Taco Rosa – Chile Rellenos And Tamales Oh My!

My love for chile rellenos knows no bounds and the dining gods have answered my wish for more diversity in relleno land with a quad squad of chile rellenos from visionary Chef Ivan Calderon of Taco Mesa and Taco Rosa fame.

Chile Relleno Pie | a thousand times, Yes!

To celebrate the start of the holiday season, Chef Ivan Calderon has introduced a new menu focusing on chile rellenos at Taco Rosa and a series of hands-on tamale cooking classes in November.  Reimagined classics brought to life with a twist of Taco Rosa innovation, Chef Calderon’s new lineup of chile rellenos are punctuated with the flavors of fall including persimmon, pomegranate, and cactus pear.

The most festive – the Chile Nogada Rosa finished with cactus pear sauce and pomegranate arils.

“As we enter into the holiday season, a time of togetherness and celebration, I wanted to introduce a menu of inventive special occasion dishes at Taco Rosa,” commented Chef Ivan Calderon, who recently began making GMO-free tortillas and masa for all his restaurants. “Reminiscent of my childhood in Mexico City, these dishes are my way of sharing celebratory tradition with our guests.”

Chile Relleno Casero – classic with a twist.

Chef Calderon’s new lineup of celebratory chile rellenos include:

Chile Nogada Rosa –  roasted poblano pepper stuffed with ground beef, sugar apple, persimmons, raisins, plantain, olives, tomatoes and onion, topped with cactus pear sauce and pomegranate arils

Chile Relleno Pie – roasted poblano pepper stuffed with baked chicken in a creamy wine reduction with sweet potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and cactus, wrapped and baked in puff pastry, served on a bed of tomatillo-spinach sauce

Chile Relleno Casero – roasted poblano pepper filled with Oaxaca and pepper jack cheeses fried in our casera batter topped with tomato caldillo sauce, served with a sweet corn tamalito with papaya butter sauce

Chile Relleno Tacos – chilaca peppers stuffed with panela cheese, dressed with calabacitas in two spinach-poblano tortillas

With a focus on authenticity, Calderon’s dishes pay respect to the Mayan, Aztec, and Spanish cuisines and cooking methods that shaped the fundamentals of Mexican cuisine. Calderon plays up time-honored dishes and authentic ingredients with a flare of his own innovation. Other seasonal additions to the menu include a hyper-local Black Sheep Farms Salad and Pumpkin Flan.

Also in November, Chef Calderon will also host a series of hands-on tamale cooking demos. The interactive cooking classes will allow guests to make their own tamales with GMO-free corn masa produced from Calderon’s newest restaurant Taco Mesa Tortilleria Orgánica & Café. Guests will enjoy complimentary appetizers and cocktails during the demonstration and each will leave with a dozen hand-made tamales. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 949- 720-0980.

Priced at $50, the tamale cooking classes will be held on the following dates: