Chiles Rellenos

Roasted Chiles Rellenos

with Jack Cheese & Cilantro-Corn Stuffing

(bake and peel peppers on Sunday for later use)

  • 4 large poblano peppers
  • 3 cooked ears of corn
  • 1/2 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, stems removed and coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Roast Peppers

To roast the peppers, turn your broiler on high and place the peppers on a pan about 4-5 inches from broiler heat.  Bake peppers until skins turn black. Turn over and bake the other sides until they are black.  Remove from heat and place in metal or glass bowl to peel.  Wear latex gloves to handle the peppers. Some people place the peppers in a bag overnight to make the skins easier to remove.  Either way, peel the blackened skins from the peppers and try not to break into the actual pepper flesh.  Leave the stem ends on for easier handling.  Make a slit in the pepper from the stem to the pointed end and open up the pepper to remove the seeds and their membranes with your fingers.  (Remember to wear latex or other skin-protecting gloves!).  You can fill and bake the peppers now or seal the peppers in a large Ziploc bag for baking later in the week.

Make Stuffing

Take the ears of cooked corn and cut the kernels from the cob with a sharp knife.  Stand the ear of cooked corn on its flat end, where the stalk was cut away.  Hold the pointed end of the ear and use the knife to cut into the kernels, down to the cob and slice down the length of the cob to the cutting surface.  Turn the cob 1/4 turn to the right and slice the next section of kernels from the cob.  You should be able to cut all the kernels off in 4 slices per ear.  Discard the cobs and transfer the corn kernels to a bowl.

Add Monterrey Jack cheese, cilantro, cumin and salt to the corn and stir to combine thoroughly.

Stuff and Bake

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Find a baking dish that will hold all 4 peppers; spray the dish with Pam and place all 4 peppers in the dish, with their slits up.  Using a large spoon, transfer a heaping spoonful of stuffing from the bowl into a pepper, add stuffing to all 4 peppers before attempting to add additional stuffing.  Divide any remaining stuffing into 4 equal portions and transfer to the 4 peppers.  If you run out of room in your peppers, you can arrange leftover stuffing in the dish around the peppers, but it turns out best when baked inside the peppers.

Bake the stuffed peppers for 15-20 minutes and serve warm.  Eat everything but the stem!