Walter Knoll's "A Musing Florist"

Harvest

If, like me, you have an abundance of Poblano peppers right now, this is a great way to use them up!

Small Poblanos

Large Poblano

We love this recipe around my house. My peppers are small – only 3 inches long – so instead of 4 large poblanos I’ll be using 8 or 10 of my small ones – enough to fill my largest casserole dish.

Some good gravy here!

And in case you are not familiar with poblano chiles, they are not spicy – if you have an aversion to hot stuff, just leave out the jalapeno! I also decided to add some filling into boneless, skinless chicken thighs – good stuff! Made for some great gravy!

Just need to remove the crowns of seeds

Stuffed Poblanos Casserole
The cornmeal takes on the texture of tamale during baking.
Serves 6

1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes (in puree if you can find it!)
1 jalapeno chile (ribs and seeds removed, for less heat), minced
2 small onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves (2 whole, 1 minced)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 bunch chopped cilantro (divided into ½ bunches)
1+ cup shredded pepper Jack cheese
1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional – I HATE CUMIN & LEFT THIS OUT)
1 handful frozen corn kernels
4 large poblano chiles, halved lengthwise (stems left intact), ribs/seeds removed

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a 9-by-13 pan with cooking spray. In a blender, combine tomatoes in puree, jalapeno, half the onions, ½ bunch cilantro and 2 whole garlic cloves; puree. Season with salt. Pour sauce into prepared dish and set aside.

Gravy Beginnings

After blending

In a medium bowl, combine beans, cornmeal, ½ bunch cilantro, ½ cup cheese, remaining onions, minced garlic, optional cumin (yuck), corn kernels, and 3/4 cup water; season with salt and pepper.

Enough for 8 thighs and 8 poblano halves

Dividing evenly, stuff poblano halves with bean mixture; place on top of sauce in baking dish. Sprinkle poblanos with remaining 1/2 cup cheese; cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil (don’t let the foil rest on the cheese or it will stick to it).

Ready for the oven!

Bake until poblanos are tender, about 45 minutes. Uncover, and continue to cook until sauce is thickened slightly and cheese is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool 10 minutes.

Serve with rice and plainly dressed fresh salad.

Garnish is Mexican Oregano blossoms from my garden

Ever heard of Hatch Peppers? My friend Nancy in Tempe brought me a few bags of frozen roasted Hatch Farm peppers – that’s how I came to love Poblanos and had to try my hand at growing them this year.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Food, garden, harvest, Mexican Food, RECIPE. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.