I first made this dish at Therese’s suggestion for Mundial Meals. It is not as difficult as I imagined, though it is very time consuming. But it is SO worth it. Hands down the most delicious of the 32 dishes I made that month, and now a regular special occasion request whenever Luis is back in Sonoma.
Chiles en Nogada
Ingredients
- 6 poblano chiles
Filling
- 10 ounces Lean boneless beef
- 10 ounces boneless pork loin or chop
- 1 carrot
- 1 white onion
- 1 Yukon gold potato
- 1 zucchini
- 3 plum tomatoes
- 1/2 cup peas
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1 salt
Nogada
- 10 ounces Mexican crema NOT sour cream
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Garnish
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 bunch parsley
Instructions
- Cook the meat: place the meat in a sauté pan with a bit of water to cover and simmer 20 minutes until just cooked through, turning once halfway through. Remove to a cutting board and reserve the cooking liquid.
- Chop the meat finely.
- Chop carrots, zucchini, onion, and potato into 1/4” cubes.
- Chop the almond very fine.
- Cut the tomatoes in half and add to blender with 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid. Blend until smooth but not liquified.
- Cook the onions in 3T olive oil for 2 minutes.
- Add the potatoes to the onions and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the meat, puréed tomatoes, carrots, and zucchini to the potatoes amd combine well. Cook 5 minutes.
- Add the peas and almonds, and cook until the vegetables are all soft, about 15 minutes. If needed, add more of the reserved cooking liquid or water.
- Roast the poblano chiles over a gas burner or in the oven. Blacken and blister the skin on all sides, the put them in a bag to sweat until the skins are easy to remove with a knife.
- After scraping all the skin off the chiles, make a slit on one side and carefully remove all the seeds without tearing the chile.
- To prepare the Nogada, place the cream, walnuts, and cinnamon in a blender and purée.
- Prepare the garnishes by chopping the parsley very finely and removing all the kernels from the pomegranate.
- Warm the filling if necessary, then fill each chile with the meat filling and place on individual plates. Spoon the Nogada over each chile until fully coated. Sprinkle parsley and pomegranate kernels over each chile and serve.