Love chiles and cheese? Then the dish for you is rajas, where you get even more in the mix--corn, onions and Mexican crema.
At the top you see rajas as served for breakfast at Villa del Palmar resort near Loreto in Baja California Sur.
Breakfast there can be a handsome plate, with rajas only part of the picture. Look at the other goodies--refried beans in a tortilla shell, chilaquiles at the left and behind the beans, a tamal wrapped in banana leaves.
How to make rajas? Easy. Alejandra Gutiérrez Camarillo (left), who is on the staff at the resort, gave me her own recipe, which is much more interesting than the usual version of this dish.
She likes to use two types of green chile, poblanos and fresh California chiles--usually you only get one. And she puts in cream cheese as well as Mexican crema to make the flavor even richer.
Instead of oil, she cooks the chiles and onion in butter. If the chiles are too hot, don't worry. Just add more crema she says. And if the mixture becomes too thick, thin it with a little milk.
ALEJANDRA'S RAJAS
1/2 pound poblano chiles, roasted and peeled
1/2 pound fresh California chiles, roasted and peeled
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 small onion, sliced crosswise into strips
3/4 cup drained canned whole kernel corn
1/2 cup crema agria (Mexican style sour cream)
3 tablespoons cream cheese
Salt
Milk, if needed
Discard the stems from the chiles and rinse out the seeds. Cut them in halves crosswise, then cut lengthwise into strips.
Heat the butter in a medium skillet. Add the onion and cook until it starts to become tender. Stir in the corn, then add the chile strips and stir gently to combine. Cook until heated through.
Stir in the crema. Push the mixture to one side. Add the cream cheese to the empty space in the pan and stir until it melts, then combine with the chile mixture. Season to taste with salt. If too thick, thin with a little milk.
Serve as a dip with tostadas or totopos (tortilla chips), or fold into soft warm corn tortillas and eat like a taco.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups, or 4 to 6 servings.
What a delicious-sounding breakfast! I love the idea of using two kinds of chiles and adding corn, and eating the mixture in warm corn tortillas.
What are the usual kinds of chiles that are made into this dish, besides poblanos?
Posted by: Faye | January 11, 2013 at 07:18 PM