One necessary part of a chicken farm is an egg cookbook. At least one, if not many, many. So I grabbed my first one, The Fresh Egg Cookbook by Jennifer Trainer Thompson.
I love it! My husband and I both have been reading all the cool info she shares about breeds and such (I'll share the review of that part of the book soon) and I just love learning new stuff. I made the decision to cook every single recipe, so I can learn as much about the amazing impact fresh eggs have on our health.
So, the first recipe I chose is a variation on a favorite of mine and what I order at every Mexican restaurant, Chili Rellanos. They are so delicious, with rice, yum. This version is more of a casserole and instead of breading for the chilis, has an egg layer that really is a wonderful addition.
The first thing I did was hit the store for some peppers and cheese. It's too early for peppers from my garden, so Kroger it is. I got 3 poblano peppers and 3 anaheim peppers. I thought a comparison on taste would be excellent, since I have never cooked this dish before.
I started with placing the peppers under the broiler, and turning a few times, for about 20 minutes. Then I pulled them out and because I don't have any aluminum foil (I keep forgetting, dammit!) I placed them in the casserole dish with the lid on and let them continue to steam for about 10 more minutes.
In the meantime, I went ahead and mixed together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper, and flour.
After the steaming portion was complete, I peeled the charred skin off of the peppers (super easy part) and I cleaned all the seeds and such from the inside, cutting them in half. Then I laid half of them across the bottom of my large, Pampered Chef, casserole dish. I love me some Pampered Chef.
I sprinkled most of the cheese over the halves, then added the other half of the peppers, layered the remaining cheese and topped it with the egg, flour, milk mixture, well mixed.
The recipe called for it to be cooked for 25-30 minutes, so I did 30 minutes in the dish with the lid on, then 5 minutes without the lid.
When I took it out of the oven, it still looked pretty yellow and a little soft, but I was starving and made the rushed decision to dive right in.
Despite my hurry, it was delicious. The eggs really added a lot to the recipe, leaving it a little lighter than the rellanos I buy at the restaurant. And because it was layered instead of stuffed peppers, there was more variety in the flavors. Things were able to mix a little more.
I am looking forward to making this with fresh, garden peppers and the anaheim tasted the better than the poblanos, I felt. They had a little extra bite to them. Lucky for me, that's what I'm growing. :-)
A couple of things I would do differently:
1. I would cook it without the lid until the top was golden and let it sit for 5-10 minutes afterwards. The eggs weren't as set as I would have liked.
2. I would buy a higher quality cheese. I went with the Kroger brand Mexican blend shredded cheese and there was a noticeable residue from the cheese that I was not thrilled with.
And that's it. The recipe was perfect and the addition of the layer of egg mixture was brilliant. I highly recommend this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment