Stuffed Poblanos

I have spent several days trying to figure out what to stuff my poblano peppers with this week.  This experience is brand new all around for me this week.  I have never roasted whole peppers before and thus, have never stuffed them before.  I went back and forth on the method of roasting.  I knew that fire was out because I have an electric range.  When I asked for tips on using the broiler, it was suggested to me that I should use an iron skillet and I considered it for about 20 minutes.  Then I remembered that I have 4 very loud and sensitive fire alarms in this house and decided against it.  Once they start going off, it takes me about a half hour to get them all turned off again.  So, not my idea of fun this time.  That left me back with using the broiler.  I researched it and saw an equal number of recipes which used oil to those which did not.  So, I decided to try it without.

Then there was the task of deciding what to fill them with.  Yes, I know, chiles rellenos traditionally are filled simply with monterey jack cheese.  However, I had such a supply of meat in my refrigerator, I decided I should choose from one of them.  The choices were chicken taco meat with corn and black beans, pulled pork or ground beef.  I really needed to use the ground beef (or at least cook it up), so I did that while I continued to decide what to fill the peppers with.  Then I figured, what the heck, let's take that meat, add corn and Rotel and fill the peppers with that.  So, here is what I did:

Beef and Corn Stuffed Poblanos

• 5 poblano peppers*
• 1 lb ground round
• 1 1/2 cups fresh sweet corn*
• 1 (10.5 oz) can Rotel tomatoes with peppers
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chile pepper
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup sharp cheddar, divided
• 1 cup Monterey jack, divided
• 1 1/2 cups homemade heirloom tomato sauce

Turn on broiler.  Wash and dry the poblano peppers.  Place peppers onto a foil-lined baking sheet and place about 6" from broiler.  Broil about 5 minutes per side (three sides), turning each 5 minutes, until the skin is blackened and bubbly.  Place cooked peppers into a Ziploc bag and seal; let stand for 15 minutes.  Open bag and let peppers cool until you can handle them.  Once cooled, pinch the skin and pull, the skin should easily pull away from the flesh.  Set peppers aside.

Meanwhile, cook beef in a large skillet over medium heat until no pink remains.  Add the corn, tomatoes, cumin and chile pepper and cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Turn off heat and cool for 30 minutes.  If peppers are ready, add bread crumbs and half of the cheeses; mix well.

To assemble, hold one pepper in your hand and stuff with the meat mixture.  Make sure you push down into tip of pepper and stuff as full as you can.  Place the peppers in crock of your slow-cooker.  There will be filling remaining.  Mix heirloom tomato sauce into the remaining filling and then spoon over the stuffed peppers.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.  Then turn heat to HIGH, sprinkle with remaining cheese, cover and cook until cheese is melted.

Picture of finished recipe is coming!
*CSA ingredients