Possible to Bake Poblano Peppers without Scorching First?
I want to make a faux chile relleno, which I usually make by charring the poblanos under the broiler, then stuffing with cheese and various other accoutrements. I skip the breading and frying step and usually just melt a bit more cheese on top. But, the charring step always takes forever and I'll be pressed for time. So I'm wondering if I can just stuff the peppers with the filling and bake them without charring first, rendering a soft pepper at the end like the scorching would normally accomplish. Or would I just end up with a stuffed crunchy pepper topped with melted cheese?
Your expertise, please!
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10 Comments:
I think you would be missing out on a lot by not charring. Unfortunately you would NOT be missing the skin....another vote for charring. You'd also miss flavor development in the pepper, a bit of smokiness, and have to make up some cooking time in the baking process.....I think this might not be the time for shortcuts.
Cary at 4:12PM on 02/18/09
If you have a gas cooktop, char them directly on the burner. It only takes a few minutes.
dbcurrie at 4:19PM on 02/18/09
dbcurrie is correct.....charring directly on a gas burner is surprisingly not messy and only takes a few minutes. Throw them in a brown paper bag when you're done and let sit for about 5-10 minutes and use the bag to rub the skin off. Voila! You're done!
Chef Jo at 4:28PM on 02/18/09
there's a recipe on SE for poblanos stuffed with beans, rice & pork & the method is to cut the peppers in half, bake them at 400, with some water. cook until tender (about 30 minutes), then stuff & bake again.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/11/stuffed-poblanos-with-tomatillo-salsa-recipe.html
dmarina at 5:09PM on 02/18/09
They definitely won't be nice and soft if you don't char them first.
To those of your with gas burners: I am deeply envious! I miss the gas burners I had in Boston and NYC. No gas burners in Miami :(
bitchincamero at 5:12PM on 02/18/09
Sorry but I have to vote for charring. I recently moved to a place with gas burners and wouldn't dream of making chile rellenos without the charring step. They will be a whole other animal if you simply fill and bake them. Yield: A stuffed naked pepper that might be soft but will lack some flavor and still have its skin.
chiff0nade at 5:27PM on 02/18/09
I think I'll have to bite the bullet and char them. Thanks for the advice!
PestoGal at 5:59PM on 02/18/09
@bitchincamero, my electric stove (it came with the house, it wasn't my fault) died about a year ago, and I was so giddy that I could char peppers on the new gas cooktop that I was probably charring a pepper every day, just because I could.
dbcurrie at 6:06PM on 02/18/09
candles work. charring changes the hot to sweet and is really important. as far as the crunchiness goes, if you bake them, they wont be crunchy, same as a stuffed bell pepper. they will taste bad though.
blizcheetah at 12:21AM on 02/19/09
I agree, you need to char to make the poblanos sweet. I know this isn't authentic, but if you don't want to char, use bell peppers instead, since they're already sweet.
Embackus at 7:09PM on 02/19/09