Fabulous Cheese Chile Relleno

This is my fabulous cheese chile relleno recipe!  Simple and tasty!

** This is a sponsored post.  I received product from The Hatch Chile Store, but all of the text and the opinions are mine and mine alone.** @HatchGreenChile 

I have been a chile relleno lover for many, many years; ever since I discovered them at the Mexican restaurant where I worked right out of college.  Prior to that, I had never even heard of the chile relleno.

Once I tried one, I was hooked and I wanted to eat chile rellenos regularly!

Imagine my surprise when Preston Mitchell, who with his wife Elaine (doesn’t Elaine have a beautiful name?) founded The Hatch Chile Store in Hatch, New Mexico, emailed to ask me whether I’d heard of his product.  He’d discovered my blog when one of his customers sent him my chile con queso recipe.

What a nice customer!

Since I had NOT heard of Hatch Chiles, Preston offered to send me some, no strings attached.  I happily agreed and told him that, of course, I would love to return the favor by posting a recipe that features his chiles!

In the meantime, I learned from Robin, one of my dear WoW friends who lives in NM, that Hatch chiles are famous down there.  She sent me an article about Preston’s extended family and the history of Hatch chiles that Christopher and I found fascinating to read.  You can learn more for yourself about this awesome company and the generations of farmers who came before it here.

This was getting exciting!

When the Hatch green chiles arrived in the mail, I was astounded and incredibly pleased that Preston had sent TEN POUNDS of roasted green chiles.  (You can also purchase them raw from The Hatch Chile Store and roast them yourself.)

I couldn’t believe how generous Preston was with his green chiles.  I never expected to receive so many.

Dry Ice and what it means to me

The chiles came packed in a big styrofoam container with dry ice.

Anyone else have a fear of dry ice?  Dry ice always come with a warning card and truthfully, I always think I’m going to do everything they warn you NOT to do.  Just like when I’m standing on the edge of a high place, I feel like I’m going to hurl myself off.  (Oddly, I never feel that I’m going to eat rhubarb leaves.)

So, with dry ice, I picture myself touching it with my bare hands as well as popping a few pieces in my mouth.  Not that I would such things.  I just picture them.

Does that make me crazy?  (Don’t answer that.  Didn’t your mother ever tell you NOT to answer rhetorical questions?!)

But I digress.

On to the Fabulous Cheese Chile Relleno Recipe

This photo only shows six of the ten pounds of chiles I received.  Preston sent both whole chiles and chopped chiles.  They were already roasted, which is perfect for me since I want to get right to cooking with them.

The Hatch Chile Store chiles come in mild, medium-hot, hot, and XXX hot but since, as I’ve written elsewhere, Christopher is a wimp about hot spices, I played it safe and requested the mild ones.

For this recipe, I am going to use the whole chiles.

Sauce for the Chile Relleno

I make the sauce first, so I gather those ingredients.

Here’s what is in that delicious sauce: diced tomatoes, onion, garlic paste, dried oregano, cumin, chili powder and olive oil.

I place my sauce pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium.  I add 1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil and once that heats up, I add a small diced onion.  I let it cook for 5 minutes and add the can of tomatoes, oregano, cumin, chili powder and salt.  This will be very chunky, so if you like smoother sauce, use crushed tomatoes and some chicken stock.

I’m a chunk-a-lunk-a-licious kind of a gal.

I let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes and as it cooks, I start on the chile relleno.

Hatch Green Chiles in all their Glory

I open the package of chile peppers and lay them on a jelly roll pan.

Don’t they look delicious?!

I cut off the stems and stick my finger into each one to take out the seeds.

I gathered some more ingredients.

We have 2 eggs, separated earlier and allowed to reach room temperature.

I also have blocks of Monterey Jack and Colby Jack cheese, flour, baking powder and salt.

I cut the cheese in 1/4 inch slices and cut each slice in half again.  I take a piece of each of the cheeses and stuff them into the chile peppers.  Depending on the size of the chile, each one should have 2 – 3 pieces in it.

I place some flour in a shallow dish and get started on the eggs.

I place the yolks in a mixing bowl and whisk them together with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  I set them aside and get out my mixer and add the egg whites.  I whip them up until the whites form stiff peaks.  I fold the whites into the egg mixture.

Dip it, Don’t Drip it!

I heat up a sauté pan and place 2 – 4 tablespoons olive oil in it.

I dip each cheese filled chile pepper in the flour, then in the egg mixture making sure it is all covered.  Next, I line them up in the pan.  I let the chile relleno cook for 3 – 4 minutes on each side.  The bigger chiles take a little longer.

Here is my plate o’ chile rellenos!

Mmmmmm.  I plate two of these chee-licious chile rellenos with some beans, salsa and sour cream.  Then I ladle on some sauce.

Now for a bite.  Woo hoo!

Look at that cheesy goodness peeping out of the Hatch green chile!  Mmm.

Check out The Hatch Chile Store for all kinds of fun, food, and information.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! It is so delicious.

Please feel free to share everywhere you want, like Pinterest, Yummly, Facebook, Twitter and all the other social sharing sites.  I would so appreciate it.

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

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