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Breaking Up Is Easy To Do With Shrimp-Stuffed Rellenos

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: September 17, 2008

We are in the midst of a breakup. Well, the aftermath really. To add insult to injury, we are the breakup-ees not the breakup-ers.

In the midst of the sleepless nights, crying outbursts and one hundred rotations of Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye," we were filled with the familiar feelings of uncertainty and sadness. We found immersing ourselves in work and the resulting exhaustion to be the only cure because it made us forget the good times, the special times and the just plain awkward times.

Greg's band gave him the boot.

It's no different breaking up with a band than it is to break up with a girlfriend or boyfriend. You pour your heart and soul, blood and sweat into a relationship that ends up squashed like a dirty roach at a scuzzy Dale Mabry diner.

Sure, there was the curt phone call: "It's not you man; you're just too busy. It's us." (Always is, isn't it?) And "Maybe when you get some time, we could start a new thing." Yeah, a "new" thing.

The inevitable period of revenge plotting settled in along with ravenous hunger. You know, you've been there; perhaps you're even going through it right now. Staring at a mirror rehearsing every line you'll say when the offender crosses your path - when, in actuality, you'll probably just awkwardly avoid eye contact, and therefore ANY confrontation at all - all the while eating everything and anything in your path.

We decided to make a feast to mark the occasion. Something so decadent it is normally reserved for company but is still easy enough to prepare through tear-filled eyes. Tears from good memories and bad times and a whole lotta good wine.

Farewell Flat Stanley.

This is our last goodbye

I hate to feel the love between us die.

But it's over

Just hear this and then I'll go:

Oh, you know it makes me so angry 'cause I know that in time

I'll only make you cry, this is our last goodbye.

Jeff Buckley, "Last Goodbye"

GOAT CHEESE, SHRIMP AND CHORIZO RELLENOS

4 large poblano chilies

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, de-veined and roughly chopped

2 dried chorizo sausages, diced

2 ounces chevre cheese

2 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

4 large tomatoes, chopped

1 small onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 teaspoons olive oil

Sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

Sautee the onion and garlic with 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until translucent.

Add the diced tomatoes, cumin and cocoa powder, and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft.

Add the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.

For the chilies:

Coat the chilies well with the canola oil, place on a baking sheet and roast in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the skins are brown and lifting away from the flesh of the chilies.

Remove the chilies from the oven and place in a bowl to cool.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining teaspoon of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat, and saute the chorizo for 3 to 4 minutes to extract the fats.

Add the shrimp to the chorizo, season with salt and pepper, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp are just translucent.

Place the shrimp and chorizo in a bowl; add the chevre, cream cheese and walnuts, and mix well.

When the chilies are cool, gently remove the skins and open one side of the chili to remove the seeds, leaving the stem on and trying not to rip the rest of the chili.

Gently place 1/4 of the shrimp and cheese mixture inside each of the chilies through the slit you removed the seeds from.

Place the chilies on a baking sheet, cover each with a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce, and place in a 400-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the cheese is nice and creamy.

Serve hot with a nice, cold glass of revenge - the bitterer, the better.

Makes 2 servings.

Greg Baker is a classically trained executive chef with more than 20 years of trendsetting restaurant experience. Greg and Michelle are co-owners of Cooks and Company Personal Chef and Catering. Go to www.cooksncompany.com or www.culinarysherpas.com.

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