Cooking Mexican with Raul

Around Vancouver in 52 Restaurants > Americas > Mexico

I hadn’t seen Raul in a while, or cooked anything delicious, so we got together and he showed me how to make a couple of his favorite Mexican dishes, sopa azteca and chili rellenos. Yum! They’re delicious, so I wanted to publish them for you.

To make the chili rellenos, wash the poblano peppers (as many as you want to serve…probably 2 medium-sized peppers per person) and cut a little “window” in them, for stuffing. Pull out all the seeds, so they’re clean inside and then make some rice – about 1 cup per 4 peppers, depending on the size. It’s possible to add ground beef as well but we made a vegetarian version. Preheat the oven to 350.

In the meantime, start making the soup by dicing a medium onion and 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and sauteing them until the onions are translucent.  Purée 10 medium size tomatoes, adding a small can of salsa and then the onion and garlic mix. When it’s a consistent texture, transfer the whole lot to a stock pot.  Add 1/2 L of chicken stock, 1/2 tsp of chili powder (we used chipotle), a dash of cumin, a dash of sage and some salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes (or keep warm until the chili rellenos are done).

When the rice is ready, scoop as much as possible into each pepper and top with some salsa verde and Mexican cheese. Pop them in the oven for about 45 minutes until the peppers are soft and tender.

Garnish the soup with some fresh avocado pieces, crushed tortilla chips and some shredded/crumbled cheese. And make sure to serve with plenty of Negra Modelos and tequila of course.

Salud!