomato sauce spooned over it.

Actually, the last few rellenos I've had have been folded into tacos or burritos, so I'm not sure I noticed the crust at all.

Rick Bayless' Chile Rellenos are a thing of beauty. They sell out every night, so get there early. I can't remember which of the two restaurants have them on the menu, so call ahead and make reservations accordingly.

There are several ways to prepare, I usually make a batter that is almost like an omelet, with whipped egg whites. Then rather than deep fry, pan fry. Rather than dipping the chiles in the batter, which tends to slide off, you place ample batter for each chile in the pan, then add the chile, cover with more batter, cook on each side until golden.

I saw shown this method by a Mexican friend who is an excellent home cook. Never had a problem.

She also instructed that after cooking the chiles, they were placed in a dish of very light, fresh tomato sauce.

See the following link for an illustrated demonstration on how to make chile rellenos

http://www.rollybrook.com/chiles_rellenos.htm

Hope that helps.

Nice link. Out here in Portland, btw, rellenos are often found inside Mission-style burritos.

You know, I never liked rellenos much growing up, even though my mom often made them and made them well. (She has this story about one time making them and trying to flip them without a spatula and sticking them to the ceiling.)

However, once I went to Mexico and had the much wider variety of rellenos, I learned a whole new respect for the dish. It's common to have rellenos that aren't battered or breaded at all, which I prefer. There are rellenos made from many types of chiles, not just poblanos, including the original jalapeno poppers. There are even chipotles and other dried chiles that are stuffed.

Does Nuevo Leon do a chile relleno? I bet it'd be a good rendition of the typical dish (or Frontera has it for $19!!!). However, for more variety, you should look to the regional restaurants and see if you can find other rellenos. Chiles en nogada is a favorite in winter when pomegranates are in season. Anyone know where that dish can be got?

I've had chiles en nogada at Ixcapuzalco. A few weeks ago they had stuffed jalapenos on their appetizer menu.

Oaxaquena does an excellent relleno, covered in a fruit-based "mole." They use reconstituted pasillas de Oaxaca. Really really good. You don't see the walnut-based nogada sauce around here much. There was a little discourse on the other board about the provenance and etymology of the nogada prep.

I was somewhat beat down on the CH general board for suggesting that nogada must have some relation to nougat, which has its ultimate origins in the Latin for nut, nux. In Central Am. and parts of Mexico, nogada is a turron-like candy, turron (It. torrone) being nougat. Seemed pretty uncontroversial to me.

More interesting is how this preparation ended up in Mexico. The Ligurian salsa di noci is justly (relatively) famous and quite like nogada salsa, also using walnuts. There also are precedents in Spanish cooking. But I'd venture a guess that both the Ligurian and Spanish recipes might have come with Arabs who, in turn, might have brought the tradition from Central Asia, where sauces using walnuts (and as Nick notes, pomegranates) are essential.

JeffB wrote:Oaxaquena does an excellent relleno, covered in a fruit-based "mole." They use reconstituted pasillas de Oaxaca. Really really good. You don't see the walnut-based nogada sauce around here much. There was a little discourse on the other board about the provenance and etymology of the nogada prep.

I was somewhat beat down on the CH general board for suggesting that nogada must have some relation to nougat, which has its ultimate origins in the Latin for nut, nux. In Central Am. and parts of Mexico, nogada is a turron-like candy, turron (It. torrone) being nougat. Seemed pretty uncontroversial to me.

More interesting is how this preparation ended up in Mexico. The Ligurian salsa di noci is justly (relatively) famous and quite like nogada salsa, also using walnuts. There also are precedents in Spanish cooking. But I'd venture a guess that both the Ligurian and Spanish recipes might have come with Arabs who, in turn, might have brought the tradition from Central Asia, where sauces using walnuts (and as Nick notes, pomegranates) are essential.

Rick Bayless did a whole episode of "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" dedicated to this dish. According to him, it's a dish that is prepared only at Christmas time and takes days and days to prepare a proper nogada sauce. I've been looking for this dish on a menu somewhere ever since.

Interesting. Bayless is quite wrong. Pomegranates aren't even in season in Mexico during Christmas, I don't believe. I think it's a fall/late-summer dish. You can find it on menus year round.

