Mr. Hawthorne Makes Chile Rellenos! Ole!

On our trip through the southwest, Mr. Hawthorne and I truly enjoyed our Mexican meals. I've been inspired to recreate some of the authentic flavors I experienced at different dives along our way.

One of my favorite dishes was the chile relleno. I tried making my first one about 2 weeks ago and it was quite successful. See here for the proof. Mr. Hawthorne so liked the chile rellenos that he wanted to make his own. Yes, Mr. Hawthorne is cooking tonight. Hurray for Rosie!

Mr. Hawthorne blackened his peppers over an open flame. A Cubanelle , the yellow one on top, and what was labeled at Food Lion as a Pasilla pepper, but what I thought was a Poblano. Seems like other people do too.

Keep blackening and turning.

When blackened all over, plunge into ice water. Rub pepper underwater to remove skin.

Mr. Hawthorne used a paper towel to get rid of more skin.

Mr. Hawthorne sliced his peppers about 2/3 way down from stem removed the seeds, and stuffed them with his homemade chili, rice, and pepper jack cheese. Toothpick shut after stuffing.

He opted to make his own wet batter with flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sparkling water. Be sure peppers are dry when you batter them.

Into hot peanut oil. I finally found a peanut oil under $27 a gallon. Problem is it's a 10 gallon container. I'm still waiting for Mr. Hawthorne to pour it into smaller containers, since if I tried to, I know it would be unsuccessful and extremely messy enterprise and cursing would be involved.

Don't fry more than two at a time. You don't want to crowd the pan and lower the temperature of the oil. Shouldn't take more than 2 minutes on a side.

Turn when nicely browned. Drain on paper towels.

A sprinkling of cotija cheese, which has a parmesan flavor.

A few squirts of hot sauce.

Mr. Hawthorne makes a delicious homemade hotdog chili to begin with. It's flavor-packed with just the right level of heat. This chili with the rice and cheese nestled inside a cozy chile with a crisp, puffy, light, fried coating was a nice blast from our Southwest past.