Chile Rellenos with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

So with the yumminess found in my first experience with Bountiful Baskets, I made chile rellenos. They are my all-time favorite Mexican food, but they are always hit and miss and restaurants, so I don't order them too often.

My Mexican Pack came with 4 giant, dark green poblano chiles. They were beautiful and instantly called out to me that they wanted to be made into chile rellenos. Luckily for me, I had a plethora of other Mexican produce to compliment them and an awesome friend/chef just posted a recipe for a tomatillo sauce. The pack had all the necessary produce.

I altered her recipe a tiny bit. I think I used 8 tomatillos. I didn't use the sour cream (although I might if I was using it as a dressing), I just used olive oil. I added some roasted onion. I added one roasted chile (I don't know what kind it was and I wasn't sure how spicy it was. It was yellow and about the size of a jalepeno.) Next time I'll add two. And I just roasted all the veggies, including the garlic, on my grill. The sauce was what really made the rellenos awesome.

Now for the actual Chile Relleno recipe.

4-5 Poblano Chiles (Anaheim also work well, and I used one plain old green pepper for the kids)
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. grated cheese (Jack or any mexican cheese are best, but I ended up using cheddar)
1 clove garlic, minced (I should have roasted another 1 or 2 cloves for the filling)
handful of chopped cilantro
2 T chopped onion (I should have roasted that as well)
salt to taste
Batter
4 eggs, separated
flour
salt

Roast the whole poblanos on the grill until the skin is nice and blackened all over. Place in a paper bag and close for 15 minutes. Remove skin from chiles and carefully deseed, if desired. (I left two with seeds for Tom and extra spiciness. Mine without seeds had the perfect level of heat.)

Mix filling ingredients. Carefully slit each chile and stuff with filling and fold back closed.

Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in yolks. Dip each filled chile in flour with a bit of salt and shake off all excess. Dip in egg batter and immediately fry in skillet with hot oil. Fry until golden brown on each side and filling is hot.


Serve with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce, Mexican Brown Rice, gaucamole and fresh corn tortillas.

Bountiful Baskets Rock!

So if you've never tried, or heard of, Bountiful Baskets, you need to get involved. It is a food co-op that delivers great local and regional produce at a can't be beat price. For $15, you get a big box of random seasonal produce. They also usually offer extra produce (such as bushels of peaches or a mexican variety pack) for a great deal. It is super fun to see what you get and to figure out what to do with it all before it goes bad.

This was the first time I have tried it out, but I think it was well worth the money. I did have to drive 40 miles to get the stuff, but I rationalized because I was picking up 8 boxes for all my friends. I am working on getting a pick-up closer to home.

Here are the goodies from my first week. I figure the standard basket, which cost me $15, contained $20-$25 worth of produce had I bought everything on sale. Do you see those persimmons. I have got to find a fun recipe to use them up.

The Mexican pack cost me $7.50 and contained $10-$15 of awesomeness. Do you see all those chiles, three varieties?. Chile rellenos were cooked last night, and let me tell you, they were wonderful.

So if you live anywhere in Arizona or in Northern Utah or Cedar City you need to check out their web site and get involved.

Since I don't cook much anymore and rarley take pictures...

Photo from www.thepioneerwomancooks.com

I will share a recipe I want to try and may get to by Christmas and if I do, I will definitely take pictures and share.

Pioneer Woman posted about yummy dark chocolate truffles with sea salt. That is two people who have posted about the awesomeness of sea salt (Her and her). I guess, I need to invest in some.

I have always wanted to make truffles because a) they are so delicious, b) they are so expensive and c) they are so beautiful and I think they would make grand Christmas neighbor gifts.

Does anyone else have a great, simple truffle recipe? Please share.

The Week Before the Marathon

The St. George Marathon is a mere 5 days away. I am excited and nervous like I am before any race, but I don't have the pressure I did last year. I would like to qualify for Boston but don't feel like I have to this year.

