Chips
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Hey all, here's my recipe for mole. I'm not the best at writing recipes,
Lot's and lots of ingredients. More importantly, it needs to simmer at least 12 hours or more on the lowest heat once all the ingredients are together, for the flavors to meld. Then put in a blender and blend till silky smooth.
Preheat your oven to around 450-500 while you start assembling your mis en place.
10 dried ancho chilies de-seeded, de-veined torn into pieces that will fit into a pan to toast lightly
10 dried pasilla chilies (same)
2 medium onions coarsely chopped
2 ripe plantains, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
6-8 tomatillos, depending on size, washed, coarsely chopped
12 cloves of garlic set aside for the last portion of the roast so they don't burn
4 quarts chicken broth. It's better to use low sodium then adjust salt at the end
1/3 C ancho chili powder
1 small can chipotle chilies with their adobo sauce
2T Mexican oregano
1 T Marjoram
1T thyme
1tsp ground cloves
7 oz dark chocolate (it doesn't have to be mexican chocolate but thats traditional )
1/4 C dark brown sugar or one pilloncilo which is also traditional
1 whole stick cinnamon thus should be mexican cinnamon, but smell it after you crumble it. If it's too faded, change to another variety.
1,5 T red pepper flakes
2/3 C cocoa powder darkest ia best. If you regularly buy spices and ingredients from SpicesInc, they have a Black Onyx cocoa powder that I used. Its amazing. Makes incredibly awesome brownies too.
3 bay leaves
2-3T of peppercorns
1 whole star anise, slightly crumbled
2C almonds
1.5C pecans
1.5 C unsalted Peanuts with skins removed.
1 C pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 C sesame seeds
1.5-2 C raisins
4 thick slices of white bread/challa/ brioche, etc, toasted medium. Some recipes also call for 2 corn tortillas added to the mix for thickening. It's up to you. This sauce is already extremely smooth and thick.
2 C lard (or if need be, use veg oil) lard is traditional and adds great flavor
Start by roasting the veggies. Oven around 450-500 F. Don't worry about the size of them because they'll all get pureed at the end. Onion, tomatillos, tomatoes, plantains go into a roasting pan, with a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan and toss to coat..Keep an eye on them so that they get blackened tips all over, they'll need to be stirred occasionally about every 5-6 minutes while roasting it;ll take some time, especially since there's a lot of water in the tomatoes. When everything looks nicely roasted, toss in the garlic and roast for another 5-8 minutes, but don't let the garlic burn or it will taste horrible.
While the veggies are roasting, put the dried chilies in a pan ( I used a big, dry cast iron pan) and toast them till fragrant,, stirring often, taking care not to burn them, or they'll taste acrid. Put them in a blender and cover with boiling water and leave them alone for about 30 minutes while you prep the spice blend.
Grind the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, oregano, chili powder, in a spice blender. dump it in a bowl and set aside
Toast the bread till golden brown either in a toaster oven or in the hot oil.
Toss the chipotles and their adobo sauce into the blender that has the soaked chilies and puree until smooth. Set aside.
In a huge deep stock pot, put the lard or oil in, heat it on medium high to high, start frying your nuts, individually apparently makes a huge difference and keeps their flavors intact, (from what I've read) versus dumping them in at the same time. I use a spider spatula to remove them to a bowl.. Fry the nuts till fragrant and golden brown then remove. The ones you need to watch out for are the pumpkin seeds. They have moisture inside and will pop like popcorn . Use a splatter screen for those. After the nuts are fried and removed, put in the raisins. They'll puff up and turn a light golden brown. remove them and put them in the same bowl.
You should now have a pot with some slightly darkened oil. Toss in the sesame seeds and stir fast so they don't burn then immediately add the following. It might help to lower the heat a bit.
