Chile Relleno Con Cerveza – Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven Casserole Version
First of all, we will not be stuffing peppers. Though the Chile Relleno recipe is a Mexican dish that is described as a “green chili pepper stuffed with minced meat and coated with eggs,” (Wikipedia) we will not be actually “stuffing” chili peppers. This is the camp cast iron Dutch oven version and more-or-less the casserole version of the Chile Relleno recipe.
This is a very simple casserole dish that will bake very well in your 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven. My suggestion is to use the regular or shallow 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven to get that good and toasted top to this casserole recipe when we wrap this up at the end of the cook.
Here’s the short story: We’ll fire-roast our poblano chilies and then bag them up to sweat a bit while we prepare our beef and onions. Then, we’ll mix up our egg, beer, and seasoning blend. The bake will start by layering out the casserole and topping it with cheese. It’ll bake for about 30-45 minutes and give us that time to enjoy a beer and beauty of the great big outdoors.
The Cast Iron
This recipe will do very well in a 12-inch regular (shallow) camp cast iron Dutch oven. A 10-inch may work but I’d suggest a deep 10-inch Dutch oven.
Supplies You May Need (Affiliate Links)
- Bowl to hold the browned beef.
- Bowl to create the egg mixture.
- Gallon Sized Zipper Bag
- Parchment Paper
- Tongs to turn the chilies.
- Wooden Spatula
- Wooden Wok Shovel
- Meat Chopper
I didn’t include the list of in-camp Dutch oven supplies you’ll need for cooking in your camp cast iron Dutch ovens. The tools I listed her are recipe-specific. If you’d like me to list a full list here to include the Dutch oven-specific needs, let me know and I’ll start doing that from now on.
Ingredients:
6-8 Poblano Chilies (more is okay)
2 Pounds of Ground Beef
8 Large Eggs
1 Chopped Onion
3-6 Cloves of Minced Garlic
3 Cups of Colby Jack Cheese (divided)
2.25-4.5 Ounces of Drained, Sliced Olives
1 Can of Drained Fire Roasted Chopped Tomatoes
Sliced Mushrooms
1 Cup of a Mexican Lager (or another easy-drinking lager)
The Dry Ingredients
½ Cup of White Flour
¼ Cup of Cornmeal or Corn Flour
1 tsp Salt (more or less to taste)
1 tsp Pepper
1 TBL Smoked or Regular Paprika
1 tsp Cumin
Fresh Herbs
1-2 TBL of Chopped Oregano
1-2 TBL of Chopped Thyme
NOTE: Substitute 1-2 tsp of Oregano and Thyme if you don’t have fresh
Chili Powder for Dusting the top of the Dish
½ – 1 Tablespoon butter or oil (optional)
Substitute: You could substitute Anaheim peppers for the poblano chilies.
A note on the ground beef: I will brown one pound of ground beef at a time in the pot. I will use a 85/15 (15% fat) pound of ground beef and a leaner pound somewhere around 93/7 (7% fat). The first pound of ground beef will go straight in the pot and without oil. The fat from the higher percentage beef will render the fat for browning the second pound of beef. This is not a perfect science. Having some oil on hand for browning the beef and sautéing the onions and garlic is a good idea.
ALSO: Brown one pound at a time. If you put too much ground beef in that hot pot, the pot will cool and the beef will not steam off well enough to keep the moisture from building up. We want to brown and sear the beef and not end up boiling it in its own juices.
A note on the Poblano Chilies: After fire-roasting the chilies and putting them in the bag or container to sweat and soften, I usually just peel them and remove the stems, seeds, and placentas by hand.
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare and Measure all of the Ingredients:
- Wash the Poblano Chilies
- Shred and have 3 cups of Colby Jack Cheese at the ready.