But I think the best part of this year's race is that I have so many friends running it that it'll basically be a big giant party. I have friends from high school coming to do it, most of my best running buddies from here will be doing it. (I am super bummed that my sisters are not doing it. I was looking forward to kicking their butts) Some are doing their first marathon, others are veterans who are going for pr's. Some want to qualify, others just want to cross that finish line. Some are raising money for charity. Click here for more info on the charity team we joined. Some have spent plenty of money already on registration, shoes, energy gels, gatorade, new clothes, chiropractors and massages, etc.

But I think we are all excited to race 26.2 miles in beautiful southern Utah weather and scenery. I know I am. I am excited to push myself to my limit. I am excited to be sore the following week. I am excited to be part of the charity team. I am excited to eat lots of yummy carbs this week. I am excited to only run maybe 7 miles total this week before Saturday. I am excited to see old friends. I am excited to try to keep up with current friends. And I am super excited to cheer everyone on at the start and finish lines. I am hoping the weather stays nice and my stomach cooperates after the race so I can cheer all my peeps in. (Sorry to the speedy ones, they'll just have to settle with a good luck at the start line and Tom can probably cheer them in at the finish.)

It is so amazing to me how excited and diligent and awesome a marathon makes people. I have super enjoyed sharing 4 months of training with so many. We had organized long runs on the course. We've run (and organized) pre-race races. I've got to keep up with training on blogs and facebook and even on the traditional phone. We've talked injuries, digestion problems and toenails. We've discussed clothing and hydration and nutrition.

Even my peeps not running the race are awesome. Many have still trained with us, going long miles just to go long miles. They listen and act interested in the race. They support us. They've run other races with us or cheered us on as we ran them. They'll be cheering us on (at the finish line or from home) at the real deal. Some are even volunteering at the race expo. And hopefully many of you will be running the race next year.

It is going to be a great race and has been a great season. Thanks!

The Day After the Marathon

The St. George Marathon is less than 2 weeks away. Woohoo! Just wanted to share some humor before the race. Enjoy!

Tom's Soon to Come Adventure

I always blog about me and food and sometimes the kids, but I usually forget the most awesome guy in the world, my hubby.

On Saturday, Tom will embark on a new adventure. He has been preparing and training for months. And none the worse for it, he looks pretty dang hot with his toned legs.

Tom will bike 206 miles from Logan to Jackson Hole, all in one day. In the LOTOJA Classic, he will climb huge mountains (and luckily descend them too). He will ride through wind but hopefully no rain. He'll survive on pb&h, clif shots, bananas and gatorade. But he will also get to bike through some of the prettiest parts of the country. He will get to spend alot of great time with his brothers. And he will conquer one of the most grueling one day bike races ever.
I am so proud of all his hard work and diligent training. Luckily for him, he gets to ride the race with 3 brothers, a handful of best friends and be supported en route by a father, a mother, a sister and a sister-in-law. I'll support him post race with a great big meal and happy kids who didn't have to spend 12 hours in a car. And maybe I'll wave to him as we pass him on our way to Jackson.

I am excited to see Tom and his bros cross that finish line in Jackson. I am sure they will be exhausted and drained, but so ecstatic with their awesome show of endurance.

Go Tom! Good luck and be safe!

My Go To Dessert

English Trifle has always been a favorite dessert of mine. I remember requesting it as a kid and bringing it to school as a treat. It is easy to make and just makes me happy.

The basic ingredients include: cake, pudding or custard, jell-o, and fruit. I love my trifle bowl, we got for our wedding, and it gives me yet another incentive to make the dessert. I just use what fruit I have and layer all the goodness in the tall, glass bowl. Make it early in the day, so it has a chance t o set-up a bit and chill thoroughly.

Here is my basic recipe for

English Trifle

2 large packages pudding, prepared according to package.
I like "cook and serve" better, but instant works just fine. Typically I use vanilla, but I have used lemon as well.
2 large jell-o, any flavor, prepared according to recipe, but don't let set-up.
4-5 cups fruit, fresh or frozen.
Strawberries, peaches, raspberries and blueberries are great choices. Bananas are good too, but get mushy after the first day.
1 angel food cake.

I layer cake, jell-o before it has set, pudding, fruit and repeat 2-3 times. You can top with whipped cream, but I usually don't. Let it chill for a few hours so the jell-o sets up.

Enjoy!