Chile Relleno Rustico

Morning after the big party, dirty wine glasses everywhere and fridge full of leftover appetizer odd's and end's.... and lots of CHEESE.  

I sent someone to the business Costco to pick up the pre-cubed cheese, as it's easy, and I think every party needs cheese.  Except maybe 15lbs of cheese is a bit much, yep, he bought three different kinds, 5lbs each.  That's a whole lot of cheese.

You can expect a lot of cheesy posts from me coming up.... ahahaha.

About the name "rustico"... I think that's just a nice way of saying lazy.  
Ha, or really smart!  
With traditional chile rellenos you need to do lots of work to make beautiful cheese filled peppers in a battered goodness.... my recipe just throws it all in one pan. 
Looking at the kitchen again in it's messy after party glow, I need EASY.

Here's an easy one pan brunch, or dinner, idea.  I used my cast iron skillet, but an 8x8 baking dish would probably work just fine.

(Not pictured- corn tortillas (3) and cayenne pepper)

Serves 4-6
Ingredients

3 corn tortillas, cut into wedges
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cans of whole green chiles
1 cup cooked chicken,  chopped (optional)
1 cup cheese, shredded or diced (cheddar, pepper jack or co-jack)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
4 eggs
1/4 cup half & half
Dash of cayenne
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350


Over medium heat, add some oil and the corn tortillas to the bottom of cast iron pan.  If using a regular baking dish, just oil up a 8x8 pan and layer in corn tortillas.

Add the flattened pieces of canned chilies on top of the tortillas.  The chilies can either cut or pulled apart by hand in large flat "fans".  Layer cooked chicken (or other cooked meat...) and cheese on top.  Sprinkle with cilantro and green onions.  Add another layer (second can) of green chilies.  Top with more cheese, cilantro and green onions.  Beat up the eggs with some half and half.  Add salt, pepper and cayenne.  Mix again and pour over the chile mixture evenly.  

Bake about 35 minutes for cast iron, could be slightly longer in different pan.  Check it, if the cheese is melted and bubbling and the eggs looked cooked, then take it out. 

Let cool about 5 minutes.  Serve with some green salsa, maybe some sour cream too.  Better add some fresh fruit too...

 

Here's the peppers layered over the corn torillas

 

Here's the second layer of chilies sitting over the cheese, chicken, cilantro and green onions.

Topped with more cheese and the egg/cream mixure, just ready to go into the oven.

 The finished dish

 Here's a close up of my last bite.  Yum

So about the corn tortilla's on the bottom, 
I will admit they make it easier to get out of the pan in one piece, but it is a little hard to cut because the tortillas get crispy.  I think it might work better to put a layer of the corn tortillas in the middle of the chile relleno bake to held bind it together.  If you try that, drop me a comment and let me know how it went. 

I just couldn't decide if I liked the bottom being crispy or not.

Sriracha Honey Chicken Wings

A little spicy, a like tangy and sweet makes for very yummy chicken wings.

I'm going to recommend something to you that I didn't do.  That is to brine the chicken before cooking them.  While we really liked these chicken wings, the inside of the chicken drumette wasn't as tasty yummy as the outside.  A brine (salt, sugar and water) helps to get the taste all the way through the chicken, giving you a much tastier end result.  Promise.

Usually, there are about 4-5 drumettes in a pound of chicken wings.  I bought two packages of two pounds each.  Technically the wings are three parts; the tip (which is usually discarded), the middle thinner "two bone" section and the mini drumstick, or drumette. I chose only the drumette as I like them better and I wanted the uniform size. You can buy a mixture of frozen plain chicken wings at Costco for a great price, but it's a very large bag. This post was inspired by this in Bon Appetit. Original recipe
 

Serves 4-6
Ingredients

Brine:
4 cups water
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar

Mix brine and add chicken wings.  Let soak in the fridge for about 2 hours.  Drain and pat dry.
 

4 pounds chicken wings

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper 
2-3 Tbsp Sriracha

1/3 cup honey

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and set a rack in the center of the oven. In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the wings on a wire rack set over a large, sturdy baking sheet. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, and then broil for about 5 minutes, watching carefully and turning once or twice, until the wings are cooked through and crisp.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the vinegar and crushed red pepper and simmer for 1 minute. Let cool, then whisk in the sriracha, honey and soy sauce.
 

In a large bowl, carefully toss the chicken wings with the honey-soy mixture. Transfer the wings to a platter, sprinkle with the scallions and serve.

I served the extra sauce with the chicken as it was so yummy.  


 Here's what I've been making:

One year ago: Watermelon Margarita
Two years ago: Asian Quinoa Sesame Spring Rolls
Three years ago: Carrot Ginger Martini
 Four years ago: Tandoori Turkey Burger