Pour the pureed chilies into the hot oil ( it will definitely spatter a lot). stir constantly and try not to burn your arms from the spatters. Add in the nut/raisin mix, the blended spice mix, brown sugar, cocoa, dark chocolate and the roasted veggies
Then add the chicken broth and the toasted bread. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes while the bread softens and the chocolate melts.
If you have a boat motor style immersion wand mixer, use it to kick start the blending process. It'll make the final blending a lot easier.
Simmer this for 12 hours to 24 hours. This is probably the most important part because it basically triples the flavors and harmonizes everything. You want a consistency like warm pudding. When I tried mine the next morning after 12 hours on the stove, the flavors had blossomed tremendously. The longer it simmers the darker it gets. Taste, and add salt. Probably 4 T to start and go from there
Blend in small batches until as smooth as possible. This will also improve the flavor significantly and remove the grittiness from the toasted nuts. This recipe makes a pretty mild batch spice/heat wise. If you like more heat, add cayenne pepper powder to your liking.
Freeze a bunch of it, and serve it over pretty much any protein, rice, etc. It's commonly served with white sesame seeds sprinkled on the top. Good steamed tortillas are it's best friend.
No one single ingredient is critical. There's so many flavors going on in the dish that if one is unavailable, it probably wont affect the outcome too dramatically.
In the presentation above I served it over chicken breasts with sautéed bell peppers, some sliced radishes and lime wedges as well as a bit of sliced avocado. Totally gilding the lily, but it was worth it. And an extremely welcome compliment to the dish is something bright and acidic. So I did a 10 minute pickle with a thinly sliced red onion, about 2T white sugar and about 1/4 C white vinegar in a sealed mason jar and shook like crazy. By the time I was assembling the plate, they took on a beautiful hue and their sweet/sour acidic snap really contrasted nicely with the earthier subtle spicy tones. So Id' forgo some of thevarnishes garnishes, but keep the onions personally.
I was surprised I couldn't find a mole recipe here from one of our many great cooks. If anyone tries it out, I'll love some feedback and criticism
Enjoy!
Yields about a dozen pint sized deli tubs for easy freezing.
Tom
Lot's and lots of ingredients. More importantly, it needs to simmer at least 12 hours or more on the lowest heat once all the ingredients are together, for the flavors to meld. Then put in a blender and blend till silky smooth.
Preheat your oven to around 450-500 while you start assembling your mis en place.
10 dried ancho chilies de-seeded, de-veined torn into pieces that will fit into a pan to toast lightly
10 dried pasilla chilies (same)
2 medium onions coarsely chopped
2 ripe plantains, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
6-8 tomatillos, depending on size, washed, coarsely chopped
12 cloves of garlic set aside for the last portion of the roast so they don't burn
4 quarts chicken broth. It's better to use low sodium then adjust salt at the end
1/3 C ancho chili powder
1 small can chipotle chilies with their adobo sauce
2T Mexican oregano
1 T Marjoram
1T thyme
1tsp ground cloves
7 oz dark chocolate (it doesn't have to be mexican chocolate but thats traditional )
1/4 C dark brown sugar or one pilloncilo which is also traditional
1 whole stick cinnamon thus should be mexican cinnamon, but smell it after you crumble it. If it's too faded, change to another variety.
1,5 T red pepper flakes
2/3 C cocoa powder darkest ia best. If you regularly buy spices and ingredients from SpicesInc, they have a Black Onyx cocoa powder that I used. Its amazing. Makes incredibly awesome brownies too.
3 bay leaves
2-3T of peppercorns
1 whole star anise, slightly crumbled
2C almonds
1.5C pecans
1.5 C unsalted Peanuts with skins removed.
1 C pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 C sesame seeds
1.5-2 C raisins
4 thick slices of white bread/challa/ brioche, etc, toasted medium. Some recipes also call for 2 corn tortillas added to the mix for thickening. It's up to you. This sauce is already extremely smooth and thick.
