The beauty of being bi-cultural (both Mexican and American) is that I have learned to borrow and adapt from both cultures to create unique traditions and recipes.

I want to share skinny Mexican recipes with you, but the following recipe is definitely not skinny! Maybe later I will figure out how to make them less artery-clogging..but for now, I’m in a fat-makes-me-happy phase.

For example, I love chiles rellenos, but I haven’t had much luck in the past making them as delicious and pretty as my mama’s.  Last night, I finally figured out a few tricks to make them work for me. And, wouldn’t you now it, I managed to slip in some good old American BACON!

Celi’s Gringo-Mexican Chiles Rellenos

Ingredients:

6 large, roasted, peeled, de-stemmed and de-seeded (unless you like them spicy) *Hatch peppers

*the long and wide green chiles; you can purchase them roasted seasonally at farmer’s markets and some supermarkets, or roast them over a flame, boil and peel them

8-10 oz block Mexican cheese (Munster cheese is similar)

6 eggs whites (you will beat them into stiff peaks later)

6 egg yolks

6 strips of crispy-fried bacon! (keep the grease)

1 cup of cooking oil (I use olive oil to make myself feel better about the bacon…)

1 cup of flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. of garlic powder

Warning: This is a very hands-on task (most Mexican cooks don’t use utensils for anything); keep a wet dishrag handy and get ready to get messy!

1) Mix flour, garlic powder and salt in a large bowl.

2) In a large frying pan, add cooking oil to the grease left over from frying the bacon and heat to a high temp.

3) Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks (put them in the refrigerator for a bit if you’re a slow pepper roller, otherwise they’ll be flat by the time you are ready to roll).

3) Cut the cheese into slivers and stuff the peppers with cheese and a strip of bacon.

4) Next, roll the peppers, one at a time, first in the egg yolk, then the flour.

5) Now carefully roll the peppers in the beaten egg white until fully covered.

6) Fry and turn peppers on both sides until golden brown (about 2 minutes per side).

Listo! Ready! I like to serve them with rice, beans, shredded lettuce and tomato.

Provecho! Enjoy!

-Celi-