So I'm putting the sauce third in this set of three steps -- chiles, filling, sauce -- although, truth be told, they could be done in any order. And you want the sauce to sit in the fridge for a bit, although I didn't follow the recipe exactly and serve chilled sauce over warm stuffed chiles. I brought the sauce to room temp before serving.
Anyway. Getting ahead of myself. The point is, I have found a kitchen task that makes all other previously tedious kitchen tasks -- peeling fava beans! supreming clementines! -- look like a walk in the proverbial park.
Peeling walnuts. No, not shelling. Peeling.
Yeah, yeah, there are still bits of skin left here and there, but if you realize that it took me an HOUR to even get this far -- on a mere cup of nuts -- you might see the futility of going for 100%.
Here's what my setup looked like:
Yes, those are toothpicks. They were handy for getting some of the skin out of some of the countless nooks and crannies of the walnuts.
Zoom to the pile:
One thing that did help some was blanching the walnuts in hot water -- it made the skin come off in larger pieces than when they were only pan-toasted. Sometimes. So if you're going to tackle chiles en nogada, I highly recommend it.
I also recommend doing this step the day before. With plenty of time. In front of the television. Maybe flip on Lifetime and watch a few reruns of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" while you're peeling. It makes the task a lot more pleasant. As opposed to sitting at your kitchen table muttering under your breath, knowing your guests are only a few hours away and you're not neeeeearly ready for them. No. Day before. Reruns. Trust me.
Anyway, once you've survived all that walnut-peeling, the rest goes lickety-split, especially if you have a food processor. Dump and pulse:
Walnuts, cream cheese, sour cream, salt. Little bit of sherry. That's it.
Ahhh. Totally calming after that whole walnut-peeling nightmare.
So that's the chiles en nogada. Let's have one last look at the finished plate, shall we?
Nogadalicious.
You may remember from earlier in the week that this was part of a Mexican-themed dinner. And since I'd never made chiles en nogada before and was worried about whether they'd turn out -- I made another main-ish dish and an appetizer.
So tune in tomorrow, yet again, wouldja?
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