2 C lard (or if need be, use veg oil) lard is traditional and adds great flavor
Start by roasting the veggies. Oven around 450-500 F. Don't worry about the size of them because they'll all get pureed at the end. Onion, tomatillos, tomatoes, plantains go into a roasting pan, with a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan and toss to coat..Keep an eye on them so that they get blackened tips all over, they'll need to be stirred occasionally about every 5-6 minutes while roasting it;ll take some time, especially since there's a lot of water in the tomatoes. When everything looks nicely roasted, toss in the garlic and roast for another 5-8 minutes, but don't let the garlic burn or it will taste horrible.
While the veggies are roasting, put the dried chilies in a pan ( I used a big, dry cast iron pan) and toast them till fragrant,, stirring often, taking care not to burn them, or they'll taste acrid. Put them in a blender and cover with boiling water and leave them alone for about 30 minutes while you prep the spice blend.
Grind the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, oregano, chili powder, in a spice blender. dump it in a bowl and set aside
Toast the bread till golden brown either in a toaster oven or in the hot oil.
Toss the chipotles and their adobo sauce into the blender that has the soaked chilies and puree until smooth. Set aside.
In a huge deep stock pot, put the lard or oil in, heat it on medium high to high, start frying your nuts, individually apparently makes a huge difference and keeps their flavors intact, (from what I've read) versus dumping them in at the same time. I use a spider spatula to remove them to a bowl.. Fry the nuts till fragrant and golden brown then remove. The ones you need to watch out for are the pumpkin seeds. They have moisture inside and will pop like popcorn . Use a splatter screen for those. After the nuts are fried and removed, put in the raisins. They'll puff up and turn a light golden brown. remove them and put them in the same bowl.
You should now have a pot with some slightly darkened oil. Toss in the sesame seeds and stir fast so they don't burn then immediately add the following. It might help to lower the heat a bit.
Pour the pureed chilies into the hot oil ( it will definitely spatter a lot). stir constantly and try not to burn your arms from the spatters. Add in the nut/raisin mix, the blended spice mix, brown sugar, cocoa, dark chocolate and the roasted veggies
Then add the chicken broth and the toasted bread. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes while the bread softens and the chocolate melts.
If you have a boat motor style immersion wand mixer, use it to kick start the blending process. It'll make the final blending a lot easier.
Simmer this for 12 hours to 24 hours. This is probably the most important part because it basically triples the flavors and harmonizes everything. You want a consistency like warm pudding. When I tried mine the next morning after 12 hours on the stove, the flavors had blossomed tremendously. The longer it simmers the darker it gets. Taste, and add salt. Probably 4 T to start and go from there
Blend in small batches until as smooth as possible. This will also improve the flavor significantly and remove the grittiness from the toasted nuts. This recipe makes a pretty mild batch spice/heat wise. If you like more heat, add cayenne pepper powder to your liking.
Freeze a bunch of it, and serve it over pretty much any protein, rice, etc. It's commonly served with white sesame seeds sprinkled on the top. Good steamed tortillas are it's best friend.
No one single ingredient is critical. There's so many flavors going on in the dish that if one is unavailable, it probably wont affect the outcome too dramatically.
In the presentation above I served it over chicken breasts with sautéed bell peppers, some sliced radishes and lime wedges as well as a bit of sliced avocado. Totally gilding the lily, but it was worth it. And an extremely welcome compliment to the dish is something bright and acidic. So I did a 10 minute pickle with a thinly sliced red onion, about 2T white sugar and about 1/4 C white vinegar in a sealed mason jar and shook like crazy. By the time I was assembling the plate, they took on a beautiful hue and their sweet/sour acidic snap really contrasted nicely with the earthier subtle spicy tones. So Id' forgo some of the
I was surprised I couldn't find a mole recipe here from one of our many great cooks. If anyone tries it out, I'll love some feedback and criticism
Enjoy!
Yields about a dozen pint sized deli tubs for easy freezing.
Tom
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