Stuffed Poblano Pepper and Strawberry Guacamole

On one of my first visits to Chicago, Patrick and I made stuffed poblano peppers. Hands down, it is perhaps one of the best meals I've ever cooked. A flavorful burst of serrano peppers and soy chorizo, delicious melted mexican cheeses and fresh produce from the local Mexican grocery. And... we both got food poisoning from something in it, and were violently, violently ill. We've always pegged the soy chorizo as the culprit - and have never eaten it since, but who knows what it really was that made us so ill.

The recipes for this go around - still delicious but guaranteed not to make you sick - are as follows:

Strawberry guacamole:
2 ripe avocados
minced dehydrated garlic
1/4 to 1/2 of a white onion, diced
red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lime
sprinkle kosher salt
1/2 jalapeno pepper (you can seed and devein it to decrease spiciness - but it marries nicely with the sweetness of the strawberries)
6-10 sprigs of fresh cilantro [leaves only, discard the stems into the compost pile]
1 cup hulled diced fresh strawberries [if possible, get these straight from the garden or from a farmers' market - they're often much more flavorful than the strawberries sold in the grocery stores]

Directions: mash avocado flesh into somewhat chunky paste, adding garlic and red pepper flakes to taste. I'm not going to tell you an amount because we like garlic and peppers both more than most people do. Mix in juice from one lime to prevent guacamole from discoloring due to oxidation. Dice strawberries and onion and gently spoon in to the avocado mixture to avoid overly smashing them. Finely dice jalapeno and add in as much as you'd like for a bit of fire. Lightly chop the cilantro leaves and fold in. Sprinkle in a tad of kosher salt, give it another stir, and it's good to go. A tip for the guacamole from Patrick, if you're not going to serve it right away, take saran wrap and mash it down on the surface of the guacamole - the lack of air will prevent the guacamole from discoloring.

For those of you with a Meijer around, the Meijer Organic Corn Tortilla chips (they come in yellow and blue) are delicious.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers
one large pattypan squash
one large vine ripened tomato
one fresh jalapeno
one fresh poblano pepper for each person you're serving - this recipe made three)
1/2 cup roasted corn (I used Trader Joe's - in their freezer section. It's delicious and easy, though fresh would've been even better)
1 large sweet red pepper
1/2 white onion
1 pint of baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 tbsp. crumbled queso fresco
3 tbsp. jarred jalapeno juice
1/3 cup shredded cheese per pepper. I used a four cheese mexican blend from Costco - but some Habanero Jack would've been great too.
Adobo Sauce - I used Dona Maria paste, and follow the direction on the back of the jar to reconstitute enough to drizzle over the peppers.

Directions

Cut all the vegetables except the poblanos into small pieces. Grill on the stovetop in a non-stick skillet until tender. While these are cooking, make a t-shaped cut close to the stem of each poblano and slice it down the length (being sure not to cut through the back of the pepper). Place into a baking dish and broil until the outer skin of the poblanos start to bubble up and char.

Remove cooked vegetables from stovetop and mix in 2 -3 tbsp. jarred jalapeno juice. Stuff the peppers with the vegetable mixture, and then the shredded cheese. Drizzle adobo sauce over the peppers and sprinkle crumbled queso fresco on each pepper. Bake in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, until heated through and the poblanos are tender.

The poblanos are also good stuffed with beans (refried or whole) and basically any combination of vegetables that you have.