Traveling does something amazing to you. When you see a place for the first time, meet new people, taste new flavors, and learn a language, there is something beautiful inside that awakens through this experience that comes with travel. There is a real sense of euphoria that stirs within.
The first time I tasted Chiles en Nogada was September 2002 in Tepotzlan, Morelos, Mexico and it was a taste sensation. I had been on a 3 month personal journey through Mexico and I was studying abroad at a language school, Experiencia in Cuernavaca, Mexico for about 6 weeks.
During my language journey, I traveled to a nearby town, Tepoztlan, with my friends from Experiencia. We went on a morning hike to Tepozteco, an archaeological site where there is a small temple, called Tepotzclatle, named after the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage pulque. After the 2 hour hike to the pyramid we went to a beautiful bohemian style restaurant and ordered a special dish, Chiles en Nogada.
Chiles en Nogada is definitely one of the best Mexican dishes I have ever tasted. And I have tasted many fine dishes in my time. I remember I could not believe what I was tasting. I wondered why I never had tasted this since I am half Mexican. But I later learned this is a regional dish.
The delicious taste experience included sweet raisons, apples, apricots, with savory pasilla chiles with subtly sweet creamy nutty walnut sauce, and ground beef. It was truly a surreal sweet and savory experience. It was such a taste explosion that I jotted down the recipe on a napkin. Being the foodie that I am, I knew I would make this delectable meal part of my annual traditional dishes in September or October, when walnut and pomegranate harvest overlap. The dish I ate in Tepotzlan was with ground beef, but since then I have perfected this entree with my Mom, and I use pork now, which is more common.
Fast forward to 2016. I recently went to Ralph’s, a grocery store, in Santa Barbara to shop for the ingredients to recreate this dish for my husband and my 21 month old son for our Sunday dinner.
The total cost of this feast was about $100. Not bad if you are going to serve 12 people, which averages about $8.50 per person. Since there is only 3 of us, I took the leftovers to my Mom and Dad’s (Nana and Papa’s) house, the next day, for a second feast.
Unless you have a well organized assembly line of family and friends helping out, then I would recommend making this a 3 day cooking adventure.
Day 1: Shopping for all of the ingredients.
Day 2: Cook the pork. Blanch, peel, and soak the walnuts for 12 hours.
Day 3: Make the filling, nut sauce, and roast and peel the chiles, and serve to your loved ones. Buen Provecho!
- 12-15 pasilla chiles (poblanos)
- 2 tablespoons of salt
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
- Seeds of 1 pomegranate
- Sprigs of fresh parsley for a garnish
- 75 walnuts in their shells or 3 cups walnut halves
- 2 cups of milk
- 8 oz creme fraiche
- 8 ounces of queso fresco
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2½ lbs. of pork loin
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 onions quartered (for pork)
- 4 cups of water
- Olive oil
- 2 cups of onions (2 medium onions)
- 5 whole garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
- 2 cups (1 lb) of finely chopped, roasted tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons of minced parsley
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 large pear, pealed and chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 peaches, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 large firm banana, peeled, and chopped about 1 cup
- ½ cup of raisons
- 1 cinnamon stick
- For the nut sauce: (You can prepare the nut sauce the night before) To prepare nut sauce, shell the walnuts. Place in a glass bowl cover with boiling water and let the walnuts soak for five-ten minutes. Drain, then peel the thin skin from the nuts. Place the walnuts in a small bowl, cover with 1 cup of the milk and let soak for 12 hours. Drain the walnuts reserving 1 cup of milk. Transfer the walnuts to a blender and puree with the cream, the remaining 1 cup of milk the queso fresco, sugar, and salt and refrigerate. When you are about 20 minutes away from serving the dish take the nut sauce out of the refrigerator.
- For the meat: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a cast iron dutch oven heat oil. Generously salt and pepper the pork loin. Brown the pork on all sides. Add garlic and onion slices and lightly brown them around the pork. Add 3 cups of water and boil for 1 minute. Place the dutch oven in the oven covered and roast for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Drain reserving 1 cup of the cooking stock. Let the pork cool. Chop finely and set aside.
- For the filling: In a skillet, heat oil. Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute until transparent. Add tomatoes, minced parsley, and cook for five minutes. Add the remaining salt, apple, pear, peaches, banana, raisons, and the cinnamon stick and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes or until the fruit thickens. Add the pork and the reserved stock and simmer for another 15 minutes. Set aside.
- Pasillas Chiles: Roast the chiles on a comal or a skillet until blackened. Place the chiles in a glass dish and cover with an air tight lid to sweat the chiles for about 15 minutes. Peel the thin skin off of the chiles. Make 1 long slit in each chile and remove the seeds.
- Stuffing the Chiles: Use a spoon and stuff the chiles with the meat mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes.
- Plate each of the chiles. Add the nut sauce and top with the pomegranates and garnish with fresh parsley. Buen Provecho!
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