OK here we go. Hatch Green Chile Relleno Fest 2025 is in the books. We do this at my parents' house every year, and we had over 20 people between adults and kids, my full extended family on one side.
This year we
fixed two kinds, one stuffed with cheddar cheese (which is my dad's traditional version from west Texas) and one stuffed with pecan-smoked pulled pork. I of course had to be a rebel and made a few stuffed with BOTH!
Step 1: Chiles fresh from the roaster, getting a cold water bath, and then ready to have the blistered skin peeled. This was an entire crate, something like 20 lbs of peppers. Somewhere between 80 and 100 maybe?
After being peeled, first tray set aside for de-seeding. This was just one tray, there were 5 or 6 of them.
Pecan smoked pulled pork, and cheddar cheese, ready to go as the fillings.
The cheese-stuffed ones have been filled, and now they're going through an egg wash and then seasoned cornmeal, ready for the fryer.
The fryer:
A finished batch of cheese-stuffed:
A finished batch of smoked pork:
The final presentation with both kinds, plus the salsa pura for topping (made from green chile, onions, and tomatoes), a little cotija for topping, and some esquites (Mexican street corn off the cob).
And my first plate, with a couple of each kind plus one of my combo rellenos, some Mexican rice, some beans, the salsa pura, and some green chile salsa Dona. Oh and a blue margarita, my dad's specialty.
