MOLE POBLANO
(for 8 persons)
Place the following ingredients in a large pot and completely cover with water (about 3 quarts). Put on the lid and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and stew everything for 1/2 hour.
- 2 chickens, cut into quarters, skin removed
- ½ med. white onion, chopped coarsely
- 4 whole cloves of garlic, skinned
- 1 T. salt
- 10 whole black pepper corns
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
While the chicken is stewing, cook and char on a stove top griddle:
- 1 lg. white onion, skinned and left whole
- 1 lg. red pepper, veins and seeds removed
- 2 lg. whole Roma tomatoes
Cut the vegetables (charred skins and all) into large chunks and put them in the blender. Add:
- 2 oz. of dark chocolate (La Abuelita)
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 T. chicken consommé powder (Maggi)
- the contents of 2 jars (235g. each) of (DoñaMaria) mole paste.
When the chicken is cooked, remove the pieces and set them on a platter to cool for ½ hour – then remove the meat from the bones in as large pieces as possible. Set the chicken pieces to one side. Discard the bones.
Strain the broth, discard the onion and other bits, and then take out enough broth to cover the ingredients in the blender. Process until smooth. If your blender’s glass is not a large one, do one half of the ingredients at a time. Transfer the mixture to a clay cooking pot or other large pot.
Reserve 4 cups of the broth so you can use it when making the rice, and add all the rest to the blended mixture in the cooking pot. Stir well and put the pot on medium heat. The mixture will be “soupy”, so you need to let it reduce by about a third, or until it has the texture of a creamy sauce.
Add the chicken pieces to the mole sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
Measure out:
And prepare it as you please, but instead of using water, use the:
- 4 cups of reserved chicken broth
To the steaming rice, add:
- 2 envelopes of condimento español
(this is basically turmeric and is available at you corner store or in the market)
Optional ingredients::
- ¼ cup of toasted sesame seeds
- light cream
- red onion
- cilantro leaves
To plate:
Mold ½ cup of rice on one side of the plate. Spoon the Mole beside it. To garnish the mole, I sometimes run a line of cream over the top and sprinkle it with the toasted sesame seeds. Sometimes I place thinly sliced red onion on top or I use cilantro leaves.
I serve guacamole, fried plantains and hot corn tortillas with this meal. I pair it with a robust red wine.
