Chile rellenos with Mexican-style oxtail
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- over 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 4
- Dietary
- Nut-free
Chile rellenos are delicious Mexican peppers stuffed with a variety of fillings, then coated and fried until crispy. Here they’re filled with some lovely slow-braised oxtail.
Ingredients
For the Mexican-style oxtail
- 8 pieces oxtail, around 1kg/2lb 4oz total weight
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 300ml/10fl oz red wine
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 20g/¾oz fresh oregano, leaves picked
- 10g/1/3oz thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 dried ancho chillies
- 3 tbsp chipotle paste
- 250ml/9fl oz chicken stock
- 50ml/2fl oz cider vinegar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 100ml/3½fl oz chicken stock
For the chile rellenos
- 4 large poblano peppers
- 200g/7oz mozzarella, torn into pieces
- 3 free-range eggs, separated
- 100g/3½oz plain flour
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander, to serve
Method
To make the Mexican-style oxtail, season the oxtail generously with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large pan on a high heat and sear the oxtail all over.
Remove the oxtail from the pan, turn the heat down to medium and add the onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes and add the spices. Cook for a further 2 minutes and then add the red wine and reduce by half.
Add the tomatoes, oregano, thyme, bay, chilies, chipotle paste and chicken stock. Return the oxtail to the pan and simmer for around 2½ hours.
Remove the oxtail from the pan and pick the meat.
Reduce the stock by half, season to taste with salt and pepper and finish with the vinegar. Stir the meat back through the stock.
To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan on a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 20 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, oregano and stock and simmer for a further 25 minutes.
To make the chile rellenos, either preheat the oven to 230C/210C Fan/Gas 8 and roast the peppers until blackened and soft, or cook directly over a gas flame.
Once blistered all over place into a bowl until cool enough to handle. Peel off the charred skin leaving the peppers whole.
Split the peppers vertically and carefully open. Stuff with the oxtail and some mozzarella and secure with a cocktail stick
Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then whisk the yolks. Fold the two together.
Dip the peppers into the flour and then the egg mix.
Heat enough oil to shallow fry in a large frying pan on a medium heat. Cook the peppers until golden, this should take 1–2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
Serve the chile rellenos with the tomato sauce and garnish with the coriander.
