Chiles en Nogada... sort of

日本語版

I came across a picture of Chiles en Nogada randomly on the internet and decided I really wanted to try some. Although I'm a bit under the weather this week, I thought I would give it a shot. The Chiles en Nogada dish is a specialty of Puebla, Mexico and is eaten during pomegranate season, since it is garnished with pomegranates. The white sauce looks so delicious, especially with a fresh sprinkling of parsley and bright red pomegranate. 
I found this recipe online and got *most* of the ingredients. In typical fashion, I didn't read any of the instructions and just went at it after glancing at the ingredient list! Bad habit. I thought everything was turning out a bit sweet, so I made a few modifications to fit the taste buds of my family. For one, nobody in my house really likes peppers or pomegranate. (!) So I bought minimal peppers and decided to use the rest of the filling and stuff pork. I also added salt and garlic to the walnut sauce because it was tasting too sweet. So ultimately I am changing the staple parts of the dish... but I've never had it before so I didn't know the difference. and it was delicious!!

Ingredients:

1lb. (500g) tomatoes
4 chiles poblanos* [see notes at bottom]
3 pork cutlets, butterflied and pounded thin* [see notes at bottom]
1Tb shortening or oil
1 med. onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2lb. (250g) ground beef (yes, I stuffed pork with beef - don't judge)
1 box (40g) raisins
2 small peaches
1 apple
1 pear
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup aloe [ok, so the original recipe called for candied pineapple. I didn't like the sound of that so I thought of another common ingredient in Mexican dishes, which is candied cactus. I didn't have any on hand, so I used aloe, but honestly I think this could be completely omitted]
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 egg white
salt

For the walnut sauce:
2 cups walnuts
1 clove garlic
4oz.(113g) goat cheese or feta
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1Tb. mirin (or sherry)
pinch of salt

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cup pomegranate seeds (my family doesn't like pomegranate so I used 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries)

How to Make, er rather, How I Made:

1. Set the oven to low broil and put the tomatoes over some foil on the bottom rack. Broil for 30-40min, or until the tomato is completely cooked. Move to the top rack for 5-10min. to char the skin. Let it cool for use the following day, or stick it in the freezer for about 10min. to use immediately.

2. Next, stick the peppers in the oven and char as you did the tomatoes (about 20-30min.). While your peppers are cooking, melt shortening in a large pot or skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add meat and brown.

Ingredients are measured and ready to go

When the onions are translucent, add your meat

3. Puree the tomatoes in a blender and strain. Add the strained tomatoes to the meat. When it comes to a boil, add the fruit, nuts and spices. Cover and simmer for 30min.

I forgot to strain, so I did it over the meat.

Obviously, I didn't use a big enough pan.

Simmering. I found it to be a little dry, so I added about 1/2 cup white wine.

4. When the peppers are done, take them out and wrap them in a towel or dish rag. I kept min wrapped in the foil as well, so I wouldn't dirty the towel. Leave them to cool for 20min.

5. While the chilis were cooling and filling simmering, I [had my dad] butterly and pound the pork cutlets and seasoned with some salt and pepper. I checked on the filling and added a couple pinches of salt to taste. 

6. After my chilis cooled, I peeled the skins and carefully used a spoon to get the seeds out. The peppers are fragile now, so be careful not to pull or scrape hard or you will lose half your chili.

7. While everything was cooling, I made the sauce. Put all sauce ingredients in a blender and go at it until it's smooth. It will be quite thick so you will need to get in there with a spoon and move things around in order to get everything mixed properly.

8. Stuff your peppers (and meat - close with toothpicks). I didn't like the idea of having a cold sauce over hot meat, so I put the sauce in a pan and put it on low-low heat to warm it up and put the stuffed pork in the middle of the oven, set at 350°F (180°C). These should bake about 30-40min.

9. After about 15min., I put some oil in a fry pan and whipped an egg white with a pinch of salt until it formed soft peaks. You are SUPPOSED to make a whole load of egg whites and roll the pepper around in that stuff so it's completely covered and fried in oil. I didn't feel like going through all the trouble, so I place a bit of egg white (about 1/4 of what I made) in the pan and then flipped the pepper over so the open side was over the egg, forming an egg barrier over the filling to help keep it in the pepper.

egg whites in the pan

looks like an omelette

10. Generously pour the sauce over the peppers and pork and garnish with pomegranate/cranberries and parsley.

Yum!!! So good.

Notes: I actually liked the pepper flavor combination than the pork. And so did my family! I will definitely make this again, but following the original recipe and just using peppers (and that would be 12 poblano chilis and 3 egg whites). 
The pork was good too, but needed a bit of a kick. If using pork, I would add a 1/2 tsp of chili powder to the filling to give it some zip. I might also add some lemon zest to the filling. Also, the pork should probably be pan fried rather than baked, so it doesn't dry out. 
I also didn't peel the walnuts. I thought the sauce was great, but it would probably be a lot whiter if the walnuts had been peeled. Aloe is definitely not needed.