Chiles Rellenos Con Queso

I must have been on crack when I decided to make this somewhat time consuming meal last night!

This past Sunday, I ordered chiles rellenos con queso (cheese) at a restaurant, Cactus Cantina, located in the District. They tasted amazing. They also looked amazing, in that each fried chile was perfectly coated with an egg batter and covered with a tasty tomato sauce.

So, crazy me, I just couldn't wait until the weekend to attempt making chiles rellenos. I found a recipe from the People's Guide to Mexico and got busy in the kitchen yesterday evening after stopping by the grocery store on my way home from work.

For the most part, I followed the recipes for both the chiles rellenos and the accompanying tomato sauce as written. I did use monterey cheese, as the recipe suggested. But, rather than stick the charred and blackened poblano peppers in a plastic produce bag, I placed them in a large bowl and covered it with plastic food wrap for about 30 minutes. This allowed the peppers to "sweat" and made it easier (alright, somewhat easier) to remove the charred and blackened outer skin under running cold water.

I also made sure to roll the chiles in the flour before dipping them in the egg batter. The flour helps the egg batter stick to the chiles. I thought I was able to get a pretty decent coating on the chiles after frying them in canola oil, although they were not perfectly coated as the ones I had on Sunday at Cactus Cantina.

Still, though, I was very happy with the way the dish turned out, including the accompanying side dishes. I will definitely be making chiles rellenos again, but only on a Saturday or Sunday!