Stuffed Poblanos - Good to be Home

Re-entry into east coast life has not been as smooth as I had hoped.  It was a stressful trip and I am happy to be done with it.  Slowly home seeps in and it is starting to feel good.  Thankfully, the heat is breaking.   My safe haven garden calls – as does my kitchen. 

The heat and lack of rain took a toll on my happy green space while I was away…  I lost about a quarter of my pepper plants – including my beloved Thais.  I plan to mine the plant dregs of my local greeneries this weekend and see what I can rustle up, but with water and rain in the future, the remaining plants are perking up and so I’m not terribly worried about the plants that made it.  Things will grow.  In fact, I have a multitude of tomato volunteers that have arrived even though I did not plant tomatoes in my garden last year.  So be it.  I’m learning that I can’t control everything.  It is a slow process, but my garden consistently works hard to encourage my self-growth. 

Coming back from a stint away also allows for an opportunity to appreciate certain gastronomic freedoms.  The research station is not the bastion of flexibility for meals and I miss cooking and having the time and inclination to cook.  And even if I did have time up there, ingredients tend to be sparse in northern Alberta.  I find I take things for granted here until I’m away for a while and am reminded of what bounty is just around the corner at my local Acme.  I went to Wegman’s yesterday and after walking around in a daze for a while, I proceeded to load up.  My fridge went from having just beer in it to being fully stocked and wonderfully full of potential.  Not that beer isn’t wonderful, but you know…

Produce popped, and the Poblano peppers called to me all beautiful and firm and big (supposedly, the peppers with straight stems are hotter than the curved stems, but I’m not sure I believe it is quite so clear cut).  Last night I cooked them up.  Stuffed with a ground chicken-corn-spice-herb mixture, they were mildly hot (slightly curved stems), tempered with a creamed corn sauce slightly browned under the broiler.  With a citrus avocado side-salad I was a happy woman.  The French Gimlet didn’t hurt, either.  Mmm   - Sometimes it is good to be reminded to savor what you have.

Stuffed Poblanos with Creamed Corn Puree

The Peppers:   3 or 4 Poblano peppers roasted and with skins, seeds, and veins removed.  To do this, pop them directly on top of stove or under broiler or on grill over flames – keep turning until black all over – they will look pretty ugly and will probably start to smoke, but it is worth it.  Throw them into a brown bag and wait five minutes or so before peeling off skin – be careful to only cut one slit down the side to remove the seeds and veins as you will be stuffing them from this slit.  If you wind up making holes in the pepper: no worries…  they will still taste delish even if they do spill on your plate a bit.

The Stuffing:

1 lb ground meat – I used chicken as it was in my fridge, but any meat will do

1 ear of corn cut from cob

1 small onion diced

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 T paprika (I used Hungarian…  if you’re looking for authentic Mexican here, keep in mind I’m mostly Norwegian….)

1 Tbs. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

½ tsp. salt (to taste)

Ground pepper to taste

½  lime juiced

2 Tbs. chopped cilantro

½ small jalapeno diced with seeds and veins removed

Creamed Corn Reduction:

1 ear of corn cut off cob and lightly sautéed in about ½ tsp olive oil

1 cup cream

¼ tsp salt (to taste)

Fresh ground pepper (to taste)

½ tsp brown sugar

A splash of lime juice

Prepare your pepper by making a slit on one side to receive stuffing.  Sauté meat, jalapeno, onion, and corn.  While sautéing, add spices and cook until meat is browned and done.  Add cilantro and lime juice at the very end.  Taste to check for saltiness and spiciness.   Poblanos can be tricky being either super hot or mild as all get out, and so sometimes it is good to just taste them before you stuff them and decided if you need to up the spice factor in your filling, or alternatively, increase how much creamed corn sauce you add…. 

As for the creamed corn sauce…  sauté the corn slightly and add the cream to the hot pan.  Add a bit of salt and pepper and let simmer until cream has reduced slightly and bubbles form all over the surface. This will take less than ten minutes.  Remove from heat and in a blender, blend until creamy and smooth.  If you want a little chunkier, then don’t blend so much.  The corn will further thicken the sauce.  Taste it at this point as it may need a little more sugar to accentuate the corniness of it.  If the corn is fresh and wonderful, you may get away with not adding any sugar, but if your pepper is really spicy, even if it tastes pretty good, you may want to add just a dash of sweet – only a bit of salt will get you somewhere.  A splash of lime juice perks the sauce up and you won’t want to skip that.

Put the stuffed peppers in an oven-safe dish and spoon a bit of the corn sauce over them.  Place under the broiler for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and browning a bit.  Spoon another bit of the corn sauce on your plate and place the stuffed pepper on top.  Feel free to add more or less corn sauce as you desire, but look out:  That stuff is good!!  My pepper was on the warm side and so the extra sauce made me happy.

I just made this recipe up, and so as is usual with me, nothing is written in stone and because I'm a tosser-inner, my amounts may be slightly off, but you get the gist.  If you have lovely herbs in your garden, herb it up.  Or sauté mushrooms or sweet peppers or spinach or really pretty much whatever sounds good to you with the meat.  If you want to go veggie, switch it up with rice and add some chickpeas and more spices.  Any way you slice it, It doesn’t take long to whip up and is delightful even on a hot night…. Especially with a beautiful cold cocktail.   Bon appétit.  Or whatever it is they say in Mexico….