Winter Chiles

I went to a great class last night at Central Market called “Winter Chiles.” A gentleman named Terry Conlan from the Lake Austin Spa Resort taught the class. Since the class was taught by an executive chef of a spa, the dishes were flavorful without a lot of fat.

On the menu were a lot of great dishes made with various kinds of dried chilies:

Sweet Potato Soup with Ancho and Orange
Seafood Pozole
Ancho Chile Relleno
Pescado Tapado
Enchiladas Jaliscos
Stacked Blue Corn Enchiladas

My favorite dish was the Ancho Chile Relleno. Mmmmm. Give it a try.

Ancho Chile Rellano

8 large ancho chiles
½ cup dried cherries, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
1 cup cubed butternut squash, blanched
¼ cup of chopped toasted pecans
4 cups reduce fat cheddar cheese
2 cups of 1% cottage cheese drained

Toast the chiles briefly in a dry skillet, turning frequently. Soak in hot water for 30 minutes. The chiles should be tender, but not soft. Carefully cut a slit down one side of each chile and rinse out the seeds.

Combine remaining ingredients and stuff chiles. Warm an oven to between 350°-375°. Heat through until cheese is melted. Serve warm on a pool of salsa verde.

A quick note on cheese: if you do not need to worry about fat, go for a full fat cheese. I almost never use a fat free cheese myself. It just has no taste. But I have never minded using a reduced fat cheese. The instructor suggested using the reduced fat cheddars by Cabbot. I have had the full fat cheddars by Cabbot and they are very tasty (I found Cabbot at Costco). I now be on the lookout for the Cabbot reduced fat cheeses.

Enjoy!