I make this spinach dip that is crazy, crazy good. The first time I had it was at a memorial service. Not to make light of a tragic moment in my life, but I was pretty inconsolable and only eating a little something because I was tired of people coming up and telling me I should. So I put a spoonful of dip and a couple chips on a plate. I nibbled the dip. It was the BEST spinach dip ever - hot and cheesy and perfect. I found out who made it and insisted she give me the recipe. Now that's the standard easy potluck dish I make. And I always say it's like the best of white-trash cooking because there's no real cooking involved (zapped in the microwave), it uses canned and frozen food; the most complicated part is cutting a bit of onion. Oh, but it's delicious and you'd never know. And the fact that I make it, people never suspect. Ha! Anyway, I got this idea in my head about a month ago that that dip would make a great filling for chile rellenos. I kept thinking about it and thinking about it. So this week I made it for my cooking gig (and us).

I should also mention that I've never made chile rellenos. I was unaware that there were so many steps involved. I was a little short on time. And I broke a sweat getting it all done. I felt sort of like I was on a reality cooking show trying to get everything ready before the clock expired and I had to put my hands in the air. I didn't want to be the chef who mouths "fuck!" as I slam down some key, unused ingredient, or the one who starts crying and murmuring, "I could've done better.... I could've done better...." I almost always hate the crier. Man up, for christ's sake. But I digress.

The peppers I got from the store were ridiculously big. I could only fit half of them on my largest baking sheet to broil them, so I had to do two rounds. I broiled them, stuck them in a paper bag until they cooled, peeled, and stuffed them with the dip.

Then I dredged them in flour, dipped 'em in eggs, dredged them in cornmeal, fried them up in a skillet. THEN they went in the oven to make sure the insides were melty and hot all the way through. I served them with salsa and sliced avocado. Plus I made a green salad with a buttermilk-blue cheese dressing. They were incredibly good, but I will not make them again without another person to help me. I could've seriously used another set of hands.