4–8 chile Poblano, roasted and peeled*
2 tbsp. olive oil (30ml)
2 tbsp. chopped onion (20g)
¼ cup chopped parsley (8g)
8 oz. ground pork, (250g)
8 oz. ground beef (250g)
¼ cup slivered almonds (12g)
¼ cup pine nuts (12g)
1 small apple or pear, peeled and chopped
¼ cup golden raisins (37g)
1 clove garlic
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon (.5g)
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce:
1 cup walnuts (4oz/115g)
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp. chopped onion (20g)
1 cup half & half (240ml)
4 oz. cream cheese (125g)
¼ tsp. cinnamon (.5 gr)
2 tbsp. sherry (30ml)
Pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream (240ml)
Pomegranate seeds for garnish
Prepare the chiles by roasting and peeling. You can find more detailed instructions here.
Heat the olive oil in a 10” (25cm) skillet. Add the onion, parsley along witht the ground beef and pork. Break up the ground meat with the back of your spoon. Brown the meat for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add the almonds, pine nuts, apple or pear, golden raisins, garlic, ground cinnamon and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.
For the sauce:
Place the walnuts, garlic, onion, half & half, cream cheese, cinnamon, sherry and salt in the container of a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the sauce into a medium sized bowl and stir in the heavy cream. The sauce is ready to serve, or you can hold in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve the chiles.
Finishing the Chiles en Nogada:
Stuff each chile with some of the meat mixture, but do not overstuff. I prefer to serve the stuffed chiles with the opening underneath so that the sauce pours smoothly over the top.
Right before serving, pour over the walnut sauce and garnish with pomegranate seeds.
*Chile poblano can vary greatly in size, from 3″ long (7.5cm) to 6″ long (15cm) or even longer. So find the freshest, best chiles that you can, and estimate if they can hold either 2oz of filling (56g) or 4oz (115g) Your ground meat filling recipe yields a little over 16 oz (500g).
Also, don’t substitute other chiles for the chile poblano, an absolutely necessary ingredient.