My PB + J

baked chile rellenos & crockpot refried beans {recipe}

since being on this diet i have been craving authentic, fried and super unhealthy mexican food. during cycle one i was visiting my sister and had a bite of her chile relleno burrito, i died and went to heaven. i have been craving a chile relleno for over two months so i set out to make authentic rellenos for sunday dinner. in the heat of the moment and a day later, i was contemplating what pan to fry them in and made a decision to do baked vs. fried…i just couldn’t bring myself to eat the fried version. i did a quick internet search and found a recipe that looked good. earlier that morning i prepped the kitchen and got the beans in the crockpot, this was also another first. our little california girl loves her some bean-beans, rice and avocado so mama wanted to make her homemade beans. at the end of the day the meal was so rewarding, i haven’t made a meal where it took this much prep in a while. if you’re ready to sit and stay for a bit i will show you what i did! here we go…

baked chile rellenos
3-5 poblano peppers 
6-8 oz chihuahua cheese (i used a blend of mexican cheeses from sprouts, pepper jack would be amaze too!)
4 eggs (next time i make this i will only use egg whites)
1/2 flour
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt 
Raise the top rack of your oven and turn the broiler on. Lightly coat the poblano peppers in oil and place on a baking sheet. Broil for about 5 minutes a side, flipping 3 times to char each side of the triangular shaped peppers. Remove from the oven and place in a ziploc bag. Let sit for about 15 minutes to steam the skin and become cool to the touch.

Lower the oven rack and turn the temperature to 350°. While waiting for the peppers to cool prepare the batter by whisking together the eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth.



Once the peppers have cooled, hold them by their stems and gently peel off their waxy skin. Pull off the stem and gently cut a slit through one side of the pepper, taking care not to cut all the way through. Using a spoon, gently scrape the membrane and seeds from the poblano.


Lay the peppers flat and place the cheese in the center. Wrap the roasted pepper around the cheese and place seam side down in a small to medium sized greased casserole dish.


Pour the batter over the peppers.

at this point you could top with some additional cheese but we’re watching our waistlines over here so we skipped this step. place in a 350º oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

while the chiles are baking you can make some sauce or you can just use canned red sauce. i took a tablespoon of butter and melted it added in 2 tablespoons of flour and let it cook for a few minutes. i then added in a 8 oz can of red enchilada sauce and a squeeze of agave. i simmered this until we were ready to serve. 
take the chiles out of the oven and let cool a few minutes. take a knife and cut the chiles out, mine made perfect rectangles. serve with sauce or without and a side of beans. 

hubby was on his second helping and since this one got to sit a few minutes you can see how the batter encompasses the chile, it tastes just like the fattening original version but way healthier and honestly, a lot easier!

crockpot refried beans
3 cups dried pinto beans
9 cups water
1 onion, diced 
5 tsp salt 
2 TB garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
3 bay leaves
1 ham hock or chorizo (my sis uses chorizo i like both)
rinse your beans and pick out any stones or unsightly beans. 
dice your onion, mince your garlic and measure out your spices. i line my crock pot because i dislike the cleanup. place the beans, water, onion, garlic and spices into the crock pot, oh! and the ham hock!

set your crockpot on the low setting for eight hours. make sure to leave yourself enough time to make the beans. you could put them on high but i don’t know how long they will take to cook. mine came out perfect at eight hours without soaking. the other thing is, i don’t put in all the salt at first. i only used 2 TB initially and then the rest after because it supposedly makes for tough skin and i didn’t want to over season the beans for my sweet girl. 

after the eight hours are up, discard the ham hock and bay leaves. drain the beans. reserve the liquid in a bowl. with a potato masher, mash the beans. add in liquid to your desired consistency. season with additional salt and add pepper if you wish. i skipped the pepper. 
 and that’s all! make a bean burrito, some nachos with the leftover relleno sauce or just a nice big bowl ‘o beans! they were damn tasty. 

Comments

  2. Yum! I’ve made a lot of chile rellenos but I’ve never seen them baked in the batter like that before, so I’m for sure going to have to try it! Thanks for posting 🙂

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