These Poblano Rajas with Cream and Cheese will become a go-to in your Fave Recipes Book. To add depth and a delightfully smoky flavor we need to blister the thin skin on the Poblano Chile surface. We are not planning on charring the chiles to a crisp, mind you! We will remove the skin using this method and it won’t stick to our teeth.
“Rajas”, by the by, means “julienned”. That word might come up too when looking for pickled sliced Jalapeno chiles.
So let’s start by picking the chiles. If you are new to hot picante stuff try not to pick the poblanos that are showing some red on their skin or are “dotted” with brownish lines all along their bodies. That speaks volumes and is definitely signaling “call-the-firefighters” trouble of epic Montezuman levels for the uninitiated.
I suggest you look for chiles with dark green, smooth skins instead. I can not swear over your numb, scorched, mostly dead tongue, though but your Poblano Rajas with Cream and Cheese will likely turn out milder.
You should ignore the former paragraph is, on the other hand, you love picante stuff. Go for the red, spotted chiles instead!
Now, unto the fun part. Char those suckers! Look at the picture below and be aware that, when we say blister we don’t mean carbonize the poor Chile Poblano. We are going for a uniform blistering on the skin of the Poblano, not on the flesh itself.
We don’t want your flesh to get a nasty burn either so make sure to use tongs when blistering the chiles. Wear gloves when you remove the skin after you’ve “sweat” the chiles; that will minimize the risk of your skin suffering that same picante effect that your tongue would suffer.
Notes
You can blister the Poblano chiles directly on stove top burners or on a very hot cast iron skillet.
Ingredients
- 3 large or 4 smaller chiles poblanos
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced
- 1/2 cup canned yellow corn (optional)
- 1/2 cup Mexican or sour cream
- 1/2 cup shredded Oaxaca or Manchego cheese (or Jalapeno Pepper Jack or Mozzarella if the former are not available)
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- Salt (or commercial granulated chicken consommé) and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the chiles. Place them directly over low to medium flame on stove or in a very hot cast iron skillet. Using tongs, turn them over frequently to achieve a uniform blistering.
- Make sure the entire skin surface is blistered but avoid burning the flesh itself.
- As soon as you remove them from the flame/skillet, place the chiles in a plastic bag. Make them sweat for half an hour.
- In the meantime, slice the onion and fry for 2-3 minutes in olive oil on low to medium heat, until soft.
- Once the Poblano chiles have sweat, snap on latex gloves and peel the charred skin off by softly rubbing them. Rinse them well, open them, remove seeds and veins and slice them lengthwise. If the chiles are too long, cut the julienned slices in half, crosswise.
- Place in skillet with onions and fry for 3 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid browning the onion too much. Mix in yellow corn, if adding. Season with salt (or commercial granulated chicken consommé) and pepper.
- Add sour cream and mix well.
- Top with shredded cheese and let it melt. Turn off heat and enjoy.
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