I love chiles relleno, and I order them almost every time I go out to Mexican restaurants. I am very particular about them and use it to set the standard to determine whether or not a Mexican restaurant is good. The worst restaurants' version of chiles relleno is this: Make a bland omelette with "Egg Beaters," fill the omelette with canned, diced green chiles and melted American cheese. The best restaurants make them the traditional way (see below). There are three restaurants in Washington State that meet my criteria for decent Chiles Relleno. They are: 1) Mr. Villa's in Lake City Way, 2) El Malecon in downtown Seattle, and 3) The Mexican restaurant up the road between Centralia and Chehalis...not sure what it's called but it's the one with lady wearing the fancy red dress on the road sign. The restaurants typically serve this dish with red chile sauce on top, but I enjoy them plain when I make them at home. I haven't mastered the art of making the traditional ones quite as good as the Mexican restaurants, but Thelma's version is easy to make and quite tasty.
Thelma's Chiles Relleno
This is the shallow pan version. Not the same as the deep-fried ones at Mexican restaurants, but it's still quite delicious and easy. My dear friend, Thelma, of Tucson, AZ, taught me this recipe back in the early 90's.
Canned whole green chiles, clean and pat dry
Stuff monterey jack cheese inside
Dust with flour
Coat in batter: eggs, flour, and a little water
Fry in skillet with generous amount of oil. Add extra batter while cooking on the top sides. Flip a couple times to cook extra batter.
Serve with refried beans, corn tortillas, corn, salsa, etc.
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Traditional Chiles Relleno
(recipe still under construction...)
The traditional way to make this dish is to use fresh, large green chiles (anaheim, poblano???) and stuff with Mexican cheese.
For the batter: Separate the egg whites first and whip them until frothy. Then fold in the egg whites with egg yolk, flour, and water.
Deep-fry the batter-coated chiles.
