Mole Vesuvius

[lperry]

Last night I made a mole verde for dinner. When I poured it from the blender into the pan, I expected some spattering, but nothing on the level that occurred. It was like the mud geysers at Yellowstone times ten. I immediately tried to stir it down with one hand while reaching for a pot lid with the other, but I still ended up with a rather spectacular mess. Even the stove knobs ended up in the dishwasher. Fortunately, the mole was worth it!

So here's my question. I have made mole before, but never mole verde. Is it the higher liquid content that causes the spattering? Is there a secret to keeping it in the pan? Should I have a backup man standing with a spatter shield? Or should I just plan to make it when the kitchen needs a really good scrubbing anyway?

Thanks-

Linda

[theabroma]

You have now well and truly earned your Mole-Making Badge! And lived to wear it ...

The pureed ingredients for all but the very simplest, oldest of moles yield a rather thick mass. Once in contact with the hot oil in a pan, it not only begins to steam, but the bread, tortilla, and nuts ground up into it begin to thicken. The result is like the La Brea Tar Pits set to 'boil.' I used to wonder why the tiny women cooks in mercados and fondas economicas used such huge cazuelas to cook in. They seemed more suitable for bathing or washing. I think it was, in part, to contain the mole swamp as it cooked.

Now when I make mole, I use a very deep pot - trick is it should not be real narrow. And I have one really 'good' splatter screen I bought at a 'real' upscale kitchen store, and I have several others I have picked up at Dollar stores and Indian groceries (same thing can happen when sauteeing spices and making curries). You can also use a large plate or pot lid, or visit the hardware store for a 2'x2' piece of very fine, stainless screen mesh. Just plop it over the top of the pot.

I prefer the open deep pot or one of the screen scenarios - they both allow steam to escape, and the sauce to thicken. And you need to be able to see what's going on in the pot, and have relative ease of access to stir it. Besides, the pan and oil only need to be fairly hot for a short while : when you first pour in the sauce (I highly recommend doing that all at once, and not in batches. Suck it up and POUR!), and for the first few minutes to 'saute' it. I usually drop the heat a little and then cook and stir until it begins to smell perfumy rather than of 'raw' ingredients.

And finally, you will adjust the consistency with stock.

I have loved green mole passionately from the first time I ever closed my eyes and put a spoonful of what looked like a spring swamp into my mouth. Tell us about yours. Was it porki? Chicken? Duck? Or corn? You've made me hungry!

Regards,

Theabroma

PS: as for the kitchen ... now you know why many indoor Mexican kitchens are tiled floor, ceiling, and roof! You can just hose 'em down ... and sometimes that's what it takes. I have never heard, however, of mole being a "wash day" special, so to speak. Rachel?

Edited May 9, 2005 by theabroma (log)

[lperry]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll go with the deep pot AND the screen. I've always used my old cast iron skillet.

The dish was pozole with mole verde. I combined ideas and ingredients from Rancho Gordo's posts in the pozole thread, Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen, Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and a few things that I remembered from Diana Kennedy's old cooking show. Garnishes included lime (I couldn't find sorrel), avocados, shredded cabbage, and cilantro. I tried it first without any of the garnishes simply because I love the corn taste and I wanted to try the mole on it's own, "unadulterated" if you will.

I agree with you - mole verde is just incredible in flavor, texture, and color. I've never tasted anything like it, and now I wish I had made more! I am hooked.

-Linda

[theabroma]

Linda, I just thought of one more thing. Cast iron pots are superb for searing cuts of meat and for deep frying: they will get hellishly hot, and they will not buckle and bend, they are stable on the stove, and a cast iron dutch oven will hold heat evenly and well when you are deep fat frying - so you don't have to constantly fiddle with the controls to adjust the heat.

But those qualities can work a bit against you, especially if you are using an electric stove, when cooking something like a mole sauce. The ideal pot is a deep clay vessel, or perhaps an enamelled cast iron pan. The clas heats thoroughly, and holds and even temperature, but it does not get so incredibly hot like a cast iron pan. The enamelled cast iron will get hotter than clay, but not so searingly hot as a bare cast iron pan. Also, the stainless steel pans with the copper layer sandwitched in the bottom can work well - but experiment with them. That copper can really take on the heat, as well.

Theabroma

[shelora]

I am well versed in the mole vesuvious experience - and have the scars to prove it!

Whenever I make mole in my tiny kitchen, with the stove up against one wall, I have a cloth at the ready for wiping down the walls. Just a matter of course.

I would suggest - like Theobroma - just a tad less heat and do pour in all at once.

I always forget to buy a splatter screen - damn good idea - and have used the pot's lid to contain some of the scrapnel - using it like a warrior's shield - opening and closing until I add some broth.

Oh, what fun!

[theabroma]

I thinki that the truly interesting thing here is not creating a Krakatoa-East-of-Java eruption experience, but how much we all love mole and, despite a few, ah, inconveniences, we will return to make it again and again and again. Not many things out there you can say that about!!!

I am trying to find a recipe I have - from a workshop that Alicia d'Angeli did - of a simple mole of chicken, made with chili chilcoztli and a condiment of pureed hoja santa. It does not spit and spew, and it is just wonderful. Bear with me while I keep digging!

Theabroma

[shelora]

Great. I've got some chilcoztlis and they need to be put to use - they've been lying around doing nothing for far too long.

[lperry]

Oh, that's that wonderful scented heart shaped leaf, isn't it? Piper auritum I think?

Please do share the recipe if you find it. Even if it makes a mess, I'm more than willing to clean again!

-Linda

[theabroma]

Oh, that's that wonderful scented heart shaped leaf, isn't it?  Piper auritum I think?

Please do share the recipe if you find it.  Even if it makes a mess, I'm more than willing to clean again! 

-Linda

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Piper auritum it is. A gorgeous plant, and almost as invasive as bamboo! I don't know where you are, but it grows very well in Dallas. It will winter outside and hold up through all but the most harsh and killing frosts.

I am going to be real ticked if I can't find that recipe. It was amazing because it was so simple, an absolutely screaming shade of chrome yellow, and the hoja santa puree was just divine. Of course, I was eating it in Puebla where I am so happy to be that I would think eating dirt was delicious.

Theabroma

[rancho_gordo]

Piper auritum it is.  A gorgeous plant, and almost as invasive as bamboo!  I don't know where you are, but it grows very well in Dallas.  It will winter outside and hold up through all but the most harsh and killing frosts.

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Golly- I keep having it die every winter. It never comes back and I have given up!

[theabroma]

Piper auritum it is.  A gorgeous plant, and almost as invasive as bamboo!  I don't know where you are, but it grows very well in Dallas.  It will winter outside and hold up through all but the most harsh and killing frosts.

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Golly- I keep having it die every winter. It never comes back and I have given up!

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Maybe I was just lucky and had a mutant! I planted it on the northwest side of the house. It would wilt a bit in the summer afternoon sun, and then perk up again in the evening. It did die back most winters, but would jump right back up starting about March. The thing was about 6' tall, and kept putting up new plantlets through suckers. I don't know if altitude has anything to do with it, or what. It really did surprise me, though. I didn't think it would grow past a few months.

T.