Rajas con Crema (Poblano Strips in Cream)

Ingredients

• 6 poblano pepper
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic, finely chopped
• 200 g sweetcorn
• 1½ dl mexican crema
• 3⅓ tbsp milk
• 120 g oaxaca cheese, torn into strands
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• salt to taste

Method

1. 1.

   Char the poblanos — Set a heavy dry frying pan over high heat and char the poblanos whole, turning them with tongs every couple of minutes, for about 10 minutes until the skins are blistered and blackened in patches all over and the flesh has slumped.

2. 2.

   Steam to loosen the skins — Pile them into a bowl, cover it tightly with a plate and leave them to steam in their own heat for 10 minutes. The trapped steam is what lifts the skins away from the flesh.

3. 3.

   Peel and cut the rajas — Rub the blackened skins away with your fingers, pull out the stems and seeds, and cut the flesh lengthways into strips a finger wide — the rajas. Do not rinse them under the tap or you wash off all the smoke.

4. 4.

   Soften the onion and corn — Wipe the pan clean, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the sliced onion for 6-8 minutes until soft and just turning gold at the edges. Stir in the garlic and the sweetcorn and cook two minutes more, until the corn smells sweet.

5. 5.

   Simmer in the crema — Stir in the poblano strips, the mexican crema and the milk, season with the black pepper and salt, and simmer gently for 5 minutes until the sauce reduces just enough to cling to every strip. Do not let it boil hard or the crema will split.

6. 6.

   Melt the cheese through — Take the pan off the heat, scatter the torn oaxaca cheese over the top and cover for a minute so it melts into soft strands through the sauce. Serve hot, with warm tortillas or alongside grilled meat.