Poblanos are a wonderful introduction to the world of hot peppers.  Compare them to bell peppers and they pack a punch, but next to jalapenos and serranos, they are pleasantly mild.  They are a beautiful dark green color, and they are the perfect size for stuffing.

My first experience with poblano peppers was at El Charro, a Mexican restaurant in Lafayette, California, the town where I grew up.  My mother loves chile rellenos, and she would always order at least one when we ate at El Charro.  These poblanos were beautifully disguised to be appealing even to a young child, as they were coated in a golden batter and topped with sour cream and guacamole.  When you cut into them, they oozed melted cheese.

Since the years of eating rellenos at El Charro, I have come to love poblanos in many forms, most of which are easier to prepare and at least slightly healthier than my mom’s favorite treat.  My favorite taqueria in Cambridge, Olecito in Inman Square, roast their poblanos until they are soft and creamy and serve them in soft corn tortillas with black beans, lettuce, and guacamole (tacos rajas).  Roasting them is a wonderful preparation, because they become soft, sweet, and smoky.

Yesterday, at the Central Square farmers market, Kimball Fruit Farm had a small barrel full of firm, dark green poblanos that were just the right size for stuffing.  I decided to take advantage of the time of year and stuff these poblanos with other summer treats, such as sweet corn and globe squash.  A vendor from Belchertown, MA was selling homemade organic pork sausage, so I picked a couple of those up as well.  The result was every bit as savory as the rellenos I grew up eating, but the crunch from the corn and the sweetness of the squash added the unmistakable freshness of summer.

Here are the suggested ingredients:

• 4 large poblano peppers
• 2 links of uncooked Italian sausage
• 1 medium zucchini or 1/2 of a large globe squash,cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cob
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 chopped scallions
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1 lime
• 1/2 cup sour cream (crema)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Begin by cutting an L shaped incision into the sides of the poblanos.  Fold up the flaps and cut out the seeds.  Lightly coat the peppers with olive oil and season with salt, and place peppers in a roasting pan.  Roast the peppers for about twenty minutes, or until they are beginning to become soft and darken.

In a medium sized skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat until the butter melts.  Add the onion, jalapeno, and garlic, and cook over medium heat until vegetables soften.  Add the sausage, removed from its casing, and break it up as it cooks.  When the sausage begins to brown, add the squash.  Continue to cook over medium heat until the sauasage is browned and cooked through and all of the vegetables are soft. Add the corn, stir, and remove the pan from the heat.

Remove the peppers from the oven, and carefully stuff with the mixture.  It is okay to let the filling overflow from the pepper.  Top the stuffed peppers generously with shredded cheese, and return to a 450 degree oven for about ten minutes, or until the cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown.

Mix the sour cream with the cumin.  I use cumin seeds, which I toast in a pan and then grind in a coffee grinder that I use only for spices.

Plate the stuffed peppers and top them with the cumin sour cream and scallions, and serve with a wedge of lime.

Makes 4 tacos.

INGREDIENTS

4 Tortillas (Ezekiel Whole Grain Flour-less Tortillas are my favorite)

For the fish:
8 oz catfish
2 T olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt & pepper

For the Tangy Cabbage Slaw:
1/2 red cabbage
2 carrots
4 T canola oil
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 scallion
2 T vinegar of choice
1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar (I like Madhava, available at your local natural foods store)

For the Zesty Sauce:
1/4 cup low-fat or non-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup low-fat or canola mayonnaise (optional)
1 t salt-free all purpose seasoning (Mrs. Dash is good)
For the Guacamole:
1 ripe avocado
1 cloves of garlic
1/2 tomato
juice from 1/2 freshly squeezed lime

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix up the guacamole ingredients and tightly cover.

2. Preheat the broiler (or fire up the grill).

2. Make the cabbage slaw by combing the agave, canola oil, vinegar in a non-metallic bowl. Chop the cilantro and mix it in; thinly slice the scallions and cabbage, add it to the bowl.  Grate the carrots and add it in, mixing well.

3. Prepare the catfish: rinse it under cold water, dry it with a towel and place it in a baking pan. Spread the olive oil evenly over the fish, sprinkling with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

4. Bake the fish on the top rack (or alternatively on the grill) for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. The fish continues to cook after it is removed from the heat, so remove from the broiler or grill just before it is finished cooking- when picking apart the flakes with a fork, it will appear slightly translucent inside.