- Set out 8 Large Eggs
- Chop 1 Onion
- Dice or Mince 3-6 Cloves of Garlic
- Open and drain the Fire Roasted Tomatoes
- Open and drain the Olives
- In a bowl, add the white flour, corn flour (or corn meal), cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper
- Prepare 1-2 Tablespoon of Fresh Oregano (or 1-2 teaspoon of Dry Oregano) and Prepare 1-2 Tablespoon of Fresh Thyme (or 1-2 teaspoon of Dry Thyme)
- Make sure your Mushrooms are Sliced and Ready
- Pull out the 2 Pounds of Ground Beef and have it at the Ready
- Measure out 1 cup of your Mexican lager beer
Step 2: Set a charcoal chimney full of briquettes to fire. This first cycle of briquettes are the ones we’ll use to fire-roast our chilies and sauté our beef and onions.
Step 3: Prepare the Egg Mixture
In the bowl, add the white flour, corn flour (or corn meal), cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper, add the herbs, and eight eggs. Blend very well to make sure all the ingredients are blended and there are no “flour bubbles” floating around.
Once the egg and all of the dry ingredients are blended, add the one cup of beer and mix in well.
Step 4: Blister and Roast the Pobalno Chilies.
Once the fire is hot and ready, add all the briquettes to a grill or fire pit with a grill. Top the grill’s grate with the poblano chilies. I usually use my hand to turn and position the chilies as they roast. We’re looking for a nice char on the skin. It’ll bubble and blister; that is PERFECT. Patience is the key here. They may end up looking burned but they are not (unless you actually burn them).
Just keep rotating the chilies to get all the sides of the chilies chard and roasted. This char will come off when we peel the chilies later. This process requires a bit of patience. We really want to take our time here and get a good roasted and smoky flavor. A good fire-roasted chili will peel easily and will also lay flat on top of our casserole when we add the fire-roasted chilies to the recipe.
Chef Tip: While roasting your Pobalno Chili, add a bit of barbecue wood or grill wood to the hot briquettes to give the chilies a smoky flavor. But, as anything: too much of a good thing ain’t good. Smoke-flavor is not like money; more smoke ain’t better.
Step 5: Create the Sweat Bag
An easy way to “sweat” the chilies is to use a gallon sized zipper bag. Insert a make-shift parchment paper bag or an actual paper bag into the zipper bag. The steam from the chilies will soften the skin and make them easier to peel.
Tear off a length of parchment paper twice as long at the zipper bag you are using. Fold the parchment paper in half and stick it in the zipper bag. Once the chilies are charred and blistered, place the chilies in this bag and zip up the bag. The hot chilies will steam and soften. The skins will come off easy, easy, easy.
Step 6: Set the Dutch Oven over the bed of HOT Charcoal Briquettes to Pre-Heat
After the chilies are bagged up, move the grill’s grate out of the way. Place your regular 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven over that bed of hot charcoal briquettes and let the pot preheat.
Once the pot is hot, add one of the two pounds of ground beef. Instead of breaking up the ground beef, sear and caramelize the meat in one piece; almost like a large hamburger patty. This will give the dish a better flavor (if you ask me). And…this will make it easier to get the ground beef out of the pot when it’s browned. It may not cook fully in the middle and that’s okay. We’ll be putting the casserole together later and the beef will cook just fine during the bake.
After the first pound of beef is browned, set it aside in a bowl and brown the second pound of ground beef. Set both aside for later.
Often, I will use this time to peel my chilies while browning the second pound of beef and while sauteing the onions and garlic.
While browning the second pound of ground beef, set 24-30 new briquettes to fire in the charcoal chimney. These are the briquettes we will bake the entire casserole with after we put everything together.
Step 7: Saute the Onions and the Garlic
You may need to add a bit of butter or oil to the pot if the pot seems too “dry” to saute the onions, garlic, and the mushrooms.
Check on your second batch of charcoal briquettes. You’ll need them in a moment. Is your ground beef ready to add back? What about your chilies? Are they peeled and ready to layer on the casserole?
Step 8: Add the Mushrooms and let them Cook a bit with the Onions and the Garlic.
While the mushrooms are softening up and cooking, make sure the chilies are peeled and the stems, placentas, and seeds are removed (you’ll never get all of the seeds out and that’s perfectly okay).
Also, make sure your ground beef is chopped and ready to add back to the pot.
Step 9: Return the Browned Ground Beef Back to the Dutch Oven
After adding the beef back to the Dutch oven, give everything a good mixing. Mix the ground beef in with the onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Smooth everything out flat and level.
THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME YOU BLEND ANY OF THE INGREDIENTS. The rest of the ingredients will be layered.
Step 10: Spread (rather sprinkle) the chunks of tomato and sliced olives over the ground beef mixture in the pot.
Do not stir the tomato and olives in with the ground beef mixture.
Step 11: Spread 1 ½ Cups of shredded Colby Jack Cheese.
Spread 1 ½ Cups of shredded Colby Jack Cheese over the tomatoes and olives (over the ingredients in the pot). If you have already measured out three cups, just use ½ of the cheese you have prepared.
Step 12: Cover the Entire Dish with the Peeled and Prepared Pobalano Chilies
It’s usually a puzzle but definitely not to be an over-thought process. Just lay them out as you like. No worries.
Step 13: Pour over the Egg/Beer Mixture
Before adding the liquid egg and beer mixture to the recipe, give it another good scrambling. Most of the bits of ingredients will have “sunk” to the bottom of the bowl. Mix it up once more and then pour the mixture evenly over the chilies and other ingredients.
Take care and go slowly; don’t “wash away” any of the layers you have created by pouring over too fast.
Step 14: Cover the Entire Dish with the Remaining Cheese
Evenly spread the cheese over the entire dish. It will not look very “pretty” at this point but that’s okay; it’ll pretty-up in a bit.
Step 15: Dust the Entire Dish with some Chili Powder
Use a nice chili powder of your choice to “dust” the top of the last layer of cheese on your casserole. Remember: more is not always better.
Step 16: Bake your Casserole for 30-45 Minutes and Until the Dish is Cooked
Cover the pot with the lid and remove it from the heat (what heat is remaining). Remove all of the current briquettes. They are likely spent at this point.
Take the new batch of briquettes we started back in Step 4. Place eight briquettes in the pattern of your choice under the Dutch oven. Place sixteen briquettes on the top of the lid of the Dutch oven.
Briquette Count Tip: I use the times-two guideline when I heat the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. Take the diameter of the Dutch Oven and multiply it times two:
12-inches X 2 = 24
We need to bake the dish. Use 1/3rd of the briquettes under the Dutch Oven and 2/3rds on the lid of the Dutch Oven. This will give you about a 350°F / 175°C temperature.
Step 17: Bake for 15 Minutes then Turn the Pot
Turn the lid of the Dutch oven 1/3rd of a turn in one direction and then the whole pot 1/3rd of a turn in the other direction. Then, let the dish bake for another 15 minutes.
Step 18: After Baking for 30 Minutes, Check the Recipe for Doneness
Give the dish a peek. Is it done? I will likely be fully set and baked. Give it a test to see. You could use a thermometer. Casseroles with egg and meat should be baked until the internal temperature of your casserole reaches 165°F / 74°C.
NOTE: We put chili powder over our dish and this will give the cheese an extra toasty appearance. Don’t be “tricked” by thinking the dish is done by the “toastiness” of the top layer of the casserole.
If the casserole is not done, then give the pot another turn like we did in Step 15, and bake for another 5-15 minutes more.
ENJOY!
Summary
And the recipe is now yours. This seems like a step-intensive recipe but really is easy, easy, easy. Most things can be prepared at home and packed to camp.
It’ll have a rich and smoky flavor with some heat to it. To me, poblano chiles are sort of variable as to the amount of heat they offer. I usually consider them to be mild to medium when deciding on the people I am cooking for. If you want a milder version, use anaheim peppers instead of poblano chiles.
