Chiles en Nogada, a Mexican Tradition

Chiles in Nogada are very popular in Mexico during the month of August and September a Mexican tradition coming from Puebla. The name comes from the word Nogal meaning walnut. This Mexican recipe is made with poblano chiles filled with picadillo (ground beef with spices), topped with a walnut based cream sauce and garnish with pomegranate seeds, this 3 colors combined are the Mexican flag colors: green for the chile pepper, white for the walnut sauce and red for the pomegranate seeds.

This famous dish, native to Puebla commemorates Independence Day and the colors are those of the Mexican flag: green, white and red.

Chiles en Nogada – Stuffed Chiles in Waltnut Sauce recipe by Patricia Quintana

Recipe Ingredients for Stuffing

1/2 cup butter
1 cup olive oil
12 cloves garlic, peeled, plus 10 cloves garlic minced
2 large white onions, grated
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground ham
1 cup raisins or currants
2 1/2 cups prunes, pitted and finely chopped
1 1/2 cups candied citron, finely chopped
1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
6 large pears, finely chopped
6 peaches, finely chopped
4 apples, finely chopped
2 cups pineapple, finely chopped
1 plantain, finely chopped
6 large tomatoes finely chopped
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
10 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
6 sprigs marjoram
1 1/2 tbs freshly ground pepper
1 cup dry sherry
1 cup dry white wine
Salt to taste

Recipe Ingredients for the Chiles

32 medium chiles poblanos (green fresh ancho peppers), roasted, seeded, deveined and soaked in salted water and vinegar for 6 hrs.
2 cups flour

Recipe Ingredients for the Batter

20 eggs, separated
2 tbs salt
6 tbsp flour
3 qts vegetable oil

Recipe Ingredients for the Sauce

4 cups walnuts
1 1/2 cups skinned almonds
14 oz cream cheese
7 oz goat cheese
3 oz fresh cheese, such as feta
1 slice bread trimmed and soaked in milk
2 cups heavy cream or 1 cup heavy cream mixed with 1 cup half and half
1 cup milk
1 tbs grated white onion
2 tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dry sherry
Salt to taste

Recipe Ingredients for the Garnish

Seeds from 6 pomegranates
1 bunch of parsley, chopped

Recipe Instructions

Prepare the stuffing: Heat butter and oil in a saucepan. Brown 12 garlic cloves and discard. Brown minced garlic with onion. Add ground meats and saute until no longer red. Stir in raisins, prunes, citron, apricots, pears, peaches, apples, pineapple, plantain and tomatoes. cook until mixture begins to thicken, about 30 minutes.

Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, bay leaves, thyme, marjoram, pepper, sherry and white wine. SALT to taste. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, abut 1 1/4 hours. Cool

Fill prepared chiles with cooled stuffing. Put flour on a piece of waxed paper. Roll chiles in flour and place on a tray. Cover and refrigerate.

Prepare the batter: Make batter in 3 batches, as needed or it will not remain fluffy. Beat 1/3 of egg whites with a little salt until stiff. Lightly beat 1/3 of egg yolks and yolds and 2 tbs flour to whites, folding in carefully.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep frying pan. Dip flour coated chiles in batter, one at a time and fry over medium heat. Do not crowed pan. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Prepare the sauce: boil walnuts in water to cover for 5 minutes. Remove from water. Peel skins. Boil almonds in water to cover for 25 minutes and soak in cold water. Peel skins. Grind walnuts and almonds in a blender or food processor, adding cream cheese, goat cheese, feta cheese, bread, cream, milk onion, sugar, cinnamon, sherry and salt. the mixture will be very thick. Refrigerate.

If you are using packaged nuts, wash walnuts and almonds and follow the procedure for fresh nuts.

To serve: Place cold fried chiles on a platter. Ladle walnut sauce on top. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and garnish with parsley. (Chiles Rellenos en Nogada)

Serves 16 persons

Chiles en Nogada with the World’s Premier Culinary College