# Breezy Baked Stuffed Poblano Peppers



## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

Since the farmers market had wonderful Poblano peppers this past Saturday, bought a few & enjoyed them for dinner last night.  Served on a bed of Knorr's Mexican Rice mix with a big green salad alongside - delicious.
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*BREEZY BAKED STUFFED POBLANO PEPPERS*
** 

6 – 8 fresh green poblano peppers (depending on their size and your appetite), & 
1 brown paper bag, food-safe plastic bag, or bowl with plastic wrap to cover that will comfortably hold peppers. Keep in mind that Poblano peppers can vary widely in their heat level – some are just little bit spicier than bell peppers, others can be almost as hot as Jalapenos. There’s really no way to tell other than a taste test.

3 – 4 tablespoons of grated cheese PER PEPPER, such as cheddar, Monterey Jack, or – if you like extra heat – one of the “hot pepper” cheeses now on the market. The recently available preshredded Mexican-cheese mixtures also work very well here. A standard-size block of any two of the above, or 1-2 bags of preshredded cheese mix should give you more than enough cheese to stuff 6 – 8 peppers.

One 10-oz. can of red Enchilada Sauce.


Preheat broiler for approximately ten minutes. Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with oil and place peppers on it with space between them. Broil for 5-6 minutes, turn peppers over & broil for another 5-6 minutes, or until skin is black & blistered. Place peppers in paper or plastic bag, or in plastic-wrap covered bowl and allow to sit for approximately 15 - 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle comfortably. One by one, gently peel blistered skin off of peppers (this may be done under a GENTLE stream of cold running water). Leaving the stem intact, gently cut a lengthwise slit in each pepper and carefully remove seeds***.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using any baking dish that will comfortably hold the peppers in a single layer (an 8” x 8” or 10” x 10” works well for me, coat the bottom with half the enchilada sauce. Carefully stuff approx. 3 to 4 tablespoons of grated cheese into each pepper and place in sauced dish. Top with drizzles of the remaining sauce.

Bake uncovered for 20 – 25 minutes, or until peppers are heated through and cheese is melted. Remove from oven & allow to stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Served with or on top of your favorite Spanish/Mexican/yellow rice with a green salad & perhaps some refried beans on the side. This makes a nice, lively vegetarian entrée. 

***This is sometimes easier said than done. Don’t have a heart attack if your peppers tear a bit here and there. Once they are stuffed with cheese and everything is melted and oozing together – no one will know the difference.
 
Here's a pic before they go into the oven:


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

And a pic after they come out of the oven:

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## msmofet (Jun 30, 2010)

The only thing they are stuffed with is cheese? They look yummy, cheesy and saucy!! Could they be stuffed WITH the mexican/spanish/yellow rice AND the cheese?


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

Yup - they're stuffed with just cheese.  While I'm sure you could stuff them with whatever you want (there are lots of recipes out there), keep in mind that once you roast & peel them, Poblanos are relatively flat & delicate - nothing like regular bell peppers.  So you'd pretty much end up with a flat pepper with stuffing piled on top.  That's why I prefer just stuffing them with cheese & serving them with all the saucy goodness on top of a bed of rice.

Also - stuffing them with the rice & cheese together would most likely end up fairly goopy.  This way, the drier rice is there to sop up all the cheesey sauce goodness. 

But hey - experimentation is how I ended up developing this recipe in the first place - lol!


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## Andy M. (Jun 30, 2010)

These look really good but please clarify something for me.

If you stuffed the cheese inside the peppers, how come they appear to be topped with melted cheese?  Did you add more on top?


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> These look really good but please clarify something for me.
> 
> If you stuffed the cheese inside the peppers, how come they appear to be topped with melted cheese? Did you add more on top?


 
Nope - no more added cheese. What you saw in the first pic was what you saw in the end pic. It's all just shredded cheese. (In this case, a commercial pre-shredded Mexican cheese mix - cheddar, Monterey Jack, Queso, & one other that escapes me at the moment.)

Here's the poop - After roasting & peeling the Poblanos, they're rather delicate, & after making the vertical slit to seed them (which I usually do just with a finger), they pretty much lay out flat. So what you see is a bunch of cheese piled up on top with the sides lightly drawn up around it. Definitely not the same as if you were stuffing a bell pepper with firm walls.


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## Andy M. (Jun 30, 2010)

Got it.


