Adventures in Green Chile

Otherwise know as Melanie uses every small appliance she has ever owned!

Growing up in the southwest, I know September means Hatch Green Chiles.  Oh the amazing wonders this little green thing can create.  So when I noticed I could get an entire case of Hatch chiles for only $20 through Bountiful Baskets, I was all over that!  I now have enough processed chile to last me a good long time.

The beauties arrive into my posession!

One entire day was devoted to roasting.  Basically I used the Pioneer Woman's directions on how to do this How to Roast Green Chiles  She is amazing and makes this very clear.

I got this amazing recipe from my lovely niece Shanon. it looks like it came from Food.com... I multiplied it by 10, and added 6 cups of shredded carrots.  But instead of following the directions I kind of went in a pressure cooker direction because that's what I do.

This lovely smelling pot full of yum was half of my X10 ingredients, pressured on HIGH for 6 minutes, quick release.

And then it went into the blender to become  smooth and uniform.

Did I mention I used every small appliance I own?  including the roaster because it was big enough to hold all of my sauce.

I ended up with 24 half pint jars, and 5 quart size bags frozen flat in my freezer.  And that was only half the case of chiles. The other 7 gallon size bags of roasted chile was packaged 4 chiles per bag, frozen flat.

So now I have a freezer full of yumminess, and 2 dozen jars of amazing green sauce to do with as I please... but there were still 2 bags needing to be peeled (yes I am drawing this project out... lucky for me I have an extra fridge outside to use for all my food projects.

 So today I was thinking about chile rellenos.  Don't you think about rellenos often?  I saved this recipe to my pinterest board a few years ago, and decided Today was the Day!  I will use the last of the chiles and make some Rellenos! This is the recipe I used for inspiration.

Chile Rellenos Casserole

Recipe Adapted by Winner Dinners/Origin Unknown
Serves 6

3 7-oz. cans whole green chiles
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
1 pound jack cheese, grated
4 eggs
1 13-oz. can evaporated milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 6-oz. can tomato paste

Wash the chiles, removing the seeds, and dry on paper towels. Grate the cheeses. Reserve 1/2 cup of each of the two cheeses, mixing them together in a small bowl. This will go on top of the casserole later, so you can place it in the refrigerator for now. In a medium-sized casserole dish, approximately 8 x 11 (9 x 13 is too big), layer 1/2 of the chiles, all of the cheddar cheese, the remaining chiles, then all of the jack cheese. Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks and add the evaporated milk, flour and salt, beating until frothy. Beat the whites separately for about a minute. Combine the two egg mixtures and beat for a few seconds longer so that they are well-mixed. Pour the egg mixture over the chiles and cheese. Bake at 300 for 1 hour. Then spread the tomato paste over the top. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese you placed in the refrigerator. Bake 1/2 hour longer. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.


 But it makes a full size casserole, and the man I live with is not a big chile fan...he will placate me by eating what I put on the dinner table in front of him, but he's not willingly going to choose this on his own.  Thus my dilemma:  I want this, but I don't need a whole casserole by myself.  So the solution was obviously make it in muffin tins!  And add bacon, because well BACON.



** I ACTUALLY ENDED UP USING12 EGGS, 4 FOR EACH MUFFIN TIN. I just mixed the eggs, flour and milk and salt in the blender and poured it over each.

you have to look closely to see the bacon bits.  Trust me they are there...

After 20 minutes this is what I have... 3 dozen mini relleno muffins, all that yummy goodness just waiting for breakfast, or lunch  or mid morning snack or mid afternoon snack...I somehow think these will not last as long as I had planned... Oh well, such is the plight of AMAZING mii relleanos with bacon!

This is where I was supposed to post the picture of those cute little rellenos topped with sour cream, but somehow they just disappeared... I will go put some more on a plate, just for blog post purposes...

please pretend my plate does not look like I just licked it off before adding more...