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Mole, v.1

Mole, to me, is magical and somewhat mysterious. I had heard of it, but the first time I actually ate it was in a wonderful restaurant in Santa Cruz, called Chocolate, where all dishes were made with ... you guessed it.

I have tried it elsewhere since then, but nothing has ever quite lived up to that first moment of magic. And I have hesitated to try making it myself, in part because it requires so many ingredients and so much time. In the final analysis, the ingredients pose the main problem. Trondheim simply does not have a reliable, good selection of South-American ingredients (something I have struggled with when making carapulcra, as well). This is especially a problem when you get to chilli peppers.

Mole requires a wide range. One recipe I encountered suggested the ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle. Another substituted the guajillo for pasilla and mulato. We were fortunate enough to find chipotle quite easily, but it took me ages to finally track down the ancho and the guajillo. Do not (do NOT) just buy "red chilli". You want one (or four) that have a fairly strong flavour, but which will not burn your tongue off.

At any rate, I read up on moles and different recipes, and here is my hodgepodge attempt at the dish.

First, make chicken stock. So many of the recipes stressed that you should not use store bought stock, so I didn't dare.

One chicken (take out the breast pieces for later, boil the rest until it is quite dead)
One onion
One carrot
One stalk celery

Boil for an hour or two and set aside. The dried chilies (dry them if they are not already dry) should then be placed in water for about half an hour, complete with seeds. I used

3 anchos
3 chipotles
3 guajillos

The water will soak up a lot of the flavour of the chilis (some of which is in the seeds), so that from what I understand, this will allow you to retain that without killing your friends with the seeds themselves. Point is: Whatever you do, do not throw out the water afterwards. It goes in the pot, eventually.

Then the spices. They should be toasted, then ground.

Meanwhile, prepare the peanuts and the almonds.

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

3 tablespoons raw almonds with skin

3 tablespoons raw shelled peanuts

3 tablespoons raisins

1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds

4 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/2 cup reserved chile seeds

5 whole cloves, stemmed

1/4 teaspoon anise seeds

1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 stick true or ceylon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/2 pound roma tomatoes, about 2 , charred or roaste

1/3 pound tomatillos, about 2, husked, rinsed, charred/roasted

2 corn tortillas, sliced in 8 pieces

1/2 bolillo, telera or baguette, about 2 oz, thickly sliced (if it is a couple days old, better

6 ounces Mexican style chocolate or bittersweet chocolate

5 cups chicken broth(plus 4 more cups to dilute later on)

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or more to taste

1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted, to sprinkle at the end

Versions:

Version 1

Camilla, 03.09.14 11:22

Version 2

Camilla, 03.09.14 22:19