Ingredients

10 Hatch straight long green chiles

1 8oz block of Monterrey Jack cheese

1 8oz block of Mozzarella cheese

1 dozen eggs

2 cups All Purpose Flour

Canola oil

Salt

1st Step-Roasting the chiles

A cast iron griddle works the best for roasting chiles. Place griddle over two burners on stove. Turn on both burners to medium heat and let griddle heat up for 5 minutes. Place chiles on griddle and begin roasting turning occasionally to roast evenly. Once roasted, carefully place chiles in a gallon size freezer bag making sure they are laying flat. Gently remove air from bag and seal. Let completely cool. At this point I prefer to place the bag in the refrigerator over night. I feel the chiles become firmer and less likely to tear when peeling them. The following day I carefully peel them and begin preparing them to fill.

2nd Step-Preparing and Filling the chiles

Grate both blocks of cheese, blend and set aside. It makes a difference to grate your own cheese. Grated cheese in packages in the supermarket have extra preservatives making it drier and harder to melt. Place flour in bowl and set aside. Carefully separate the egg whites from the yolks. Whisk the egg yolks and set aside. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks are formed. I use my stand mixer for this. Once fully whipped, I slowly and very carefully fold in the yolks and set aside. At this point place a large non stick pan to heat with about 1/8 inch Canola oil on the stove over medium to high heat. Set aside a pan lined with a paper towel to place Rellenos in immediately after cooking. I like to fill and make each Relleno one by one. It’s tedious but the end result is worth it so here we go. First, get a peeled chile and carefully make a slit from the stem and go ¾ down. With a sharp knife remove seeds at stem leaving stem in tact. Don’t worry if a few seeds are left in. Most restaurants leave all the seeds in. Once this is done, salt the chile evenly to taste. Next, place enough cheese in chile to be able to close it. Dredge chile in flour making sure to hold chile together so that cheese does not fall out. Now comes the hard part…getting the egg on the chile. You could dip it but it’s so messy…so what I do is spoon it on top of chile, spreading evenly, slit side up and then carefully placing face down in the hot oil. Once in the pan I spoon egg on top and once again spread evenly. This is where two spatulas come into play. I use two spatulas to help mold the Rellenos. Once golden I gently flip it all the while still helping mold it. Then you gently tilt on each side to ensure Rellenos are evenly

cooked. Once beautifully golden, place Relleno on paper toweled pan and begin process all over again! If oil should get low, put more in pan allowing it to heat before placing Rellenos in. Placing them in hot oil decreases chances of greasy Rellenos. That’s it! Sit back and enjoy…they are absolutely delicious!

Retro Pajama Mama Party Queso 🌶

I’m very much a traditionalist and love authentic Chile con queso made with long green roasted chiles (preferably from Hatch) with sautéed onions and Monterrey Jack cheese…there are times though when you need more of a Nacho type dip and this is it…my husband came home one day and told me of this recipe a co-worker had shared with him…I tweaked it a bit and it’s always a hit….it can be served hot or cold…you will need a heavy duty blender for this.

Ingredients:

1 Serrano jalapeño

1 whole peeled medium yellow onion

(cut both ends off and peel)

1 medium tomato

8 peeled garlic cloves

8 oz. box of cream cheese

1 lb. box of Velveeta cheese

Directions:

Boil jalapeño, onion, garlic and tomato until the jalapeño goes from bright green to an army green. About 15 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, take out items (removing stem from *jalapeño) and place them whole into your blender. Follow with Velveeta (break into small pieces) and blend, after blended, add cream cheese (break into small pieces as you did with the Velveeta) and blend until smooth…do not add any water from pan. I say this because you’ll be tempted to when you hear your blender struggling but the perfect consistency will be ruined if you do. I like to make a second batch substituting the Serrano jalapeño with a regular jalapeño to combine the heat from both for the perfect queso. Serve with tostadas or pour it over hamburger steak…Delicioso 🍴

*leave whole with veins and seeds
Makes approximately 2 quarts

One of the most important components in cooking, baking and creating is a functional pantry…no matter how small, an organized, personalized space can supply the tools and inspiration for wonderful culinary delights. I transformed a broom closet in my home because all I had were cabinets for my groceries…I have cooking and baking pans, cookbooks, dishes, canned goods, pastas etc and mostly anything that will fit…but what I love most are the knick knacks that I’ve collected over the years to make it my own…definitely my favorite room in my house.

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Quarter sheet $50

Half sheet $75

2 Dozen Cupcakes $30

Here’s my Menudo recipe as promised. May you all have a Beautiful and Blessed New Year!

Ingredients:

• 7 lbs. fresh cubed Beef Tripe

• 1 Onion

• 1 head of Garlic

• 2 tbsp. Salt

• 4 cups prepared Red Chile sauce

• 2 108 oz. cans of Hominy

Directions:

Rinse tripe twice under cold running water. Divide tripe into two large pans and fill with water. Put 1 tbsp. of salt into each pot. Peel an onion, cut it in half and place in pots. Peel all cloves from head of garlic and place half in each pot. Bring pots to a boil on high heat. Once boiling, lower heat to medium to continue a soft rolling boil. I keep an extra pot of boiling water on side to add to pots as needed. After 4 hours have elapsed add 2 cups of chile sauce and 1 large can of drained hominy to each pot. Cook for approximately 2 more hours or until tripe is tender.

INGREDIENTS:

4 LARGE EGGS
1/2 CUP WHOLE MILK
8 OZ MONTERREY JACK CHEESE *
4 CUPS FRESH BABY SPINACH
2 TBSP SWEET CREAM SALTED BUTTER
1 TSP ONION POWDER
1 TSP GARLIC POWDER
1/4 TSP LAWRY’S SEASONING SALT

DIRECTIONS:

PREHEAT BROILER TO HIGH. IN A 12 INCH OVEN SAFE NON STICK PAN COOK DOWN SPINACH WITH BUTTER, ONION AND GARLIC POWDERS OVER MEDIUM LOW HEAT. WHILE SPINACH IS COOKING DOWN BEAT EGGS WITH MILK AND AND SEASONING SALT. FOLD IN GRATED CHEESE AND POUR INTO PAN WITH COOKED SPINACH. RAISE HEAT TO MEDIUM AND COOK FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 MINUTES UNTIL ALMOST SET. PLACE IN BROILER FOR 2-4 MINUTES UNTIL COMPLETELY SET. COLOR WILL BE GOLDEN BROWN. GARNISH WITH RED SEEDLESS GRAPES FOR A LIGHT DELICIOUS BREAKFAST. IF YOU PREFER A THICKER FRITTATA, YOU CAN USE A 9 INCH PAN AND RAISE
THE STOVETOP AND BROILER TIMES BY APPROXIMATELY 1-2 MINUTES.

* I PREFER GRATING THE CHEESE MYSELF AS OPPOSED TO STORE BOUGHT GRATED CHEESE.  THE REASON BEING THAT PRE-GRATED PACKAGED CHEESE TENDS TO BE DRIER AND LACKS THE CREAMINESS OF FRESHLY GRATED CHEESE.

I try to inspire others by things my mom taught me, things I’ve learned through experience, things I’ve learned as a Coffee House and Deli owner and things I’ve read in magazines or that I’ve pinned on Pinterest. There is no rhyme or reason to my postings…I post as I go about my daily life as a wife, mom, sister and friend. What fills my soul is being in the kitchen in my pajamas, cooking or baking all the while listening and dancing to music with my husband and children and I hope to inspire you to do whatever it is that makes your soul happy.