Chile Rellenos with Gorgonzola Cheese and Mushrooms
This chile pepper is often mislabeled ‘Pasilla’, which is a different pepper entirely.It is one of the most popular chiles in Mexico and has won the appreciation of many a chef worldwide because of the superior flavor it has over regular bell peppers.
They have a tough outer skin that usually requires roasting and peeling before use. These very large chile peppers are most popular in chiles rellenos recipes, but cooking with these as a substitute for bell peppers in any recipe will enhance the flavor.
Ingredients:
For sauce:
1 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup of pine nuts
3/4 cup red table wine
4-8 Tbsp. honey
For filling:
1/4 cup diced dried figs
1/4 cup roughly chopped, freshly-roasted pecans
1/3 cup finely chopped white or porcini mushrooms
1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
4-6 poblano peppers
Instructions:
For the sauce:
In a small saucepan, melt 1 Tbsp. of butter, then add the chopped garlic, chopped shallots and pine nuts. When the pine nuts are slightly brown, add the red wine and honey. Reduce to 1/3 cup, stirring constantly.
For the filling:
Toss all the filling ingredients together until evenly mixed.
To prepare the chiles:
Roast the poblano peppers and cover for 10 minutes. Make a 2″ incision along the crown of the peppers, perpendicular to their stem. At the midpoint of the cut, make a second incision running down the length of the pepper (2-3″ long) and carefully seed and devein each one.
Put a pot holding enough vegetable oil for deep frying on the burner.
Stuff the peppers with the filling and seal them using toothpicks to prevent the filling from falling out. This done, dunk the peppers in an egg bath and roll them in panko breadcrumbs (any breadcrumbs will do, but panko breadcrumbs are much lighter than traditional breadcrumbs, and they look great when fried).
Deep fry the peppers for 1-3 minutes or until the breading is golden brown.
Serve the chiles hot. Drizzle them with the wine reduction. Roasted bitter greens tossed with carrots en escabeche make a nice side, as does a simple corn chowder.
Recipe by Dan Mazal.