Oaxacan Relleno y Maiz

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Maiz and Chile are native foods of Mexico and they are highlighted in this Oaxacan recipe for Chile Relleno. The maiz is prepared as grits which are not familiar or usual in Mexico. Grits are coarsely ground-kernels of dry corn and cooked as a porridge; so to stay true to authentic Mexican gastronomy, I ground these from Mexican red maize. Chile ancho is the dry form of poblano chile; they’re softened in water then stuffed with ingredients of choice.

I discovered dried chile ancho rellenos in Oaxaca some years ago. There, for the first time, I enjoyed mouthwatering savory and sweet picadillo rellenos. I wanted to try something different to accompany this relleno and came to the idea of serving the relleno on a bed of grits. Turned out to be a savory culinary winner. I flavor the grits with Oaxacan cheese and mint. It made it a base for the chile relleno

Let’s get started

Ingredients

Serves 4

Relleno

6 large chile anchos

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves minced

1 cup chopped tomato

1 lb ground beef or shredded beef, pork or chicken

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup toasted and chopped almonds

¼ cup finely chopped green olives

1 ½ tablespoons capers

⅓ cup parsley finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Home made Grits

1 ½ cups dried corn kernels

(See photo below)

½ cup diced mint

3 ounces Oaxacan cheese (or other melting cheese)

Salt

(If you prefer to buy ready made grits, purchase stone ground grits for this recipe because they are coarser and flavorful)

Preparation

Chiles

Using a sharp knife, slice each pepper to make one opening for the filling. Remove the seeds from pods and rinse twice with water discarding the rinse water. Place pods in a large bowl add water and cover with water. Soak the chile for about an hour or until the pods are completely soft turning them during the soak period.

Grits from scratch

A home kitchen grain mill is ideal to make grits; otherwise use a food processor or coffee grinder. Grind the maiz to ½ the size of pepper corn, coarser than polenta. Grinding maize with a coffee grinder will produce multiple size particles. Largest is “Cracked Corn”, next small size is “Grits”that’s used in this recipe,. Fine size is “Corn Flour”. The latter is used to make corn bread. Any remaining large particles are for chicken feed. I separated the particle sizes using two different sieves (sifter, screen) of finer and large gauge. Save the flour for corn bread, regrind the largest particle size for more grits and flour or go feed the chickens, they will love it.

Cooking Grits

In a sauce pot heat 5 cups of water to boiling, carefully whisk in 1 cup grits, little by little, until you’ve added the entire amount to the saucepan. Low simmer the grits, cover and stir every 3 minutes for about 30 minutes. Continue cooking until the grits are smooth and chewable. Remove grits from the heat. Add the cheese and mint and stir until the cheese melts. Thin the sauce with milk. Salt to taste.

Picadillo

In an 8 inch sauté pan, heat the oil and cook the onions until transparent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add the tomato, cook for 3 minutes. Add the meat, and brown thoroughly over medium heat. Add cinnamon, raisins, almonds, olives, capers, and parsley. Add stock, or white wine or water to moisten the filling. Salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for five minutes.

Plating

Fill each ancho pepper with picadillo. On each dinner plate lay a bed of grits, lay a chile relleno over the grits and garnish with fresh herbs or salad.