chile rellenos – round TWO!

ok, you KNOW I wasn’t happy with the first stab at chili rellenos – they were ok (Joe even said they were pretty good), but they were just good and the sauce was boring.  and I LOVE the dish and have had multiple really great ones – including the one I had in Puerto Vallarta in Feb (thank goodness THAT trip happened when it did!) at Mole – where I first discovered I was in LOVE with green mole! (I had a choice of this or traditional salsa roja)- but alas, I digress as always (but I’m putting a pic of the PV CR below anyway – it was AWESOME!)

I also did recommended research and got one as takeout from Mezunte (local taqueria) and it was quite yummy, but it had a LOT going on sauce wise (and hard to decipher) – tho I liked the fact that they put the mushrooms outside (as I love mushrooms)

So, second go round, I used the correct cheese (tho there seem to be several schools of thought on that) – but I believe Oaxaca to be the “authentic” cheese of choice – tho I added some Monterey Jack and some sharp while cheddar for the heck of it – but primarily the Oaxaca – which worked WAY better than the queso fresco – as it’s more like a mozz texture vs. crumbly and melted to gooey goodness.

If you recall (as I know you all read me AVIDLY!), I also had an issue with trying to whip egg whites into stiff peaks by hand, so I used that whisk gadget on my immersion blender suitcase (worked WELL!) – tho the batter was a little thick and more difficult to coat and stick to the flour.  hmmm.

meanwhile, of course I then made THREE sauces now that I tried takeout – a traditional salsa roja (but this time with peppers and tomatoes from my garden – and some extra spice and chipotle, a chunkier one with the shrooms, and an avocado crema. I  must try these with MY first stab a green mole as well (still a little in the freezer).  and Grant will be here, so I’m anxious to make them with him as he learned from his housekeeper as a young man.

I dropped 2 off for Carrie and Joe for lunch just before they left on vaca, asking for feedback on sauces.  FIRST they deemed the chili’s as “delicious!” and Carrie liked the salsa roja best.

my round two below:

better salsa roja

me tasting all 3:

• This topic was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Vicki.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Vicki.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Vicki.