A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS!
Thank you so much for being a part of my site, for trying out recipes, for sharing your feedback.
Thank you for your encouragement throughout this year.... and for taking the time to comment and email me.
I really appreciate each and everyone of you.
You've been such a blessing to me!
May the peace of God dwell richly in your homes and may you have His love in your heart this coming year.
Chile Relleno Egg Bake... a great brunch dish. I love chile rellenos and I love poblanos. Oh, and I absolutely love eggs. So when I came across this recipe, I instantly knew I'd be making it. What a great combination of ingredients. I mean how could you go wrong with cheese, poblanos and eggs? Of course, you really need to like poblanos... those green peppers that are mildly spicy.
The original recipe required some ground fresh chorizo as part of the filling, but since I didn't have any around, I decided to saute some onion instead... and increase the cheese amount. The nice part about this recipe is that it can easily be made in stages... you can broil the peppers and skin them the night before, then have them ready to stuff the day of... or you can even stuff the peppers ahead, and simply add the eggs before baking the dish. In either case, it's a great dish to make for brunch... especially if you have some overnight guests and you don't want to serve the usual omelette. It's a different sort of brunch dish... and you can easily double the recipe and make a larger batch, if you need to do so.
I find this dish best served with some sort of salsa. A store-bought salsa, or a green tomatillo sauce would work equally well.... even some homemade fresh salsa would be nice. But that's just my personal preference. The dish is quite adaptable... lots of ways to spruce it up and change from time to time. You know, it's really not that crucial that you use queso fresco.... so if you have some bits of cheeses in your fridge that need to be used up.... well, use those instead. And as with all sorts of "stuffed" dishes, you can definitely "hide" other types of tidbits that may be sitting in the fridge.... make good use of them. I could easily see myself adding some sort of cooked ground meat, ham, or chopped mushrooms,... even a bit of cooked quinoa, black beans, etc. But I digress... obviously, I want to make this dish again:).
If you use a tomato salsa, you can "market" this as a Christmas brunch dish... the red and green colors will fit right in:). And again, thanks for being a reader! Hope you enjoy...
Note: This would be a great gluten-free baked dish... I'm wanting to skip the four altogether next time and see if it works without it. I'm thinking it should... will probably sacrifice on the height of the eggs though.... just thinking out loud.
You will need: makes 8x8 baked dish. Inspired by Sunset... can easily double recipe.
4 poblano chiles
bit of oil
Filling:*
1 medium onion, minced
2-3 TBS oil
2 cups( 8 oz) shredded queso fresco(you could use crumbled cotija cheese, or any cheese of choice, really)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* can add 1/2 lb fresh ground chorizo and decrease the amount of cheese to 1 cup.
Egg mixture:
6 eggs
3 TBS flour(can use a gluten-free flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
salt to taste
Additional:
1/2-1 cup shredded jack/monterey/cheddar cheese(a mixture or not)
fresh cilantro, chopped
Serve with:
salsa of choice
Directions:
- Preheat broiler. I used my toaster oven.
2. Lay chiles in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place baking sheet on top rack about 4 in. from broiler. Cook until chiles are blistering and black, anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Turn chiles over and broil until blistering and black all over, another 5-10 minutes. Time depends on the distance from broiler... just keep an eye on them.
3. Put chiles in a large metal bowl( or a plate) and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for about 15 minutes.... until softened
4. Peel skin from off chiles, cut off stem ends and remove seeds. Set chiles aside on layers... you can blot dry, if you like.
5. In a large frying pan over medium heat, add oil and onion... cook until onion is soft an da bit golden. add oregano and cook for another minute or two... Set aside.
Note: it is at this point that if you want to use chorizo, you can skip the oil and add the chorizo with the onion, stirring occasionally to break up the meat, and cook until chorizo and onion are cooked through... 5-8 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Butter/oil an 8x8 inch baking dish
2. Stuff chiles with mixture and lay them in an 8x8-in. oiled/buttered baking dish.
3. In a bowl, whisk eggs until they are thoroughly broken up and mixed well. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt to taste.
4. Sprinkle chiles with 1/2 the amount of jack/monterey/cheddar cheese. Pour egg mixture over chiles and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
6. Bake until top starts to brown and the eggs are set, about 30 minutes.
7. Serve with salsa of choice.
