This week I tried my hand at the Mexican dish mole (pronounced mol-ay). In America "mole sauce" usually refers to a sauce made with dried chiles and chocolate, but in Mexican Spanish "mole" just means "sauce." The chocolate chile sauce is a variation of a mole negro, which includes a number of chiles and chocolate. This recipe is comprised of what I could find at my neighborhood market and what I had on hand, though as always, there is room for experimentation, interpretation and growth. Served over whole grain quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), this dish was spicy, rich, and healthy. It could easily become the star of Mole Monday in our house!
Chicken Mole
1 chicken breast
11 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 dried chipotles, stems & seeds removed
2 dried red chili peppers, stems & seeds removed
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 tbsp sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
1 large white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp tumeric
1 tbsp butter
1 tsbp olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 cup chicken stock
In a food processor combine whole tomatoes, chipotles, red chiles, onion, and garlic. Blend until smooth. Heat a pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add diced tomatoes and green chiles and the mixture from the food processor.
Stir in sugar, lemon juice, spices, butter, chicken stock and chocolate (broken into large pieces). Bring to high temperature and drop the temperature to a simmer.
Heat another pan over medium heat and spray with oil. Pat down chicken and sprinkle salt and pepper on each side. Cook 10-15 minutes or until done. Set aside and let cool.
When the chicken is cool use your fingers to shred it. Just pull it apart in strips along the grain. Add to the mole sauce.
Cook the sauce at least an hour but up to 4 or 5. You want the sauce to reduce so that it is thick and chunky. Serve over rice.
www.keralites.net |
No comments:
Post a Comment