Do you have any tips for 'rajas con crema'?

Question

This:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajas_con_crema

is not really definitive. And, can I use regular sour cream in place of the Mexican that's called for? Other recipes I've seen call for just cream, or cream fraiche, or... Is there a definitive recipe?

Can anything else be added to good effect? I think I may have once had rajas con crema with potatoes, which I recall as being quite good. It seems to me that more veg might make it a better main dish, too; as is, it can be a bit heavy.

One site notes it's a potato chip flavour in Mexico City, which made me wonder if it has any use as something akin to a condiment -- such-and-such (dish, vegetable, whatever) topped with rajas con crema, say. Suggestions?

It's unheard-of here in Canada, so any observations on it are welcome -- I can't go to a few restaurants and try it out before perfecting it at home, and have no idea what variations are popular.

Answer 1

It's more of a side dish or a condiment. I don't really think it would work as a main dish. I have not usually seen rajas with cream. I usually see them sauteed with onions as a side dish for carne asada, or for grilled chicken, or on top of queso fundido (more on that below).

There are, however, lots of recipes that involve corn, cream, and poblano chiles fixed in about the same way as chile rajas (and sometimes there's cheese in this) which could be more of a vegetarian main dish. I'm sure you could find one of those "corn with poblano chiles and cream" recipes online.

Alternatively, you could do melted mozzarella cheese with some chiles and onions fixed as for rajas, and serve this on tortillas - that would basically be the appetizer "queso fundido" or melted cheese.

There is not a definitive recipe for rajas because it's just kind of a traditional thing that a lot of people make. You do have to roast and peel the poblano chiles. To roast them: Put the chile on a fork and hold it over the open flame of the gas burner like you're toasting a marshmallow. The skin will turn brown and blistered. Keep turning the chile over the flame because you want to blister as much of the skin as possible. Then slide it off the fork into a Ziploc bag, close the bag, wrap a wet dishcloth around the bag, and let the chile sit a few minutes. (You can keep adding more roasted chiles one by one to the bag) Then use the tines of a fork to scrape the blistered skin off the chile. Then cut the chile in strips and sautee it with some thinly sliced onions for rajas.

Mexican sour cream is thinner than regular sour cream. You could dilute the regular sour cream with some milk. I'm not sure if the regular sour cream would have a curdling problem.

One way I learned how to do homemade creme fraiche is to buy heavy whipping cream, pour some in a glass bowl, squeeze in half a lemon, and let this sit in a warm place while I fix dinner; it will thicken (won't curdle; will thicken) and can be used as creme fraiche.

Answer 2

Rajas Con Crema

Chile Poblanos with onions and creme This is a recipe that is very easy to make an depending on the chiles can be very spicy or mild. If the chiles are to hot add more cream


6-8 servings 1 hour 30 min prep

2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
4-6 poblano chiles, peeled and deveined and sliced in 1/4 inch strips
1 large white onion, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
1-1 1/2 cup corn kernels (optional)
1 cup sour cream

saute the chiles with the onions until soft about 10 minutes.
Add corn and chicken base stir
Add the Cream let simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve warm with corn tortillas.
Can be prepared ahead and reheated in the microwave.

Answer 3

RECIPE: RAJAS CON CREMA.
For 6 people
Ingredients:
*60 gr. oil or mantequilla *1 onion (cut in fine hoops)
*6 roasted, bare poblanos chili peppers without seeds and in strips *1/2 teaspoon you leave *80 mililiter thick milk cream

How to make it:
To melt mantequilla in a great frying pan, to add the onion and to skip until it is are transparent. To add chili peppers and to continue to untimed fire during 10 minutes, (it is necessary to move sometimes). To incorporate the salt and the cream. When it begins to boil again, to retire of the fire and to mix all good. To serve with hot tortillas.
Note: the recipe was translated to English. Good luck and Bon appetite!