Hey, I was right, see here:

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impre ... =articulos

extramsg wrote:Interesting. Bayless is quite wrong. Pomegranates aren't even in season in Mexico during Christmas, I don't believe. I think it's a fall/late-summer dish. You can find it on menus year round.

Hey, I was right, see here:

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impre ... =articulos

Come to thisk of it, he might have been talking bout Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16) as the traditional nogada holiday. Either way, I'd love to sample this dish. Where can you get it in Chicago?

P.S. Here's Bayless' recipe http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cooking/recipes/stuffed_chiles.html

and here'swhere he talks about the dish being typical of Mexican Independence Day

a friend just returned from visiting a family friend in Mexcio City, she raved on about the mother making this mind-blowing dish, chiles en nogada with pomegranite seeds, walnuts, etc. Pomegranites are in fact in season and in at least one household in the enormous country of Mexico, it was prepared and served as a special occasion dish in early December.

hattyn wrote:hattyn-yes,children,music use to be on vinyl.

Turntables are outselling guitars - where have you been?

extramsg wrote:Chiles en nogada is a favorite in winter when pomegranates are in season. Anyone know where that dish can be got?

Other than as a special at the usual high-end places, the only restaurant where I've noticed chiles en nogado on the regular menu is at Restaurante Oaxaca in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. This is not to be confused with Taqueria la Oaxaque - a which as JeffB noted serves interestingchiles rellenos in a fruit sauce (worth trying but it's a little sweeter than I usually care for).

At Restaurante Oaxaca, chiles en nogado are available only on weekends (and probably rarely even then). It would be wise to call ahead. I had the chiles en nogado once (by special order) and thought they were very good. Be forewarned: 'your mileage may vary.' At Restaurante Oaxaca I've had a very wide range of experiences ranging from amazingly good to shockingly poor. Speaking Spanish is an advantage.

Restaurante Oaxaca
4612 S Ashland Av
Chicago
773-843-1958

JeffB wrote:Oaxaquena does an excellent relleno, covered in a fruit-based "mole." They use reconstituted pasillas de Oaxaca.

Jeff, I enjoy oaxaquena's rellenos as well, but I thought they used chile ancho as the stuffing medium. They do both a cheese filled version as well as a picadillo.

Are they smokey? Pasillas de oaxaca are smokey. Anchos are more fruity.

Taqueria la Oaxaquena's chile rellenos are very good, but they are not in a fruit salsa. The fruit taste comes from the picadillo, which uses the classic citron, I believe that is a candied fruit not available here. Also I have detected raisins.

Restaurante Oaxaquena's chiles en nogada are very very good. But Rene G is right, you have to hit them on the right night. They are trying to do something very different in a neighborhood where they have lots of competition. The wife of the partnership is a gem of a cook. She will tell you lots of things about traditional foods.

I wonder if Oaxaquena doesn't experiment or change it up a little. I've had versions there with a sauce that, apart from the picadillo, was too sweet for my taste. On the other hand, now that you mention it, I've had it with the thin tomato sauce often served with rellenos, the sweetness coming from a picadillo that includes raisins, a common enough ingredient anywhere picadillo is made.

annieb wrote:Restaurante Oaxaca’s chiles en nogada are very very good. But Rene G is right, you have to hit them on the right night. They are trying to do something very different in a neighborhood where they have lots of competition. The wife of the partnership is a gem of a cook. She will tell you lots of things about traditional foods.

Restaurante Oaxaca has closed. In its place is a new restaurant, Las Palmas, that I know nothing about.

Las Palmas
(was Restaurante Oaxaca)
4612 S Ashland Av
Chicago
773-247-4682

Rene G wrote:Restaurante Oaxaca has closed. In its place is a new restaurant, Las Palmas, that I know nothing about.

Las Palmas
(was Restaurante Oaxaca)
4612 S Ashland Av
Chicago
773-247-4682

If it's associated with the Las Palmas locations in Westmont and Naperville I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than margaritas. The Las Palmas locations out here in the burbs are akin to the bastard love child of Pepe's and Taco Bell.

Flip