Stuffed Poblano Chiles With Walnut Sauce And Pomegranate Seeds Recipes

CHILES EN NOGADA (MEXICAN STUFFED POBLANO PEPPERS IN WALNUT SAUCE)

Steps:

• Roast poblano chiles over an open flame on a gas stove or grill until the skin is black and charred on all sides, turning often, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Place the charred chiles in a plastic bag or in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then open and peel off the skin. Cut a slit in each chile lengthwise and remove the seeds.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add ground pork and cook until browned, breaking up with a spoon while cooking, about 7 minutes. Mix in tomatoes, plantain, apple, peach, parsley, candied orange peel, pine nuts, raisins, almonds, cloves, salt, and pepper. Simmer until filling is cooked through and flavors are well combined, about 10 minutes.
• Combine walnuts, milk, goat cheese, sugar, and cinnamon stick in a blender; blend until walnut sauce is smooth and creamy.
• Fill each poblano chile with the pork filling and place on a plate. Spoon walnut sauce over chile and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

STUFFED POBLANO CHILES WITH WALNUT SAUCE AND POMEGRANATE SEEDS

Steps:

• Cook pork:
• Put pork in a 3-quart heavy saucepan with salt, onion slice, garlic, thyme, and enough cold water to cover by 1/2 inch and bring to a boil, skimming foam. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until pork is very tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool pork in liquid, uncovered, 15 minutes. Drain, then cut pork into 1/3-inch dice. Discard onion, garlic, and thyme.
• Make filling:
• Cook onion and garlic in oils in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have broken down and sauce is slightly thickened, 20 to 30 minutes.
• While tomatoes simmer, cut an X in bottom of peach, then immerse in boiling water until skin begins to loosen, 10 to 30 seconds. Transfer peach to a bowl of cold water to stop cooking, then peel, pit, and dice (1/3 inch).
• Discard bay leaves, thyme sprig, and cinnamon stick from tomato mixture, then add diced pork and remaining filling ingredients and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until fruit is softened but still intact, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with additional salt, sugar, and vinegar.
• Make sauce:
• Purée walnuts and almonds in a blender with milk, cheese, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth and silky, about 2 minutes. (Sauce should thickly coat back of a large spoon. If sauce is too thin, add more almonds and puré. If too thick, add more milk.) Season with salt and sugar.
• Stuff and bake chiles:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile and carefully cut out seeds with kitchen shears, leaving stem intact. (For milder heat, carefully cut out ribs also.)
• Divide pork filling among chiles, then close, overlapping sides of openings slightly. Transfer, seam sides up, to a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish, then cover with foil and bake until just heated through, 15 to 25 minutes.
• Transfer chiles to plates, carefully turning them seam sides down. Pour about 1/3 cup walnut sauce over each chile, leaving some of chile visible, then sprinkle chiles with pomegranate seeds. Serve chiles warm or at room temperature.

STUFFED POBLANO CHILES IN A CREAMY WALNUT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the pork, ground sirloin, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, salt and pepper and cook at medium heat until meat loses its pink color and is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Add the dried apples, apricots, and sweetened pineapple and remove from the heat. Add the ground cinnamon and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Set aside. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf and discard.
• Sauce: Put the walnuts, Mexican crema and goat cheese in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and silky, about 2 minutes. Sauce should coat the back of a spoon. (If the sauce is too thin, add more walnuts and puree. If too thick, add more cream.) Season with salt, to taste.
• Cut a lengthwise slit into each chile and carefully cut out seeds with kitchen shears, leaving the stem intact. (For less spice, carefully remove the veins.)
• Spoon the filling into the chiles, then close, slightly overlapping the sides of the openings. Transfer the stuffed chiles, seam sides up, to plates and pour about 1/3 cup the walnut sauce over each chile, leaving some of the chile visible. Sprinkle with parsley leaves and pomegranate seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• *Cook's Note: To peel the walnuts: Cook in boiling water for 1 minute and drain. When cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to remove the skins. Peeling the walnuts before adding them to the sauce will make a smoother, whiter sauce. Unpeeled walnuts can be used, but the texture will be a little grainy and slightly bitter.

CHILES EN NOGADA (STUFFED POBLANO CHILE PEPPERS)

Steps:

• Place chicken in a large pot with the halved onion, two carrots, one stalk celery, and 1 clove garlic, and cover with water. Boil until done. Slice meat into bite-sized pieces.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion and garlic until soft, then add chicken, raisins, brown sugar, 4 ounces walnuts, pepper and bay leaves. Mix together and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, then stir in vinegar, cilantro and tomato paste; reduce heat to low and let all simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Cut a slit in each chile pepper along one side, lengthwise, so that they can be reconstructed after they are stuffed. Stuff each chile pepper with cooled chicken mixture and place in preheated oven to keep warm.
• To Make Sauce: In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream cheese, goat cheese, sour cream, 8 ounces walnuts, nutmeg and granulated sugar. Heat, stirring, for 5 to 7 minutes. When blended together, pour sauce over warm chile peppers and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

STUFFED POBLANO CHILES IN WALNUT SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Prepare the poblano chiles. With a small sharp knife, slit each chile lengthwise, with stems intact, to within 1 inch of the bottom end. Carefully cut out the seed pod. Rinse the chiles under cold running water to remove the remaining seeds. Pat dry with paper towels and put on a plate. Cover and refrigerate until ready to stuff, up to 2 days ahead. 2. Prepare the picadillo. Cover and refrigerate until ready to stuff the chiles, up to 2 days ahead. Then, prepare the walnut sauce. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 day ahead. 3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a baking sheet. To assemble, stuff each chile until plump with about 1/2 cup picadillo and close to reshape. Put the stuffed chiles on the baking sheet with the cut side up showing some of the stuffing. Cover with a loose tent of aluminum foil and bake until completely heated through, about 25 minutes. 4. Meanwhile, cut the pomegranate in half with a sharp knife. Reserve one half for another use. With the remaining half, separate the pomegranate seeds from the skin within a bowl of cold water in the sink (to prevent splattering of juices). Place the seeds in a small bowl. To serve, put 1 stuffed chile on each of 4 serving plates, spoon about 1/4 cup walnut sauce over each chile and scatter about 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds on top. Garnish with parsley sprigs.From "1,000 Mexican Recipes." Copyright 2001 by Marge Poore. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.