Ana's Picadillo Chile Rellenos

My sweet mother-in-law, Ana, grew up and went to University in Mexico.  She makes the most incredible food and bakes unbelievable treats! Ana can cook ya'll.

Ana and I making tamales

So Ana was actually my friend before she was my mother-in-law. She was a regular in my gym class and we became fast friends. Ana then got immersed into Venus with me. We soon realized we were back door neighbors, her house was directly across the alley from our old house! Anyway, the more I got to know her, the more I realized that she and my father-in-law were like disconnected soul mates. They HAD to meet! It took me months of talking, begging, pleading to make it happen. When they finally did go out, they just clicked. And now she is my mother-in-law. It is like I picked her out haha!

We came this past week to stay with them, and she remembered that I wanted to learn how to make tamales (will share that recipe soon too!) and chile rellenos.  Ana makes one very different but insanely delicious relleno. Consider yourself lucky she was generous enough to share the recipe! But it is definitely not low calorie or high protein haha! This is a special occasion recipe that will knock some guests socks off!

Ana's Picadillo Chile Rellenos

Serves 8

Ingredients
8 poblano peppers
vegetable oil
1 pound ground beef (we used 93% lean)
1 large banana, mashed
1 white onion, diced
3 large tomatoes, subed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 eggs. separated
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
In a large shallow saute pan, pour enough oil to coat the bottom and place 2-3 peppers over high heat to blacken the outside.

Turn peppers in oil until most of the outside is blistered and blackened.

Immediately place blackened peppers into a large plastic sealed bag to sweat. When cooled, run peppers under cool running water to remove skin. Slit one long cut into side of peppers and remove seeds as well.

Meanwhile, in a medium pot, start making the picadillo beef stuffing. Place the beef, mashed banana, onion, garlic, and tomatoes over medium-high meat. Toss every minute or so until beef is browned. Then stir in the almonds and raisins.

Start stuffing the picadillo beef into the poblano peppers. You want the pepper to be full but still be able to completely close the skin around the stuffing.


Next, start the batter. In a stand mixer, whip 3 egg whites until stiff. Then mix in the yolks and the flour.


In a large, deep pot, cover the bottom with about 1" of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. The oil is just right for frying when you can dip a wooden spoon with a little batter and it immediately starts bubbling.

To coat the chiles with batter, turn the batter bowl slightly sideways. Lie a stuffed pepper in with the slit on the side. Then take your wooden spoon and pour batter over the top.

Slide the battered relleno up onto the spoon and gently lay into hot oil. As soon as it is golden brown on one side (approx 30 seconds to a minute), slide up onto the spoon and flip it. Quickly add in the next relleno in to cook.

When the rellano is cooked on the other side, lay onto a plate lines with paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Enjoy!

Ana serves her rellenos with mexican rice (this recipe is similar to hers) along with pinto beans (this is her recipe for refried pinto beans, she just did not mash them this night!).

Nutritional stats per serving

1 pepper (I estimate that each relleno soaked up 1 tsp of oil in the calories)

390 calories
24.9 g far
22.0 g carbs
19.5 g protein