Right when you thought I'd never
get around to the chiles,
I'm finally doing the chiles now.
Already, we have :
#1 Salsa Roja
#2 Mr. Hawthorne's Salsa
#3 Stuffing for the chile
#4 Rosie's Beans
On to the chile preparation.
When picking a chile for stuffing,
get a nice, firm, smooth-skinned chile.
I'm using an Anaheim on the left
and a poblano on the right.
Set over an open flame
and blacken the skins.
Most directions for blackening peppers
call for you to put them in a paper bag,
close it tightly, and let it steam for a few minutes
before peeling the skin off.
I find my method quicker.
I plunge the chile immediately into
ice-cold water
and you're able to easily rub the skin off.
Drain.
Ready to stuff.
Use a paper towel
to get any excess blackened skin off.
Slice 2/3 way down from the stem
and use scissors or a knife
to cut out the seed cluster.
Rinse out seeds.
Blot off chiles.
Stuff.
And secure with toothpicks.
Sometimes I get a bit carried away.
For the batter,
I used about 1 cup of flour.
A teaspoon of baking soda.
A teaspoon of salt.
A teaspoon or more of cumin.
I beat two egg whites until stiff peaks formed.
I added sparkling water to my flour mixture
until I got a nice batter -
about 1/2 cup.
Add in beaten egg whites.
Gently fold in.
Cover chiles with batter ...
... and gently drop into hot oil.
Fry until nicely browned -
about 2 minutes each side.
Drain on paper towels.
And serve.
With sides of Salsa Roja,
Mr. Hawthorne's warm salsa puree,
Rosie's refried beans,
regular chilled salsa,
salsa verde,
and avocado cream sauce.
Or this avocado cream sauce.
I'm going to have to shoot this in daylight
because it is beautiful.
Party in my mouth.
Every bite is a buffet of flavors,
textures, and temperatures -
both Fahrenheit and Scoville.
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