Gringo "Chiles" En Nogada

I love, love, love Chiles en Nogada!!!!  This recipe is inspired by Chiles en Nogada, and arose from a desire to eat walnuts and cream for dinner, use up some orange peppers and make a dairy free and gluten free meal.

This can (should) be made with Poblanos but if you can't find them or want a milder version, you can use peppers -  Peppers en Nogada? Or  fill large tomatoes and use as appetizers!

This is also a quick and dirty low sugar version, so I haven't included any dried or candied fruits in this recipe.  The cinnamon and sweetness of the cashew cream is enough for my developing paleo pallet!

This is what you need:

Filling

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1lb of ground buffalo or grass-fed beef
• 1 small tin of tomato puree (I used homemade)
• 1 cup chicken or beef broth (I used homemade beef broth)
• 1/2 a large onion (finely chopped)
• 2-3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup hot green chili or salsa - I had some very hot green chili in the freezer, so I used that
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3-4 tbsp cashew cream

To put the filling in

• 2  poblano chiles, or peppers or tomatoes 

To garnish

• cashew cream with chopped walnuts
• cilantro
• pomegranate seeds
• guacamole

This is what you do:
Melt/heat the coconut oil in a pan, add chopped onions and saute on medium heat for 5-10 minutes...don't rush this part.  Add garlic and saute for another 30 secs before adding the ground meat.  Saute until the meat is brown and there are no red pieces left, 5-10 minutes. Add the tomato puree, cinnamon and broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add green chili to taste (I added a little more than 1 cup), chopped walnuts and cashew cream and simmer for another 10 mins.  Taste to see if you need some salt (my broth had salt so it didn't need it) or more cinnamon.  If you like a more creamy mixture add a couple more tbsps of cashew cream!
[You can freeze the mixture at this point and defrost when needed.  I tend to spend my Sunday afternoons cooking and freeze partial meal items for use later in the week/month]

1. If you use poblanos, cut the top off and remove the inner seeds.  Place in a heat-proof glass dish and bake in an oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.
2. If you use peppers, cut the top off and remove the inner seeds. Submerge in boiling water for 10 minutes.
3. If you use tomatoes, cut the top off and scoop out the insides, no further preparation is needed at this time.

Allow poblanos/peppers to cool, then stuff with the meat mix.
[You can save the stuffed peppers overnight in the fridge.]

Place stuffed peppers in a heat-proof glass dish and bake in the oven at 350 F for15 minutes until the stuffing is bubbling.

I like to server with a side of guacamole and sprinkle with chopped cilantro...yummy!  You can also drizzle with a cashew cream and walnut mixture, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds if you have them.

For this version I drizzled with straight cashew cream, garnished with fresh cilantro leaves and served with Nom Nom Paleo's Cauliflower Rice!