It’s hatch chili pepper season. This is one of my favorite peppers. I like using it as an alternative to the poblano pepper because it has a little more of a kick to it, but not excessively spicy. The season is short, August and September, so I take advantage as soon as they are in our markets. You can choose from a variety of ways to stuff the peppers but this recipe is made with a chicken and cheese stuffing. This recipe will make more stuffing than you will need, but save the remainder of the chicken and cheese mixture to make empanadas or even a pasta casserole. Be creative.
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 Hatch chili peppers (you can substitute poblano peppers if you wish. You will also have enough of the stuffing to make many more stuffed peppers if you wish.)
- 1 Lb. Ground chicken (you can use white or dark meat. I used a blend of both.)
- 1/2 Cup chopped onion
- 1/4 Cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tsp. salt
- 1/2 Tsp ground cumin
- 2 Tsp. tomato paste
- 1/2 Cup golden raisins (Please don’t be put off by this ingredient. It does not make the dish overly sweet.)
- 1 Cup chicken broth
- 2 Cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 Cup flour
- 1 Cup potato starch (not potato flour) or corn starch.
- 1 Container of Panko bread crumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
- For the stuffing:
- Heat olive oil in a large pan.
- Add the chicken, garlic, onion, green pepper, cumin, salt and black pepper.
- Cook the mixture, breaking up the chicken into small bits. Continue cooking until the vegetables are wilted.
- Add the raisins, tomato paste and chicken broth.
- Stir well to combine and simmer until almost all of the broth has evaporated.
- Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
- Set the meat mixture aside to cool completely.
- Once cooled, add the cheese and mix well.
- For the peppers:
- Lay out the peppers on a foil lined cookie sheet.
- Broil in the oven turning from time to time until all sides of the peppers are charred.
- Remove from the oven and place in a zip lock bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
- Let the peppers steam and cool completely.
- Once cooled, peel them gently so as not to break the skin and do not remove the stem.
- Lay them out in one layer on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least a half of an hour. This makes them a little firmer to do the seeding.
- Once cooled, carefully make a slit down the side of the pepper with a sharp knife.
- Gently lift the skin and with a spoon, take out the seeds.
- Assembly:
- In one pan combine the potato or corn starch and flour. Add some salt and pepper to your taste.
- In another pan, beat the eggs and add salt and pepper to your taste.
- In a third pan add the Panko bread crumbs and salt and pepper to your taste.
- Carefully stuff each pepper with three tablespoons of the stuffing.
- Close the pepper overlapping at the seam.
- Gently roll the pepper in the flour mixture using both hands, then in the egg and finally in the bread crumbs, all with two hands so as not to allow the pepper to separate.
- Lay the stuffed and breaded peppers in a single layer on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. This hardens the coating and seals the seam of the pepper.
- Fry the pepper in a couple inches of oil that is brought to 325 degrees F until golden brown on all sides.
- Top with Mexican crema and crumbled queso blanco