I now appreciate Chili Rellenos

Have you ever read through a recipe and missed a vital little word or sentence? And then maybe you thought, "How much difference could that one little step make?". Tonight, I made that mistake, and learned just what a difference 'one little step' can make to a dish.

Tonight, after a challenging day and with a little bit of a blood sugar crash happening, I tried to make chili rellenos for the first time, using a recipe from Mexican Cooking. Somehow, in my rush to get everything together, I missed the step where you whip the egg whites and yolks separately, actually whipping the whites until they form firm peaks before folding the two together. As you can imagine, the result of a chili relleno where this is and is not done is pretty extreme. My first two chilies were very sad, all the cheese fell out, and the coating was almost non-existent. The remaining chilies (after I remade the batter the right way) were better, but suffered from another mistake on my part...

You see, the recipe says to heat oil in a deep skillet, cook the chili on one side, flip over and cook on the other. I got the bright idea that if I was breading and frying, I should just use my Deep Fryer. WRONG! One chili ended up with marks from the fryer basket on one side, and the others suffered from the batter detaching from the chili AND they refused to let me flip them over, due to some weird bouyancy thing. It was like trying to flip over a canoe, if the only part of the canoe you could touch was a stem on one end, and the canoe was so delicate that it would break into pieces if you weren't very gentle with it.

I think I've always assumed that chili rellenos must be pretty easy to make. It's a staple on so many restaurant menus, and has very few ingredients. I'll never take it for granted again. And next time I make them, I'll be following the recipe.

Chili Rellenos
6 Anaheim or Poblano chilies
1/2 lb jack cheese
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs, separated
Oil or lard for frying

Place the chilis on a sheet pan and put under the broiler until blackened on one side, then flip them and broil until blacked on the other side. Remove from the oven and place in a plastic bag for 20 minutes to steam (which will aid in peeling). Remove the skin of the chilies carefully, as not to create tears. Slice open the side of each chili, removing the seeds and veins (the seeds are primarily in a clump, attached to the inside of the stem, and can be scraped out carefully with a spoon.) INto each chili, insert a piece of cheese. Roll the peeled, deseeded, stuffed chilies in flour. BEAT THE EGG YOLKS AND WHITES SEPARATELY. The whites should be beaten to a stiff peak stage. Recombine the eggs and beat together quickly. Dip the chilies in the egg batter. Be sure to cover the whole surface evenly. Fry in fat or oil that is more than 1 inch deep. Keep them warm in the oven until they are ready to serve.