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

One other thing that I LOVE about this recipe? Except for whatever sides you want to serve - rice, refried beans, green salad - the recipe itself consists of just THREE ingredients - the peppers, shredded cheese, & a can of red enchilada sauce!!!

The Poblano peppers from the farmers market cost me about $1, the bag of shredded cheese cost me $1.99, & the can of enchilada sauce was $1 & change.  Rice mix was on sale for $1.50.  Very nice meal for around $6 that fed 2 people for dinner plus me for lunch today.

Delicious, frugal, & vegetarian (if not vegan) friendly - lol!


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

And one more thing - in the pics it looks like each pepper is a half of a pepper.  Not so - each is a whole pepper split down one side.


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## kadesma (Jun 30, 2010)

I don't care where the cheese is. They look delicious as is and something I'd love. I have had them stuffed with potato and meat, I didn't care for them that much, I 'd rather have them your way.
kades


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

Kadesma - they're really just a baked version of Chilis Rellenos - stuffed, batter-dipped, & fried Poblano peppers.  I made the fried version once & was not only not impressed, but felt that what I loved most about it - the peppers & cheese - didn't need to be fried.  Thus, I developed this version.  I'm sure you could stuff them with whatever you want, but we really enjoy this meatless version.


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## kadesma (Jun 30, 2010)

BreezyCooking said:


> Kadesma - they're really just a baked version of Chilis Rellenos - stuffed, batter-dipped, & fried Poblano peppers.  I made the fried version once & was not only not impressed, but felt that what I loved most about it - the peppers & cheese - didn't need to be fried.  Thus, I developed this version.  I'm sure you could stuff them with whatever you want, but we really enjoy this meatless version.


Oh, me too, these are right up my alley. One of my favorite things is cheese.I buy cubanelle pepper when I can find them cut them in half the long way seed then dip into a beer batter, lay them on a sheet pan on parchment fill them with shredded pepper jack cheese and bake til all the cheese melts and  the batter puffs and gets golden. My family loves them, even the kids. So your recipe is going to be a big hit. thanks agan
kades


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 30, 2010)

Cubanelles are my favorite sweet frying pepper.  In fact, at the same time I bought the Poblanos at the farmers market, I also bought a bunch of Cubanelles that I'm planning on slicing & frying up with sweet onions for Italian Sausage Subs for dinner tomorrow night.


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## Wyogal (Jun 30, 2010)

I had a stuffed poblano at a restaurant in Tempe that was fantastic, not sure what was in it, but a mixture of chicken, rice, veggies. But, what I liked the most was the addition of dried apricots and pepitas. 
I like the simplicity of yours, and the idea of putting it on top of the rice.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 1, 2010)

Certainly loks fantastic, now I'm all hungry again!


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jul 2, 2010)

Looks good!  I make a similar version which is a cross between a traditional stuffed pepper and these.  I use ground meat and rice in mine along with the cheese.


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## MSC (Jul 7, 2010)

When you can get a hold of really good poblanos and as long as you're not a vegetarian, take a look at the Mexican dish "chiles en nogada", poblanos stuffed with chopped pork, fruits and spices, and covered with a walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.
It's a traditional dish from Puebla with lots of recipes available on the net.
Another good thing about them is that they freeze well so I always make a large batch.


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## powerplantop (Jul 7, 2010)

Breezy, 

Those look great!


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## Wyogal (Jul 7, 2010)

MSC, those sound like what I had at that restaurant in Tempe... maybe some different protein(s), but similar. Thanks!


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## kadesma (Jul 7, 2010)

Breezy,
I found Cubanelles at the Farmers Market and bought  a bunch of them. Got some red enchiladdah sauce and off we went. I bought pepper jack cheese and one Mexican cheese mixed them together and made the peppers like you said to do. They turned out wonderfully. We had Mexican white rice and some refried beans to go with the peppers and the dinner was perefect. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us. It's a keeper.
kades


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## GrillingFool (Jul 7, 2010)

Yum! I have a recipe for these that includes eggs, and is kind of like a quiche or frittatta, very good too.

I agree that the breading and frying is good, but to me, egg batter is just too much trouble!


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## niquejim (Jul 8, 2010)

I stuff poblanos with mushrooms, spinach, shrimp and Jack cheese and serve with fajita seasoned steak on a bed of cilantro based chimichurri


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## babetoo (Jul 8, 2010)

powerplantop said:


> Breezy,
> 
> Those look great!


 
wow they certainly do.


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