Gluten Free Chile Rellenos With Arla Dofino Cheese and Hatch Roasted Green Chiles

I received product from Arla Dofino Cheese in exchange for this post. All opinions and the recipe are mine.

Since I had a bunch of those delicious Hatch Roasted Green Chiles left over and already thawed out, I was trying to figure out what to do with them. I certainly did not want them to spoil, they were too good to have to throw away! So, when I received my coupons from Arla Dofino to try some of their cheese, I decided to get some Creamy Havarti and use it to make some home made chile rellenos.

Now, I have never made a home made chile relleno before. I have never even eaten one in a restaurant, even though we lived in south Texas for two and a half years, and traveled extensively in the southwest United States for about five years. My husband is a big fan of them, though, so I took to the internet to search for a gluten free recipe to use. I found many, and modified a version of them to use the ingredients I had on hand. I think that my version with seasoned ground beef, Arla Dofino Creamy Harvarti Cheese, and my Hatch Roasted Green Chiles turned out suitable for serving to an Aztec King.

I started out with cooking up the beef stuffing. For this recipe, which made 6 medium sized Chile Rellenos, I used a half pound of ground beef, some garlic, chipotle pepper, and cumin. I cooked the meat until it was well browned, and poured off the grease.

While the meat was cooking, I mixed up the batter. I used my stand mixer to beat the egg whites until they formed very stiff peaks. Then, I added some Glutino Baking Flour Mix into the yolks, and folded that into the egg whites. This made a very light batter that stuck to the chiles like glue.

You have to be careful while you are stuffing the chiles, because they will tear and make a mess. Be sure to have your cooking oil heating in the pan before you get started assembling the chile rellenos. You need to put them in hot oil as soon as they are coated with the batter.

To assemble, I put a couple of tablespoons of the beef stuffing in first, then added a “log” of cheese on top of that. I carefully pulled the sides of the chile together to close it up over the filling. As soon as I had it closed up, I plunged the whole thing into the bowl of batter, covering the whole thing, then immediately into the frying pan.

Cook the stuffed peppers in  hot oil until browned on one side, then flip over and cook until the other side is browned. When you remove them from the oil, place them on paper towels to drain before serving.

Gluten Free Chile Rellenos with Arla Dofino Creamy Harvarti Cheese and Hatch Roasted Green Chiles

1/2 pound ground beef

1-2 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon Chipotle chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

4 ounces Arla Dofino Creamy Harvarti Cheese

3 eggs

2 tablespoons Glutino Gluten Free Baking Mix

6 Hatch Roasted Green Chiles

1 inch of cooking oil in hot skillet

Place the ground beef, minced garlic, Chipotle powder, cumin and salt in a medium skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until meat is browned well. Drain off grease from pan, set aside.

Separate two eggs, placing two egg whites in mixer bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Beat on high speed until egg whites form stiff peaks.  Place the two egg yolks and one whole egg in a small bowl. Add the Glutino Gluten Free Baking Mix, and stir until well blended. Fold into egg whites. Set aside.

Add cooking oil to about a 1 inch depth in a large skillet. Let it heat up while you get ready to stuff the peppers.

Carefully open up one chile, put in a tablespoon or two of the ground beef mixture. Add one of the cheese strips on top of the beef. Carefully pull the sides of the chile together. Dunk the stuffed chile into the batter, making sure it is covered completely. Immediately place the stuffed, battered chile into the hot oil. Repeat until all of the chiles are in the skillet.

Cook until golden brown on the first side. Flip them over, and cook until the second side is browned. Removed from oil, and place on paper towels to drain until served. This makes 6 chile rellenos.

I served these with black beans that were simmered with the left over ground beef stuffing. My husband loved them!

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