Servings
Font
Back
0 from 24 votes

Gallina en Nogada

Chicken with walnut sauce is easy to make, and will impress a crowd. It's traditionally a chicken dish, but pheasant, quail, Cornish hens, rabbit, partridge or turkey breast are other good options.

Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 25 mins
Total Time
1 hr 55 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 537 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken, cut into serving pieces
  • salt and black pepper
  • 3.5 ounces walnuts (100 grams)
  • 3 cloves garlic, whole but unpeeled
  • 1 white onion, quartered
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 3 tablespoons butter (50 grams)
  • 1 thick slice of bread
  • 4 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and rehydrated in warm water
  • 3 roasted red bell peppers
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 3 tablepsoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Skim any froth that forms, then drop the heat to a bare simmer and add salt. After about 20 minutes, remove the breasts from the pot and set aside. When the legs and wings are tender, turn off the heat and leave the meat in the pot. Return the breasts to the pot to warm up.
  2. While the chicken is cooking, toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium-high heat, stirring or tossing often, until you can smell them, about 5 to 8 minutes. Move them to the bowl of a blender.
  3. Heat a flat top, comal or heavy griddle or cast iron pan on high heat. When it's hot, char the outsides of the unpeeled garlic, as well as the cut sides of the onion and tomatoes. The garlic should be ready within 5 minutes, but the onions and tomato will take about 10 to 15 minutes. You want nice blackening. Roughly chop the vegetables and add to the blender.
  4. While the vegetables are charring, heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the bread until golden on either side. Turn off the heat but reserve the pan. Tear the bread to pieces and add it to the blender.
  5. Tear up the ancho chiles and the red peppers and add them, along with the spices, to the blender and puree until smooth, adding ladles of the chicken stock to thin it to the consistency of house paint or melted ice cream.
  6. If you still have a good 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan you fried the bread in, you're good. If not, add some more butter. Heat this over medium heat and pour in the sauce. It will spatter, so be prepared for that. Stir the sauce constantly until the sauce absorbs the butter, then drop the heat to low, cover the pot and let this cook very gently until the chicken is done.
  7. Serve by putting a little sauce on everyone's plate, then the chicken, then more sauce. Garnish with parsley and black pepper.

Notes

  • If you are using only skinless breasts of chicken or pheasant, use 1 quart of premade broth to poach the meat in. Bring it to a boil, drop the breasts in, let this return to a simmer, then turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let this steep for 15 minutes. 
  • You can keep the sauce uncooked for a week, and it freezes well. You can freeze the cooked sauce, too. 
  • Don't cook the sauce over high heat or it can break. Gentle is the key. To reheat it, just do so slowly over medium heat. 
  • If you feel like it, you can cook your meat however you choose, not just by poaching. Grilled chicken would be a nice touch, as would smoked. 
  • Anchos are easy to find, but any dried chile that isn't too hot will work. Pasilla, mulato, any of the "chocolate" colored dried chiles, as well as guajillo or dried red Hatch will work. 
  • I use canned roasted red peppers because it's faster, but you can roast your own if you'd like. 

Nutrition Information

Calories 537kcal (27%) Carbohydrates 25g (8%) Protein 30g (60%) Fat 37g (57%) Saturated Fat 10g (50%) Polyunsaturated Fat 13g Monounsaturated Fat 11g Trans Fat 1g Cholesterol 110mg (37%) Sodium 440mg (18%) Potassium 870mg (25%) Fiber 9g (36%) Sugar 12g (24%) Vitamin A 6806IU (136%) Vitamin C 23mg (26%) Calcium 67mg (7%) Iron 3mg (17%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 537

% Daily Value*

Calories 537kcal 27%
Carbohydrates 25g 8%
Protein 30g 60%
Fat 37g 57%
Saturated Fat 10g 50%
Polyunsaturated Fat 13g 76%
Monounsaturated Fat 11g 55%
Trans Fat 1g 50%
Cholesterol 110mg 37%
Sodium 440mg 18%
Potassium 870mg 19%
Fiber 9g 36%
Sugar 12g 24%
Vitamin A 6806IU 136%
Vitamin C 23mg 26%
Calcium 67mg 7%
Iron 3mg 17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.