From the garden to the table.

What to do, what to do, with the pretty Anaheim peppers that are ready to be picked in my garden?  How's about scratching my jones for Chili Rellenos?

The victims.

The recipe I followed recommended seeding the peppers before roasting them, as it can be difficult to work with the peppers once they get super-soft.  I highly recommend this.  Of course, if you are someone who likes heat, you could skip the 'seeding' step...Anaheim's are not that high on the Scoville Scale.  I'm cooking for women folk though(and it's nice to be able to use them as an excuse). Plus, I find the seeds unpleasant to chew.

Now, blacken the peppers all up.

 

 

I probably could have gone a little darker...but, I wimped out and got impatient.

 



Once you get the peppers peeled, it time to stuff them with some cheese(queso fresco)...and then get creative with your toothpicks to hold them together.

 

 

Get yourself some oil heated up(360ish), dip the peppers in your egg batter(more on this), and then fry them to a golden brown(or some shade of brown).

 

 

Lesson's Learned: Next time, I think I will try this with poblano peppers.  There is nothing wrong with using the Anaheim's(especially because they came from the garden), but I think the poblanos would be easier to work with...much roomier inside.

 

Also...this is not really a week night dish for most folks. No single step is tough, but...the beginning to end process is not fast.  The toughest step is making the egg batter to dip the peppers in.  Some recipes just tell you to dip in flour, and then egg...but the one I followed has you separate the eggs, then whip the whites into stiff peaks before folding in the beaten yolks.  A bit longer and more involved...but the finished texture was perfect. 

 

Plus, the toothpicks make you slow down and chew your food.