Mole?

[StInGeR]

Today was food shopping day for Vicky and I, so while she's at work I headed down to Shoprite. Cruising through there I came across a huge stand of dried chiles, being a chile head I grabbed a pack of anchos and a pack of pasillas. Hey at a $1.99 who wouldn't, ANYWAY....... while I'm not that fond of chicken, I was thinking pork in a mole sauce (never made it before) and now I need help with a great recipe. HELP!!!!!

Cheers

Tom

[johnnyd]

This was sent to me from eGmember Bicycle Lee back in June:

Mole Poblano

From The Red Iguana,736 W North Temple, S.L.C.

Ingredients:

6.30 Oz. Mexican Chocolate

2 Very Ripe Plantain Bananas

1 Cup Peanuts

1 Cup Pecans

20 Passillas, Stemmed and Seeded

2 Oz. Guajillo Chilis Stemmed and Seeded

1 Cup Raisins

1 White Onion Quarted

4 Avocado Leaves

1 Bunch Cilantro

1 Bunch Epazote

2 Tsp. Sugar

5 Piloncillo Sugar Pieces

2 Tsp. Thyme

2 Tsp. Majoram

6 Cloves

8 Cinnamon Sticks

1/2 Tsp. Allspice

1/2 Tsp. Anise

1 Tsp. Coriander

8 Bay Leaves

1 Tsp. Mexican Oregano

3 Tsp. Black Pepper

Salt to taste

Chicken Broth (Optional)

Instructions:

Saute all ingredients. Blend, slowly adding 2 quarts water. Put blended ingredients back into pot, reheat and simmer. Add salt or chicken stock to tastes. Serve over meat or seafood of your choice.

edit to add: I was missing a few of the ingredients so I never made it

[chow guy]

Thanks for posting the recipe. This was one of my favorite moles from the Iguana on a visit last summer.

I'm curious about a few things:

Avacado leaves :Fresh? Dry? Why?

I'm assuming you should remove cloves and cinnamon sticks before blending ?

[StInGeR]

Call me stupid -- shup phaelon. I need to know what a couple of these things are (mental note - living in buttfuck NJ).

Epazote

Piloncillo Sugar Pieces

If you've got a CAN substitute with...........

Cheers

Tom

[jhlurie]

Egad this is a potentially loaded topic. Even assuming we limit this to Mole Poblano and exclude any other Mole, there are still about ten thousand different recipes, and from my experience several great divides in what different people expect out of it.

Some people like Mole Poblano which is bitter, others sweet. Some like a strong peanuty taste, and others I know would be horrified at that. Some are very herby, and others are not. Some are quite spicy, and others quite mild.

One constant though is that most of the good ones I'm told take hours.

The recipe above confuses me though, since the time for the "simmer" isn't mentioned. That could mean anything from 2 minutes to 2 days.

[SuzySushi]

Call me stupid -- shup phaelon. I need to know what a couple of these things are (mental note - living in buttfuck NJ).

Epazote

Piloncillo Sugar Pieces

If you've got a CAN substitute with...........

Cheers

Tom

←

Epazote is a Mexican herb. No substitute.

Piloncillo = brown sugar in chunk form (little cones). Can substitute regular brown sugar.

[suzilightning]

tom-

if you were in the wharton shoprite epazote should be in the same aisle as the dried chiles. did you get the ground buffalo that is on special this week? sorry i missed you...

[eatrustic]

Head over to the Latin (Mexico) forum for more mole talk. There are a few threads there on some of the different types of Mole.

[whatsup1]

I made the Rick Bayless Mole Poblano last month. It was delicious but was 6 hours of solid cooking one day, and a two hour simmer the next.

[devinf]

I'll second the Rick Bayless recipe. Long prep time but worth the effort. Awesome over carnitas.

[Abra]

Here's a link to a little photo essay I did last year on making mole Great Tamale Thread Just scroll halfway down the page to see the photos. It's a terrific project, but be sure to make two or three times as much as you need. Mole freezes fine, and it's so much work that you might as well stock up your freezer while you're at it.

[johnnyd]

Holy Hannah, jhlurie! It's mole! You simmer this sucker for a month at least!

But seriously folks, when Mr. Lee sent this to me and I saw Avocado Leaves I went "screw this!" and went and bought Maria so n' so jar o' mole instead. Got so sick I vowed I'd never "buy" mole sauce again. So I keep this damned recipe around thinking I'll eventually stir up a pot.

My strategy was to just leave out or substitute the nuttier items, get it going at noon, turn off the simmer when I went to bed and leave it to meld overnight. On the other hand, Abra's amazing photo essay is a far better looking strategy for making mole. It pays to keep a dish as close to the original method as possible, no?