CHICKEN (or Turkey) MOLE

Chicken or Turkey parts, 3/4lb per serving (bone in)
Oil or lard Water or broth
1 Garlic clove per leg
Salt to taste
Mole sauce (1/4 cup per leg)

1. Brown the chicken in the oil.
2. Add the water and garlic, using enough water to come halfway up the side of the leg…about 1/2 cup per leg, up to about 1 cup.
3. Cover the pan.
4. Poach for 10-15 minutes at medium heat.
5. Mash the garlic and add the mole sauce, stirring until it is smooth and creamy.
6. Cook for another 10 minutes at a low heat.
7. Serve with rice, tortillas, or salad, or all three.

Please  go to this link to read and try Glen Synoground’s excellent Southwestern Breakfast Tortilla Bowls, pictured here .

In this section we present recipes on a larger scale, either to be cooked for a party, or to be canned, frozen, or packaged for later use. 

I’ve loved mole sauce since the first time I tried it, and the best I’ve ever tasted was in a cantina in Blaine, Washington, just across the border from Canada. My mom had taken me there for lunch and while it was a simple restaurant, the food was stellar.  I have tried for years to reproduce that sauce and with this combination, believe that I have hit the jackpot.  For my own most recent batch, I rendered the pork fat off of the rind of some double-smoked bacon, gaining particularly delicious results.

The recipe I based this on claimed it was for 12 and at Mexican restaurants it’s true that the dish usually has a great deal of sauce, but I prefer a slightly less wasteful plating, so for me, 1/4-1/2 cup per serving is plenty.

Chocolate Mole Sauce – 20-40 servings
10 Passillas
10 Anchos
10 Mulatos
6 Tomatillos
2 rounds of Mexican chocolate
1 cup of raisins
1/4 cup lard
1 cup pork or chicken broth
Salt
Hot water
I Spanish onion chopped
1 cup Almond meal
1/4 cup Sesame seeds
1 Pinch Anise seeds
10 Coriander seeds
10 Peppercorns

Soak the peppers in enough hot water to cover them until they are soft.
I render my own lard from the skin of double smoked bacon that my butcher sells and use the broth from that as well in the blender.
Fry the onion and tomatillos in the lard until they are soft
Using a blender, food processor, or food mill, grind all the ingredients into a smooth paste. Use as much hot (boiled) water as required to achieve a thick milkshake texture.
Salt to taste

When this is made, prepare a cupcake tray with paper liners (the liners prevent flavour transfer to the metal). Fill the cups with sauce then freeze. After they are removed from the pan, store them in ziplock freezer bags. This gives you 30-40 portions of approximately 1/4 cup. Each is sufficient for one serving.

Three Bean Chili

This chili is one of my most popular recipes. Not only is it the most often requested, but as a regular table item at parties ‘back in the day’, I can remember  regularly hearing people being told when brought as guests that “You absolutely have to try the chili…it’s the best!” It’s also one of my personal favourites, which currently, I like best with eggs as breakfast, or

Recipe:

Stage One Ingredients and Method

• 1Lb (dried) Kidney Beans
• 1Lb (dried) Pinto Beans
• 1Lb (dried) Turtle Beans

Add:

• 2 Garlic bulbs
• 1 Chopped Onion
• 2 Dried Chilies
• Salt

Cover with water and cook at 250º for 6-8 hours

Stage Two and Three Ingredients and Method

• Oregano
• 6 Garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1 1/2 Onions
• 3-4 Chilies of at least 3 types [I like Banana, Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Jalapeno and Mulatos]
• 3/4 cup of Olive Oil
• 2 x 26 oz can Whole Tomatoes

Stage Two

1. Chop 1/2 of onion,
2. Mince 1/2 of garlic and chilies
3. Stick a knife in the can and roughly chop tomatoes
4. Saute onions, garlic and peppers with oregano
5. Add to beans along with 1/2 of the tomatoes
6. Cook covered, for another 6-8 hours.

Stage Three

1. About hour or two before serving, use the remaining ingredients add to chili and cook uncovered