Chiles en Nogada - VIVA MEXICO

No dish on earth screams MEXICO like this one, Chiles en Nogada is one of the most Mexican dish and it is considered a real treasure in the culinary art of our country, they are not easy to prepare, and its ingredients are most likely to be found during the month of September.

Chiles en Nogada

Chiles en Nogada is the traditional dish during the Independence party, on September the 16th. The reason why this is sooo Mexican is, first of all because the protagonist of this recipe is the Chile, of course! and second, it is the colors on our flag represented in this amazing colorful and festivity plate and third, maybe the most important one, is the historic facts about it.

This green, white and red combination of salty and sweet flavors was cooked by the Agustins Nuns to honor Agustín de Iturbide for having successfully signed the Independence of Mexico. They wanted to be creative, they knew they were witnesses of a very important moment of the History, and they became part of it by inventing this so representative, so rich and yes, a little bit complicated dish.

Chile Poblano, is a mild chili pepper originated from the State of Puebla. Nogada is after the word "Nogal" the tree of the walnuts, basically the sauce is made with walnuts, an elegant and velvety cream that is place on top of the Chile.

Before you get in action, please remember this is a very elaborate dish, this is our ancient Mexican way of cooking, and that means a very large kitchen, with several women, all cooking, many hours there, talking, bonding and enjoying the process. So if possible try to enjoy the process of cooking Chiles en Nogada with friends and family. If not, start with making the Nogada a night before, that will make things easier on the day of cooking.

This is my family recipe, as I do not like to eat meat they are meatless, but I can tell you it has been proved and approved by my friends. Try them, your guests will be delighted and your table will look as colorful as Mexico!

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 12 Big Poblano Chile. 
• 12 Toothpicks

For the Filling:

• 2 cups of previously cooked of veggie meat, such as Textured Soy or Seitan (If you go for the meat version, just use ground pork and or beef)
• 2 garlics finely chopped
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tpsp. finely chopped parsley
• 2 plum tomatoes, cored, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. raisins
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped blanched almonds
• 1 Granny Smith apple peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1 Pear, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1 Peach, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 Ripe plantain or if not, !/2 banana.
• 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon powder
• 2 leaves of bay
• 2 cloves

Peeling the Walnuts

For the Walnut sauce:

• 2 cups of milk
• 2 cup of walnuts, peeled and chopped*
• 1 cup of Queso Fresco (rich, fresh cheese)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tpsp. of sugar
• Salt and white pepper to season

Plating:

• 2 cups of Pomegranate grains
• 1 cup of chopped parsley

Instructions

Make the filling: Heat a saucepan with the oil, add the chopped onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add parsley and tomatoes, cook until tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes. Add the previously cooked and drained soy or seitan, also add the leaves of bay, the clove and the cinnamon powder. Keep stirring and then add the raisins, almonds, apple, pear, peach and plantain, cook stirring occasionally until fruit is cooked through and mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and season with salt. Set aside. 

Make the walnut sauce: Place walnuts in a saucepan, and cover with water; bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and use a kitchen brush to peel away most of the skin from walnuts. This is very important as leaving the peel will make your sauce taste sour. Cover the peeled walnuts with the milk for 6 hours or over night. Next, transfer walnuts with some of the milk to a blender, along with queso fresco, cinnamon and sugar, purée until very smooth and thick, at least 2 minutes. You can add more milk but make sure the mix is not too liquid, has to have a creamy consistence. Season with salt and transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using it.

For the Chiles: Heat broiler to high. Place poblano chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil, turning until blackened all over, about 20 minutes. Transfer chiles to a bowl and let cool. Peel and discard skins and seeds, then make a small cut along each chile, just an inch, try to keep  the chiles form is intact. Remove the bay and clove from the filling and prepare to fill the Chiles. Place 2-3 tbsp filling inside each chile, and close. You can use a toothpick to keep it closed, just tell the guests to take it away from their plate.

For plating: place each Chile on a plate, cover with the Nogada Sauce, and top it with Pomegranate and the chopped parsley. This plate is served at room temperature, the nogada will always be kind of cool, so the Chile can be warm to serve.

Enjoy!! #CaboforLife