Creamy Roasted Poblano Sauce with Fried Tilapia

Roasted chile sauces may be some of the best things on the planet. I love their deep, rich, smoky flavors with the hint of spiciness that livens up many dishes. Growing up we used to grill Tri-tip, a cut of meat which my hometown of Santa Maria, CA supposedly invented. See http://www.eatmedaily.com/2010/06/top-of-the-food-chain-tri-tip/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-tip. When we grilled up some Tri-tip we would usually grill some Anaheim chiles and Linguica as an appetizer. Roasted chiles are tied up with childhood memories of barbecues and hanging out with friends and family.

The Poblano sauce I made the other night reminded me of these memories. A new twist on flavors that I had grown up with. As I peeled the roasted Poblanos I remembered putting Anaheim chiles in paper bags to steam, then peeling off the burnt skin to reveal the smoky flesh of the chiles. So delicious! This sauce captured all of those flavors and memories. I just couldn't get enough of this sauce! The following day I even made enchiladas with the leftover sauce (see later post).

Creamy Roasted Poblano Sauce 
3-4 Poblano chiles
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt to taste

1) Place Poblano chiles in a roasting pan and set under broil until skin has blistered and becomes slightly charred (you can hear the skin popping in the oven); do this to both sides of the chiles
2) Remove from oven and place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they can steam, for about 5
 minutes

3) Remove skin and stem of the chiles with your fingers then chop into large pieces
4) Place Poblanos in food processor with milk and blend until smooth

5) In a pan, make roux with butter and flour, then add the Poblano puree, lower heat and add cream

6) Stir sauce until thickened and add salt
7) Top over chicken or fish, or practically anything and enjoy!