Chicken Stuffed Chile Rellenos with Roasted Tomato Sauce

If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional Chile Relleno, this is a great recipe to try. For those of you that didn’t grow up in a traditional Mexican family, a Chile Relleno is a stuffed chile. In the traditional recipe, the chiles are filled with cheese, coated in a flour mixture then dipped into an egg wash and fried. Even though those are tasty, you have to give this recipe a try. My Aunt Conchi, who has been a great source for recipes, gave this one to me over the weekend. The concept sounded interesting and I wanted to play with the idea and see what I could do. I gave the sauce a twist by roasting the tomatoes and adding the root vegetables (shallots and garlic). Also, the original recipe only used evaporated milk, but I added the whipping cream and broth. I also added chicken to make it a heartier dish. The end result was fantastic! The sauce is absolutely delicious. The roasted vegetables gives the sauce a bit of sweetness which is wonderful. For you vegetarians out there, you can easily change this recipe to vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding a vegetable base for the sauce. I bet it would be just as good. Happy cooking everyone!

Ingrediates:
1-2 cups of shredded chicken
6 Anaheim Chiles
6-8 strips of Mexican Queso Fresco ( or a fresh Mozzerella would work also)
1/4 cup of crumbled Queso Fresco (or Mozzerella cheese)


Roasted Tomato Sauce
4 Roma tomatoes
2-3 shallots  (peeled)
1 garlic clove (peeled)
1 tablespoon Vegtable oil
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 chicken flavored boullion cubes
1 tablespoon cornstarch


Preheat oven to 450 degrees


1. Coat Chiles, Tomatoes and shallots with the one tablespoon of oil and place on a 11x14 tray.

2. Place in oven and set timer for 10 minutes.  After first 10 minutes, take tray from oven and flip all the vegtables. Put tray back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

                                                                    (after 10 minutes)

                                                             (after 20 minutes)

3.Take 3 wet paper towels, and wrap the chiles as soon as the come out of the oven in the towels. This will make it easier to remove the skin. Set aside for 15 minutes before you start peeling.  Also, set aside the tomatoes, scallots and garlic in a bowl to cool.

4. Once the chiles are cool , it is time to start peeling.  Pull at the skin to creat a hole.  The skins should easily come off.   Place de-skinned chile on a plate and  remove the skins from the remaining chiles.

  5. Once all the chiles are peeled, take one of the chiles and cut off the top.  Then make a slit from the top to the bottom on one side (do not cut all the way through). Taking a butter knife, remove all the seeds.  Repeat the process on all the chiles and set aside.

6. Take the cooled tomatoes and start peeling off the skin. This is a bit more difficult than the chiles, just take your time till all the tomatoes are peeled (ok if a little skin is left on).

7. Once all the tomatoes are peeled, take the tomatoes, shallots and garlic and put in the blender.  Add the evaporated milk, whipping cream , boullion  and chicken broth. Blend for 1-2 minutes until the sauce looks creamy . Pour sauce in a small saute pan.  Add corn starch and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

                                                    

8. Prepare a 2 quart casserole dish by spraying oil on it.  Take one of the prepared chiles and place on a plate.  Put one strip of cheese and cover with shredded chicken. Add two tablespoons of the sauce.  Pull the ends together to cover and place open side down in casserole dish.

9. Pour the remaining sauce over chiles and sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of crumbled Queso Fresco.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Serve with Rice. Enjoy!