Impressed The Teacher! Plus El Cholo's Chiles Rellenos At Home And Other Weekend Eats: Dune And Crossroads Kitchen.

This week we had family visiting. My big sister was here, along with her son, and my brother's sister-in-law, and her daughter, because the kids were looking at colleges. And then another nephew happened to be in town too! So one of the days we had a big barbecue. And of course I had to take the out-of-towners to the beach. Also, of course I also had to bring along my surfboard so I could show off my extensive skill set…hahaha!  Well, at least I could hope for a super-mellow day and, with any luck, I wouldn't look too much like a kook. Turns out conditions were on the somewhat bumpy side. The waves were pretty small, but there were a few bigger sets mixed in. But I did okay, and I had given my sister a mandate: get it on video if I get up on a wave. And she did -- except she caught it just as I wiped out. She got enough of it, though, that you could see me getting a short ride. So I sent the little video to my old surfing teacher, because I figured he'd get kick out of it. And I think he was impressed. Anyway, we ate a lot of delicious food when they were here, and I sort of wish I had documented it all -- falafel, lamb wraps and other things from Dune in Atwater Village (all of it incredibly good), a baked pasta with some garden zucchini I made (excellent, of course), burger blend and Kobe dogs from McCall's for the barbecue, and then on Monday they wanted to take us to dinner. My nephew is mostly a vegetarian, and I'd been wanting to try Vegan Guru Tal Ronnen's Crossroads Kitchen for a while, so that's where we had dinner. This place was amazing -- Vegan, but not earthy-crunchy. Cool vibe, plus great cocktails, and the food was so, so delicious. Learn more about Crossroads Kitchen here, if you're interested (and you should be!):  www.crossroadskitchen.com.

For their last night in town, I thought about good Cali old-school Tex-Mex, like Chiles Rellenos, refried beans and Spanish rice. Here they are (the only thing missing the taco and enchilada which would make a classic combination plate!):

It doesn't get much more old-school for Mexican food in Los Angeles than El Cholo -- the original has been on Western Avenue since the 1920's. This is actually their recipe for Chiles Rellenos. It appeared a few years ago in the LA Times food section, and I've made it numerous times. Now, making Chiles Rellenos is no walk in the park, I'll admit. If you're being super traditional, you'd roast the chiles, peel and seed them yourself. Luckily this recipe saves that step, and you use whole canned Green Chiles. We use Hatch, which are so good, but sometimes hard to find. Definitely get Hatch Roasted Green Chiles if you can.  Here's what they look like.

And here's how to do it:

El Cholo's Chiles Rellenos
Serves 6-8
(recipe adapted from the LA Times)

Relleno Sauce

1 tbsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, diced
1/2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tsps. vinegar
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
2 whole canned green chiles, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat. Simmer gently, stirring frequently to break up the tomatoes, until all the vegetables have softened, about 25 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Discard the bay leaves. If you like a chunkier sauce, mash the tomatoes with a potato masher and whisk. I like it a bit smoother, so I use an immersion blender to blend the sauce, although I still leave it a little chunky. Taste for salt and then set aside.

Chiles Rellenos

Approx. 3/4 pound grated Cheddar cheese, plus more for topping if you like

6-8 whole canned green chiles (Hatch if you can get them)

6 large eggs, separated

Vegetable or Canola oil for frying

Relleno sauce (above)

Sour Cream

Guacamole, diced green onion and shredded lettuce for serving

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Select the best 6-8 chiles from the can that you can find. Some you might notice are broken or are coming apart. Save these for scrambled eggs or sandwiches.
2. Divide the cheese into 6-8 mounds and roll each into a small football size that will fit into the selected chiles. Carefully stuff the chiles with the cheese and pat with paper towels to remove any excess liquid, then set aside. 
3. Heat about an inch of oil in a large cast iron skillet to 350 degrees. While oil is heating, beat egg whites in a stand mixer until they form soft peaks, about 4 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks until frothy.  Gently fold yolks into the egg whites to form your batter.
4. When oil is up to temperature, grab a stuffed chile and dip it in the batter. Make sure to get one side, the bottom, well coated, but for now don't worry about the top. Set the chile, batter side down, in the hot oil. Using a spoon, or your hands, add batter to finish coating the top. Continue with more chiles. Fry until golden on the bottom, then carefully flip and fry the second side until brown. Remove to a sheet pan, letting excess oil drain off.
5. When all Chiles are fried, top each with sauce. Scatter grated cheese on top. Place sheet pan in oven about five minutes, until sauce is hot and cheese is melted. To serve, set a chile on each plate. Add a dollop of sour cream, some guacamole and scatter green onion and shredded lettuce over the top. Serve with refried beans and Spanish rice if you like.

Note: Chiles Rellenos can be made ahead. Once you've finished stuffing and frying the chiles, cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to several hours. When ready to serve, preheat oven and then sauce and top with cheese. It'll take about ten minutes to reheat everything if you do it this way.