You all enjoy this with a bit of avocado and sour cream.
I’ve not used bell peppers with this recipe. My guess is that the have a flesh that is a bit too thick to use with this recipe. However, I am thinking that if you did use bell peppers, you could omit the roasting steps and just slice them very thin. I bed the thinly sliced bell peppers would do great in Step 10.
CHEERS!
You all keep on cooking in those cast iron beauties and enjoying those glasses of that fermented barley pop.
We’ll see you next time.
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Chile Relleno Con Cerveza – Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven Casserole Version
Equipment
- Bowl to hold the browned beef.
- Bowl to create the egg mixture.
- Gallon-Sized Zipper Bag
- Parchment Paper
- Tongs to turn the chilies.
- Wooden Spatula
- Wooden Wok Shovel
- Meat Chopper
Ingredients
- 6-8 Poblano Chilies – more is okay
- 2 Pounds of Ground Beef
- 8 Large Eggs
- 1 Chopped Onion
- 3-6 Cloves Minced Garlic
- 3 Cups Colby Jack Cheese – Divided
- 2.25-4.5 Ounces Sliced Olives – Drained
- 1 Can of Fire Roasted Chopped Tomatoes – Drained
- 8 oz Sliced Mushrooms
- 1 Cup Mexican Lager – or another easy-drinking lager
Dry Ingredients
- ½ Cup White Flour
- ¼ Cup Cornmeal or Corn Flour
- 1 tsp Salt more or less to taste
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 TBL Smoked or Regular Paprika
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1-2 TBL Fresh Chopped Oregano – or 1-2 tsp dry
- 1-2 TBL Fresh Chopped Thyme – or 1-2 tsp dry
- Chili Powder for Dusting the top of the Dish
- ½ – 1 TBL Butter or Oil – optional
Instructions
- Set a charcoal chimney full of briquettes to fire – To Roast the Chilies and to Saute the Beef, Onions, Garlic, and Mushrooms
- Prepare the Egg Mixture – add the white flour, corn flour (or corn meal), cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper, add the herbs, and eight eggs. Blend very well. Add the one cup of beer and mix in well.
- Blister and Roast the Pobalno Chiles over the hot charcoal briquettes.
- Add the Roasted Pobalno Chiles to the Sweat Bag and let rest.
- Brown one pound of ground beef at a time – store the two pounds of browned ground beef in a container for later.
- Saute the Onions and the Garlic – You may need to add a bit of butter or oil to the pot if the pot seems too “dry” to saute the onions, garlic, and the mushrooms.
- While the second pound of ground beef is browning, set 24-30 charcoal briquettes to fire. We'll use these briquettes to bake the casserole later after we've put it together.
- While you are sauteing, peel the poblano chilies and remove the stems, seeds, and placenta. Some seeds remain.
- Once the Onions and the Garlic have cooked at bit, add the Mushrooms and let them Cook in a bit with the Onions and the Garlic.
- Return the Browned Ground Beef Back to the Dutch Oven – give everything a good mixing – There is no more mixing after this step – only layering.
- Spread (rather sprinkle) the chunks of tomato and sliced olives over the ground beef mixture in the pot.
- Spread 1 ½ Cups of shredded Colby Jack Cheese.
- Cover the Entire Dish with the Peeled and Prepared Pobalano Chilies
- Pour over the Egg/Beer Mixture
- Cover the Entire Dish with the Remaining Cheese
- Dust the Entire Dish with some Chili Powder
- Bake your Casserole for 30-45 Minutes and Until the Dish is Cooked – Turn the pot every 15 minutes and check for doneness after 30 minutes.
- Give the dish a peek. Is it done? I will likely be fully set and baked. Give it a test to see. You could use a thermometer. Casseroles with egg and meat should be baked until the internal temperature of your casserole reaches 165°F / 74°C.
