Today, for the first time, I made my favourite dish to eat in the world: Mole Poblano (pronounced "mole-ay") [In reality, this probably isn't very "Poblano"; it's more just a way to make a dark mole, which is characteristic of that from the Peubla region]. This is a labour intensive, time consuming Mexican dish that is more complex than probably anything you've ever tasted. The version I made was relatively simple (a slight variation on Mark Bittman's recipe in The Best Recipes in the World), but traditionally these recipes will have over 30 ingredients, involving as many as 10 different kinds of chiles.
Mole Poblano is the dark, rich sauce made primarily from a variety of fresh and dried chiles, tomatoes, onions, garlic, stock, and unsweetened chocolate or cocoa. It comes together as a rich, dark,velvety sauce that is a match made in heavan for chicken; or even better: turkey (So tonight I did both chicken and turkey with my mole).
You may ask: if this is your favourite thing to eat in the world, then why is this the first time you've ever made it? I might answer: I've never been able to get the variety of dried chiles necessary. The actual types of dried chiles you get isn't all that important, because pretty much every family in certain Mexican regions have their own recipe. What is important is that you get a variety. I had my mom pick up some for me in Florida recently. I four types of Mexican dried chiles: Whole dried chipotles (aka smoked jalepenos), ground ancho chiles, ground red New Mexico chiles, and ground green New Mexico chiles. I also got some whole dried Thai bird's eye chiles, but those are for another entry!
If you can get a few types of dried Meixcan chiles, you can make Mole Poblano. This is also probably a spot to mention that there are countless varieties of mole which you can make (just google it!), but Poblano, or from the region of Peubla, is my favourite.
I served my turkey/chicken Mole Poblano with some slow cooked beans, and "Arroz Mexicano" (aka Mexican rice").
Here's what I did.
Mole Poblano
Meat: Turkey and chicken legs, chicken broth/stock
Veg: Whole canned plum tomatoes, jalapenos, onions
Spice: Cinnamon, dried chipotle pepper, dried ground ancho pepper, dried ground red and green New Mexico chiles, bay leaves, thyme, cliantro, unsweetened chocolate, salt and pepper
Garnish/Fixins: Cilantro, fresh tomatoes, hot sauce, corn tortillas
1. Put the fresh and dried (chipotle) jalapenos in the bottom of a hot, dry stock pot, and char them a bit, but not too much, then remove and put aside.
2. Reduce the heat under the stockpot, add some extra virgin olive oil, and then the onions (chopped), garlic (minced), and about a quarter cup of chopped cilantro - cook until onions are soft.
3. In the meantime, stem and seed the fresh jalapenos, and cut into pieces.
4. When the onions are soft, add about a cup and a half of chopped tomates (canned will be better if the fresh ones aren't that good), about 2 cups of chicken stock, the cinnamon, thyme, bay leaves, the fresh and dried jalapenos, all the rest of the chiles. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for a while.. maybe half an hour.
5. Once its had time for the flavours to blend, add about 1 ounce (one full sqare of baker's chocolate) of unsweetened chocolate, and stir while it blends in. Continue to simmer.
6. At some point after its simmered a bit longer, either use a stick blender to puree the sauce, or allow to cool slightly, transfer to a blender, and puree. Continue to simmer the sauce.
7. At this point preheat your oven to 400, and then put some olive oil on a baking sheet, and the pieces of poultry, as well as some salt and pepper. Throw it in the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes, and then turn the broiler on to brown the skin. Once its pretty nice and crip, transfer the meat to the simmering sauce. Allow to cook for about 20 minutes..
8. At this point, the chicken/turkey skin will be a bit soft, so I removed it from the sauce, and put it back under the broiler until it gets all nice and almost "grilled" looking. All the while continuing to simmer the sauce.
9. Now I added more chicken stock throughout the sauce cooking, especially to help cook the poultry. But in the end, you want it to be thick, so while the poultry is browning under the broiler, reduce the sauce on high heat until it coats the back of a spoon - or even thicker if you want. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
10. Take the poultry out of the oven, put on a serving platter or something big enough to carry it, and top with a generous portion of the mole, and the garnish with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds.
11. Get your fixins together: Wrap corn tortillas in foil and heat in oven/toaster oven for about 10 minutes (Corn tortiallas NEED to be hot, or they will crack); Slice a couple tomatoes (I salt and peppered them, gave them a squeeze of lime, and topped with some cilantro as well), more chopped cilantro, hot sauce, and the left over mole sauce.
12. Assemble tacos with pieces of the poultry that you've torn off the bone (shredding it a bit is the best) - I like to top it with extra mole, hot sauce, cilantro, and tomatoes. Sometimes I like just the meat and sauce on the corn tortilla alone.
Beans
What you need: A bag of dried red kidney beans (what I used) or black beans, some cumin, several cloves of garlic, a couple lime wedges, water, and some time!)
What to do:
1. If you have time, soak the beans overnight - this will greatly reduce the cooking time.
2. Then put beans in a sauce pan, cover liberally with water, and bring to a boil
3. When it comes to a boil, add a tablepsoon of cumin, and a few smashed garlic cloves
4. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until beans are tender (at least an hour --> I cooked mine for 3.5 hours to get them to a glorious texture - they weren't pre-soaked) - You will likely have to add more liquid to keep the beans covered (either water or broth)
5. I chose to take a potato masher to mine about 2 hours in to release all the starch and break the beans up.
6. When they are nice and broken down and in a big mass; they are done.
When they are ready, add another tablespoon of cumin, a couple minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and a couple squeezes of lime. Combine and serve!
Arroz Mexicano
What you need: long grain rice, an onion, some garlic cloves, a couple tomatoes, chicken broth, and a bit of oil.
What to do:
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add rice. Stir until the rice is golden brown.
2. In the meantime, puree the tomatoes, onion, and garlic into a paste in a blender/food processor.
3. When the rice if brown, add the puree to the pan and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Add the broth (about twice the amount of rice you have; i.e. one cup of rice and two cups of liquid), bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender - about 20-30 minutes)
5. Toss the rice with a fork - or "fluff" it, I guess is what its called, and serve!
That is it! A great Mexican Sunday dinner here in Winnipeg. Andrew and I just gorged on that. I wanted to make this in honour of my favourite restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie closing - Los Mexicanos. Mole is pretty much the only thing I ever ordered there. It was amazing there, although tonight's turned out to as good, if not better! I am very happy. Now I can make this again and again (until I run out of chiles, at least).
Best. Meal. Ever.
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