REVIEW: Trader Joe's Chile Relleno
Mark Thorson
and topped with salsa.
I love a good chile relleno, and Trader Joe's frozen foods
are often very good. This one wasn't really bad. I ate
the whole thing, but I don't recommend it. The relleno
is just swimming in salsa. The chile is also very tough,
possibly as the result of being fire-roasted. I don't
think you normally fire-roast the chile used in a relleno.
They need to find a way to deliver a more tender chile,
and the salsa should be in a separate compartment,
added just before serving. They relleno should not be
cooked in salsa.
Actually, the chile rellenos I've had in restaurants
were usually battered, deep-fried, and served on top
of a thin spicy chile sauce, not a tomato-based salsa.
And they usually were stuffed with an orange cheese,
not Monterey Jack. TJ's chile relleno is much
different from any relleno I've ever had before.
Mark Thorson
>
> Trader Joe brand named products are hit and miss.
More oftenn hit than miss, but they do have a few
mediocre products.
> I've never seen TJs chile rellenos.
>
> A TJs regional thing.
I believe it's a new product. I never saw it
before today, so it was an automatic buy.
Paul M. Cook
"Mark Thorson" <nos...@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:4BB64394...@sonic.net...
The traditional recipe uses tomatillos for the salsa and white cheese like
Quesa Blanco or Monterey Jack for the filling with a tangy Cotija crumbled
on top. Orange cheese would be cheddar and not commonly used in authentic
Mexican food. I'm pretty sure orange cheeses are colored to look that way -
most natural cheese is white or pale yellow. And the chilies are fire
roasted to remove the skins. In many Mexican restaurants the dish is served
with both a red and green salsa as those are the colors of the Mexican
flag..
Most of TJs frozen food is pretty crappy IMO.
Paul
Lin
> The traditional recipe uses tomatillos for the salsa and white cheese like
> Quesa Blanco or Monterey Jack for the filling with a tangy Cotija crumbled
> on top.
I'll take this moment to thank you for reminding me of something I did
this week. I came across some tomatillos that I needed to roast, which I
did. However, it wasn't part of dinner that I was finishing so I just
shut the oven off and left them in there. I didn't realized till the
next day I'd forgotten to put them up.
And that is my kitchen ooopsie for the week. Such a waste. They would
have been great prepared the way you suggest. Dammit.
--Lin
Mark Thorson
>
> Most of TJs frozen food is pretty crappy IMO.
Try the scallops wrapped with bacon. Or the
chicken and cheese quesadillas. Or the tomato
and pesto flatbread. Or the Mandarin chicken
with sauce (I throw the sauce away and use my
own condiments). Sure you could make you own
battered and deep-fried chicken morsels, but
it's so much easier to open a bag and heat up
a few pieces.
Christine Dabney
wrote:
>The traditional recipe uses tomatillos for the salsa and white cheese like
>Quesa Blanco or Monterey Jack for the filling with a tangy Cotija crumbled
>on top.
In NM they just use chiles for the sauce, either red or green. No
tomatillos used at all.
Orange cheese would be cheddar and not commonly used in authentic
>Mexican food. I'm pretty sure orange cheeses are colored to look that way -
>most natural cheese is white or pale yellow. And the chilies are fire
>roasted to remove the skins. In many Mexican restaurants the dish is served
>with both a red and green salsa as those are the colors of the Mexican
>flag..
Again, in NM it is different. The term there, if you choose both
sauces, is "Christmas". It is just to denote that you want to try both
sauces. And in NM if you choose that, it isn't because of the colors
of the Mexican flag.
In NM chiles rellenos, the cheese is often a Mexican melting one, such
as Asadero. Although I have seen other fillings offered.
Christine
Paul M. Cook
"Christine Dabney" <arti...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:aahcr5lii2bv1tejk...@4ax.com...
It's all good.
Paul