Best Stuffed Poblano Chiles In Walnut Sauce Recipes

CHILES EN NOGADA (CHILIES IN WALNUT SAUCE)

Steps:

• Remove the walnut skins: Remove the papery bitter skins from the walnut pieces. (This is the hard part.) Sometimes the skins easily rub off. I have found that usually, for us, the skins don't easily peel off and we need to blanch them for 1 minute in boiling water first, to loosen the skins. If you blanch the walnuts, let them cool to the touch and carefully peel off as much of the bitter skins as you can. This is painstaking work, but unless your walnuts are shed of their bitter skins, the sauce may be a bit bitter.
• Soak the walnuts overnight: Place the skinned walnuts in a bowl, cover them with milk to soak, and chill them overnight in the refrigerator.
• Char the chiles: Place the chiles directly over the flame of a gas stove, or place under a hot broiler, to char the outside tough skin. Turn the chiles to char them on all sides. Get as much of the outside skin blackened as possible, it will be easier to remove that way.
• Remove the skins: Place the blackened chiles in a bowl, cover with a plate or damp clean towel, and let sit for 20 minutes. The burned skin will then flake off very easily and the flesh will become a little more cooked in the steam so the skin will flake/peel off easily. Discard the skin.
• Remove the seeds: Make a slit in the side of each chile and carefully remove the seeds and veins. Be careful to leave the top of the chile, the part around the base of the stem, intact. Rinse the chiles and pat them dry.
• Blend sauce ingredients: Drain the walnuts. Place the soaked and drained walnuts, the queso fresco, sour cream, sugar, and cinnamon into a blender and purée until completely smooth.
• Brown the ground turkey: Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large wide saucepan on medium high heat. Working in batches to prevent crowding the pan, brown the meat on at least one side, sprinkling the meat with a little kosher salt as it cooks. Add another tablespoon of oil if needed for the subsequent batches. Remove meat to a bowl and set aside.
• Sauté the onion and add the seasonings: Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat on medium. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, and garlic and cook another minute.
• Add the butter, return the turkey, and add tomatoes, raisins, almonds, and apples: Melt butter in the pan and return the ground meat to the pan, using use wooden spoon to break up any clumps. Add the crushed tomatoes, golden raisins, and chopped slivered almonds. If the mixture seems a little dry, add a tablespoon or two of water. Add chopped apple to the picadillo mixture. Adjust spices, add more cinnamon, salt, ground cloves to taste (go easy on the cloves, they can overpower).
• Stuff the chiles: Stuff the chiles with the picadillo until they are well filled out. Place them on individual plates or on a serving platter.
• To serve, cover the stuffed chiles with the walnut sauce and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and chopped fresh parsley or cilantro.

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.

STUFFED POBLANO CHILES ("CHILES RELLENOS")

Steps:

• Sauce: Put the tomatoes, garlic and onion in a blender. Blend until smooth. In a medium saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Chile rellenos: Mix the cheese and oregano in a small bowl. Cut a slit through 1 side of the charred chiles and fill each chile with 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture. Close with toothpicks to hold the filling in place. In a medium bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the egg yolk and continue to beat for about 1 minute.
• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes.) Dredge the filled chiles in flour until fully covered. Shake off any excess flour, then dip the chiles into the egg mixture, until well coated. Fry until golden brown and drain on paper towels.
• Arrange the chiles on a serving platter, spoon the sauce on top and serve.

CHICKEN STUFFED POBLANO CHILES

Steps:

• While using gloves, wash the poblano chilies and using a sharp paring knife, cut a slit lengthwise from stem to tip of chile leaving stem in tact.
• Carefully cut away the seeds and membrane rinse the inside of the chilies and set aside.
• In a large skillet over medium high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, add chopped onions and garlic.
• Cook until onions begin to turn golden, stirring frequently.
• Add the diced chicken, sprinkle with seasoning salt and cook until chicken is almost cooked through; add tomato and mushrooms, continue to cook until chicken is done.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• With remaining tablespoon olive oil, lightly oil the outside of the chilies and place them cut side up in casserole dish.
• Pack the chicken mixture into chilies and push cheese into mixture along the slit.
• Cover dish, place in preheated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes; remove cover the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking.
• Serve on top of a bed of saffron rice.

STUFFED POBLANO PEPPERS IN A CHIPOTLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, rub peppers with 2 teaspoons oil. Roast until slightly blackened and softened, 15 to 20 minutes, turning once. When cool enough to handle, remove skins. Make a small slit in each pepper and carefully remove seeds, keeping stem end intact.
• In a blender, combine chipotle, garlic, and 3/4 cup water; season with salt and pepper and blend until smooth. Add cilantro and pulse once to combine.
• In a small saucepan, bring 2/3 cup water to a boil. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes; fluff with a fork.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes; add corn and beans and cook until heated, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese and quinoa.
• Pour sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Stuff peppers with filling and arrange in dish; dot with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes.