This week’s box included a small bag of hot peppers with jalapenos, habaneros, and poblanos. The heat in poblanos can vary – sometimes mild, sometimes hot. This recipe came my way from the Splendid Table and is originally from Rick Bayless’ cookbook More Mexican Everyday. I like to save up my poblanos until I have enough for this recipe, but you could also substitute some bell peppers. The recipe suggests using the rajas as part of a vegetarian taco filling. We did that, then enjoyed the remainder in a creamy chicken dish later in the week. In addition to vegetarian tacos, rajas are the perfect accompaniment to grilled meat or fish tacos, to steak or pork chops, or to grilled, sauteed, or broiled fish or chicken.
Ingredients:
4 (about 1 pound) medium fresh poblano chiles 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil 1 large white onion, sliced ¼ inch thick 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped ½ teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican ¾ cup Mexican crema, crème fraiche or heavy cream ½ teaspoon salt
Preparation:
Roast peppers over a gas flame over high heat, turning frequently. The heat should be so intense that the tough skin of the chiles will blister and blacken without softening the flesh too much. (I rest my chiles on the burner, directly in the flame.) When chiles are evenly blackened, enclose them in a paper sack or in a bowl covered with a kitchen towel. When the chiles have cooled enough to be handled, rub (or rinse) off the charred skin, remove the seed pod, seeds, and the interior fiber ribs that can concentrate the chiles’ heat.
Slice roasted chiles into ¼-inch strips.
Heat oil over medium-high in a 12-inch skillet. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until the richly browned but still a little crunchy, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and dried oregano.
After a minute, stir in the chile strips and Mexican crema. When the cream has thickened enough to coat the chiles nicely – that takes only a couple of minutes over the medium-high heat, though it needs to be stirred nearly constantly – season with salt to taste.