5. Mix the plain yogurt, mayonnaise and seasoning in a small bowl.

6. Warm the tortillas in the oven (if it is still hot), on the grill or in the microwave with a damp towel. Spread a spoonful of zesty sauce on the tortilla, add fish, cabbage slaw and top with guacamole.

7. Garnish the plates with extra cilantro sprigs. Enjoy!

When I think of Mexican food, I think about my sister Sabrina, who loves cooking Mexican, and now I understand why – simplicity, convenience and most of all, deliciousness.  Living in Southern California, it’s not surprising that she has taken to this great cuisine.  The Mexican culinary traditions and flavors are very evident in the area, where you’re more likely to find the local taqueria than the steak house walking down main street.

Sabrina has told me a few times about her taco salad, and I’ve tried a few variations of it at her house.  This is my first attempt at making the dish myself and it actually turned out pretty well.  Hell, the way I see it, it’s not hard for a dish to be good when you add seasoned sour cream and guacamole to it.

The key to this dish was the meat – Aimee’s idea and specialty: ground turkey seasoned with a homemade Mexican spice blend that includes cayenne, cumin, salt, chili powder, garlic and onion powder and black pepper.  You can really add anything you want to this though, including ancho chili or fresh garlic that you can blend together in a mortar and pestle.  This spice blend gets added to the meat as it cooks together with some stock and creates a delicate, moist base to the salad (or tacos or anything else).

The rest of the salad is really up to you in terms of ingredients.  Being winter time, we chose to use cabbage and lettuce, but some fresh tomatoes and corn in the summer time would be surely welcome.  Here’s how it went:

For the Meat:

• 1 package ground turkey (or beef, lamb or pork) according to your tastes
• 1 medium onion – diced
• 2 cloves garlic – mashed
• 2 poblano peppers – rough dice
• 1 jalapeno pepper – seeded and diced
• 1 small habanero pepper – seeded and diced (omit if you don’t like it spicy)
• ~1.5 cups of chicken or beef stock
• Mexican spice blend: 1 Tbsp. each of: cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chilli powder, salt, black pepper – mix together in a small bowl or mortar and pestale
• Vegetable oil

For the Salad (add and remove ingredients as you like!):

• Romaine lettuce – shredded
• Red cabbage – shredded
• Red onion – sliced thin
• Shredded pepper jack and/or cheddar cheese
• Sour Cream
• Avocado – or Guacamole of mashed avocado, cilantro, diced onion, lime juice and salt
• Fresh salsa
• Prepared meat from above
• Chopped cilantro
• Black beans
• Sliced lime for garnish
• Corn tortilla – cut into strips and fried in a little vegetable oil

Method:

So start by preparing the spice blend from above – you can really adjust the levels of the spices as you so choose, but you might want to make a little extra to add to the sour cream (really good!) or just add more to the meat.  So start by sweating the onion in some oil over low-medium heat.  Add the peppers – mild to spicy, so the poblanos first, followed by the jalapenos and then the habanero.  Add the garlic and continue to cook down.  At this point, turn up the heat a little bit and add in your meat.

Cook the meat down, browning it a good amount.  Once it it almost cooked through, add 1/2 of the spice blend and a little of the stock.  With a wooden spoon, take up some of the meat bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Let the stock cook off and add a little more and repeat.  Once most all of the stock is cooked off, add the rest of the spice blend and cook until the meat reaches a consistency of almost a very thick stew.  Adjust seasonings as needed at this point.

At this point, you can mix up the guacamole, and assemble the salad, greens and vegetables on the bottom.  Remember, you can add what ever you want to this!!  Spoon the meat on top of the lettuce with some of the cheese and other fixings.  I found that mixing some of the spice blend with the sour cream makes a really good condiment.  But go nuts and add whtever you want!  This is tacos in salad form really, so whatever you want to add is great!  As a serving note, I would probably serve this in a big bowl next time (now I know why those big tortilla bowls are convenient).

Here are some other really good looking takes on the recipe:

• Small Kitchen, Big Taste
• The Crumbling Muffin Top
• The Street