Chiles Rellenos en Nogada Recipe (Stuffed Chilis in Creamy Walnut Sauce) (video)
This week we did a really interesting dish from Mexico. There are a few things about this recipe that make it a little unusual: Firstly, it is typically served at room temperature. Everything's cooked well (except for the sauce), and then served once cooled. You can heat it up or serve it hot, but it does change the character of the dish somewhat. Secondly, it comes together quite quickly, but there is a lot of prep work involved to get there, first! Lots of things to chop, then cook together and reduce, plus peeling the walnuts. It's a bit of advance work before you start assembling. The stuffing is wonderfully aromatic and flavourful with the rich pork, the crunchy almonds, and the flavours of the tomato, pear, and raisins adding a great deal of complexity, sweetness, and acidity.
There are a few optional things that you can change in and out. We made a sous vide pork for this recipe, and added both the pork (pulled) and the juice that rendered into the bag while it was sous vide cooking. That's something you're going to want to do in advance, of course. We cooked the pork for 24 hours. Peeling the walnuts is also optional, and the only reason you're doing it is to keep the sauce as white as possible (the colours of the pepper, the sauce, and the pomegranate are supposed to represent the colours of the Mexican flag). You also don't need to peel the poblanos, but it just helps the sauce glaze them when you serve. If you have access to a gas range or open flame, it makes it much easier to char and peel the peppers.
