The Main Dish from the Red Team Demo, featuring chile relleno with chorizo and black beans with verde sauce, as seen on Worst Cooks In America, Season 24.
Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell

Chile Relleno with Chorizo, Black Beans, Salsa Verde and Lime Crema

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  • Level: Intermediate
  • Total: 1 hr 40 min
  • Active: 1 hr 30 min
  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Directions

  1. To make the sauce, preheat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the tomatillos, jalapeño and sliced onions and cook, turning occasionally, until softened and blistered on all sides but not completely charred, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and wipe out any charred pieces that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan; reserve the pan. Coarsely chop the tomatillos, jalapeño and onions and add to a blender along with half of the garlic, the cilantro leaves and the zest and juice of 2 limes. Blend the sauce until smooth. Season with salt.
  2. Heat a large saute pan with the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the other half of the garlic and the cilantro stems and saute until slightly softened and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chorizo and break it up with a spoon. Cook until browned, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add the black beans, pepper jack cheese, 1 egg and salt to taste. Mix to combine.
  3. Place the poblanos on an open flame on your stovetop. Cook, flipping occasionally, until completely black and charred, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam until the skin pulls away, about 10 minutes. (If you don't have a gas stovetop, you can broil the pepper in the oven on high, turning occasionally, until charred.) Remove the skin from the pepper and wipe off any excess black char. Make a small slit lengthwise down the center of one side of the poblanos, being careful not to cut all the way through. Remove the seeds and ribs. Stuff each pepper with some of the filling, being careful not to overfill the peppers or else they will burst while frying. Close up the pepper by securing it with toothpicks.
  4. Separate the remaining 2 eggs into two large bowls. Add a pinch of salt into each bowl. Whip the egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat the egg yolks for about 30 seconds until well incorporated, then pour the yolks into the bowl with the egg whites and continue to beat until combined for another minute. To a third bowl, add the flour. Dip the stuffed poblanos into the egg mixture first, and then into the flour. If you feel like the stuffed poblano is not well coated, you can do a double dredge.
  5. Fill the reserved cast-iron pan with 2 inches of canola oil. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Test the oil with a little flour and, if it sizzles, it's ready. Gently lay a dredged poblano into the oil and fry on the first side until golden brown and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip, then fry for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate, season immediately with salt and allow to drain. Transfer to a sheet tray lined with a rack so they don't get soggy. Remove the toothpicks before serving.
  6. Mix together the crema and juice and zest of the remaining lime in a small bowl. Set aside.
  7. To serve, spoon some of the green chile sauce onto the bottom of the plate. Lay the fried poblano over the top of the sauce. Garnish with the cotija cheese. Spoon some of the lime crema alongside the fried chile.