Weekend Cookbook Challenge #5 - Chiles Rellenos

The theme for the Cookbook Challenge this time round is Cinco de Mayo. A fantastic theme and it was clear that I definitely had to take part.

For those who are not familiar with this, it is a national celebration in Mexico which takes place on May 5th! It commemorates the Mexican victory over the French forces back in 1862 in the Battle of Puebla.

OK! That was what I learnt in American History. What I really remember are the fantastic and colorful celebrations that our Mexican friends had. The fantastic food and just being part of some fun with family and friends. Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated in the US and is an officially recognized holiday there.

Well I dug out one of my old cookbooks that I really had not used in years. When I first came to Germany I was not able to cook nor speak the language. So, I decided to combine both. Buying cookbooks became a hobby and as I got better in both, German and cooking I was intrigued with trying out different types of dishes. I wanted to try every type of cuisine. It was in this phase that I came across a series of cookbooks that specialized in various recipes of the world. I loved these books as they were so much more than just cookbooks. There were detailed stories about the country, people and of course the foods! I relished not only the recipes but the stories.

Somehow when I started getting more confident in cooking all my cookbooks started gathering dust. I just started to make things up as I went along and found that I did not rely on cookbooks that much anymore.

It is a shame because when I did dust of this cookbook I started reading the stories again and enjoyed the fantastic and colorful photos. I look at these photos with other eyes now of course, as I myself enjoy food photography. It gave me a satisfying feeling that I was cooking with the old cookbook of mine that gave me pleasure all those years back and today, once again I found a new type of pleasure in it.

So, thank you Alicat and Sara for bringing these challenges to life!




Ingredients:

4 Green bell peppers
250g cream cheese
1 egg
large bunch of coriander leaves - chopped
1 medium sized onion - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves -finely chopped
600g tomatoes - skinned, de-seeded and chopped
2 jalepeno - chopped
olive oil
bay leaf
salt and pepper




Method:

Remove the tops off the bell peppers and get rid of the seeds from the inside.

Mix the cream cheese with the egg until smooth and creamy. Add the coriander leaves, salt and pepper. At this point, if you are cooking for kids, fill the bell peppers for them. In the rest of the cream cheese mixture now add the chopped jalepenos.
Fill the rest of the bell peppers with this and set aside.

In a large pot (I used my wok) heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic gently until the juices have combined. Now add the tomatoes. Mix together. Add the bay leaf and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the bell peppers on top of the tomato mixture, cover the pot and simmer for another 20 minutes.

I served this with spicy fajita style chicken and tortillas.



Verdict:
You know there are some recipes that you can eat continuously for months on end. Well I think I just found one that would go well into this category. Together with the chicken and tortillas this made a filling meal. The peppers were smooth and the filling beautifully creamy. The tomato sauce went so well with this as the garlic taste harmonized the entire dish. Soeren actually only wanted to eat the bell peppers. Tom's eyes widened and said "Wow this looks great" as he came to the dinner table. I said I made this for a blog event I wanted to take part in. He looked at me and said "Viva Blog events!" After this huge meal we all needed a well deserved SIESTA!
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8 comments:

  1. Another wonderful recipe Meeta!! That sounds and looks delicious.

    The theme for this month's WCC is fantastic I agree!

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  2. I meant to say that I love your idea about buying German cookbooks to help improve your German skills I think I will give that a try, I'm still struggling with the language and I've lived here over 5 years!

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  3. Looks and sounds great! I also own a few cookbooks of the "Küchen der Welt"-serie including Mexiko, really nice and informative recipes. I will try to join the mexican WCC :-)

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  4. Hey Meeta,
    I, too, have been thinking of joining the WCC with 'something Mexican'. I don't know what I want to cook yet. I hope I can think of something by the 14th of May.
    Btw, your dish looks lovely. Blog Patrol is going to have to work overtime, I guess. :)

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  5. I like your way of making chiles rellenos where you slice off the top. The traditional way, making a slit in the side is a lot harder. I'm going to do it your way from now on!

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  6. Gorgeous!

    I just found your blog through the Weekend Cookbook Challenge roundup.

    Love it!

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  7. Hi folks, thanks for all your comments. Glad you all like this. Ivonne welcome to the blog and hope you stick around.

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  8. You know, that's an excellent idea. My girlfriend and I are trying to learn French and reading recipes in French would be a great way for me to start picking things up!

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Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta