(serves 4)

I. Chile Rellenos

• 4 Poblano Peppers
• 8 oz Feta Cheese, crumbled
• 2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and diced
• 3 tablespoons dried epazote (mexican spice)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk/soymilk
• 1 cup cornmeal
• Canola oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• First: Char the Peppers. Rinse each pepper, and then hold each one over an open flame (gas stove burners work well), rotating slowly until the skin is completely blackened but not burned through. After skin is blackened, immediately pepper wrap in a wet paper towel and place inside a plastic bag. Let sit for 15 minutes.
• Second: Mix the Filling. Cook the mushrooms, epazote, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a dry saucepan over low heat for about five minutes, until soft. They shouldn’t need oil, but if they really start sticking to the pan feel free to add a tablespoon or two of water. Take off flame and thoroughly mix in feta cheese. Let sit.
• Third: Peel and Clean the Peppers. Using a paper towel (the ones the peppers were wrapped in are fine), wipe the blackened skin off of the pepper flesh. it should peel off easily as long as the entire outside skin was blackened thoroughly (if you’re really having trouble you can run peppers under water and rub with your hands BUT – don’t do this unless you have to as it removes flavor from the peppers). Once skin has been rubbed off peppers, slice lengthwise down the pepper using a sharp knife. Proceed to clean the peppers, using the knife to remove the peppers’ tops, inner seeds, and veins (these are the extra bits of while stringy flesh that run from the seed cluster and attach to the inner walls). Feel free to leave some of the veins and seeds if you like, but they are the hottest part of the pepper so do so with caution.
• Fourth: Stuff the Peppers. Once you’ve peeled and cleaned the peppers, stuff them with enough filling so that they are full, but easily close without exposing the filling. Leave enough room at the top that the pepper skin folds up on itself, protecting the inner filling.
• Fifth: Prep the Peppers for Frying. Pour enough oil into a frying pan (cast iron is best as it can withstand high heat) so that it’s at least an inch deep. Heat it on medium high heat (if you have a deep fryer, feel free to use this instead). Meanwhile, vigorously beat the eggs and milk together in a large bowl until frothy, and lay out corneal in another large bowl. Dunk each stuffed, closed pepper into the egg mixture, soaking it thoroughly, and then move it to the corn meal, rolling it around until each pepper is completely covered.
• Sixth: Fry the Peppers. Fry the peppers in the oil until lightly browned on all sides (careful of the hot oil). Remove the peppers with a slotted spoon, place on a paper towel to dry and lightly salt. Let cool before eating.

II. Garlic Chipotle Sauce:

• 3 large tomatoes OR 1 twenty eight oz can of tomatoes, rinsed
• 1/4 large white onion, peeled
• 3 small or 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 of a seven oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• sea salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• First: Roast the Tomatoes. Place the (whole or thoroughly rinsed canned) tomatoes in a medium baking pan and broil them for 15 – 20 minutes, turning once.
• Second: Blend the Ingredients. Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and half the can of chipotle peppers (you can add the whole can, but the more you add the hotter the sauce will be) into a blender with the vegetable broth and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.
• Third: Cook the Sauce. Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the sauce puree and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for five minutes until boiling. Then turn onto the lowest heat and let simmer for another five minutes.

III. Assembly:
Plate the peppers and pour the sauce on top. Serve warm.