Chile Rellenos

When we visited a new family in the ward, the mom gave us some fresh peppers - they have peppers, onions and cucumbers on their farm.  I've never used poblanos, but she suggested making chile rellenos.  So I searched for a recipe.  After searching through several this is what I came up with.

• 8 Poblano chile peppers, charred and peeled
• 1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
•  2 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for coating

1. Remove seeds and membranes from peppers. Stuff each pepper with cheese.
2. In a small bowl combine milk, the 1 cup flour, egg yolks, baking powder, baking soda, salt and canola oil; mix well to make a batter.  Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Slowly fold into batter.
3. Pour enough oil in heavy frying pan to reach 1 inch in depth and heat over medium-high heat. Roll each pepper in the remaining flour and dip in the batter. Fry until lightly browned on both sides. 

A lesson in charring the peppers:  I would use a gas grill.  Turn up the heat and turn them about every 3 minutes I would turn them a bit until everything was charred and blistered.  It took about 10-12 minutes.  Then I put them on a plate and cover it with plastic wrap and let them steam for about 10 minutes.  After that it was easy to peel the skin off.  I had to be really careful cutting open just one slit to remove the seeds and membranes.  Sometimes pulling the membranes out caused another side to rip, so I would use a sharp knife.  
PS it doesn't take long to pan fry them - 1-2 minutes per side.

Summer Casserole

SUMMER CASSEROLE

From COOKS.COM

• About 5 med. red potatoes
• 2 or 3 zucchini squash
• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, whole *
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 onion, sliced into rings
• 2 or 3 yellow crookneck squash
• 1 sweet green pepper, cubed
• Olive oil and Italian seasoning

1. Scrub potatoes and trim. Slice into rounds about 1/4 inch thick, leaving skin on. Toss in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons olive oil until all slices are coated. Place in the bottom of a baking dish about 9 x 13.
2. Slice the cleaned and trimmed squashes into rounds about 1/3 inch thick and set aside in bowl. Separate onion into rings and add to squashes along with cleaned mushrooms and 1 inch sweet pepper cubes. Toss with a couple tablespoons olive oil and 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning. 
3. When well mixed spread evenly over potatoes and bake uncovered at 325 degrees about 1 hour, or until potatoes are done. Salt and pepper to taste after baking. You can do this with just potatoes and zucchini, and is great hot or cold.

* I quartered my mushrooms, since I didn't have very many