In these national holidays I would like to share with you one of my favorite Mexican recipes, chiles en nogada. This is from my grandmother's recipe cook book Guanajuato, An Odyssey of Flavor.
This delicious dish inspired by the patriotic colors: white and red green, colors of the flag; they were elaborated by the Augustinian Nuns of the Convent of Santa Monica in Puebla on August 28, the day of San Agustín, in honor of Don Agustin de Iturbide, consummate of the Independence and fleeting emperor of Mexico.
Ingredients for 12 chilies:
12 poblanos peppers
12 large spoons of special hash
1 liter of nogada
2 cups of pomegranate grains
1 bunch of parsley
1/2 kilo of ground beef
1/2 kilo of ground pork (optional)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste
1 large finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 bunch of parsley disinfected and chopped
1 branch of chopped celery
1 carrot
1 potato and
1 zucchini finely chopped
1/2 kilo of roasted tomato
1 little slice of cinnamon
150 grams of skinless almonds and headings
100 grams of raisin
150 grams of pink pine nuts
1 piece of acitron or finely divided biznaga
1 golden apple peeled and finely chopped
1 pee green peeled and finely chopped
2 peaches, raw and finely chopped
Nogada ingredients:
1 liter of cream milk of excellent quality
1 cup castile walnut with out the skin
1 large cream cheese (optional)
1/2 cup of skinless almonds 2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of cognac salt and pepper to taste
Preparation for the mean:
Fry the meats in the olive oil, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
When the meat is cooked, add the other ingredients in the order of the list to be incorporated very well moving constantly. If necessary, add more olive oil. It should not be greasy. It is important to let the juices of all the ingredients are consumed so that this hash is moist but without much liquid.
The nogada is prepared in the following way.
The sugar is dissolved in half a cup of hot water, then it is liquefied with the nuts, almonds and cream cheese, which is well ground. Then pour into a thick bottom pan with the cream. Put on moderate heat for 15 minutes, to incorporate all the ingredients.
Preparation of the peppers:
The poblano peppers are roasted on the comal. They are put in a clean plastic bag so that they sweat and peel easily. Then the skin, veins and seeds are removed.
To prepare the syrup, boil in a large clay pot, two liters of water, with herbs, marjoram, thyme and laurel, a small piloncillo and a pinch of salt. Once dissolved the piloncillo having boiled 8 minutes, it is removed from the stove and left to cool. Still tepid add two teaspoons of cane alcohol vinegar and put the peppers to marinate in this syrup for 15 minutes. They are dried and left to drain.
The broad, dry, open, deveined, and seedless chilies are submerged in the same syrup only in this case we must be careful that the broad chiles do not lose their shape. It is recommended to put two in two.
When we have ready the chiles, the picadillo and the nogada, we proceed to prepare them.
The peppers are stuffed with the picadillo crossing their skin so that they close. In the case that we want them fried, already stuffed they are flourized, they are fried with the egg beaten, and they are fried in the oil. They are served hot. They are placed in a pan to heat them before serving them.
If you don't want them fried, the chilies are placed in a dish, bathed in the nogada and decorated with grains of pomegranate and a sprig of parsley. They are served cold.
