Once a year

 

Chili rellenos from scratch is a most labor intensive dish. Most of these are peppers from our single potted plant nursed along for months, so I always do something special with them.

The first step is charring, which requires patient turning over the hot grill. Here's a pepper hack: if you buy them at the store, pick out flat, straight ones, which makes this step much easier.

Steam under a dish cloth for a few minutes...

And the tough peel (more or less) slips right off. Make a small slit and remove the seeds. Don't wig out if they tear apart a bit. The thick batter holds the cheese filling inside when they fry.

These are filled with pepper jack-- a healthy vegetarian recipe! ha ha. 

 Oh yes, don't forget to make a spicy red sauce.

On to the batter. Separate the eggs and whip the whites.

Fold in carefully so it stays nice and fluffy. 

Now, here comes the messy part. Coat the peppers in flour before dipping in the goopy batter.

Fried in a generous amount of fresh sunflower seed oil, probably the most expensive ingredient in this recipe.

Perfection and worth every single calorie. And that's it for another year.