Mole

I recently made a batch of mole for a recipe of baked cornish hens in pine nut apricot mole. The cornish hen recipe calls for only three cups of the sauce but the mole recipe made over seven cups. I can freeze the sauce but was hoping that somebody in Roadfood land could give me ideas and/or recipes for the excess mole.

For those unfamilar with mole it is a sauce made with dried chile peppers, nuts, dried fruit and spices and a bit of mexican chocolate. The process to make the sauce is fairly complex, there is a lot of toasting, roasting, blending and simmering it takes quite awhile to make the sauce but it is well worth the effort (I hope).

Anyway, sorry to ramble, but any tips, recipes, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Gracias!!!

Thanks

i would put it in an old ketchup bottle and keep it in the fridge. it makes a good taco sauce for a differnet tasting taco...i would try it as a condiment for lots of different things, anything you would use ketchup on. use it as a bbq or grilling sauce. i think i have even heard of people putting it on scrambled eggs. i never made homemade mole but have bought the jarred stuff in the ethnic section of the grocery store. i imagine the homemade is way better!!

How about mixing it with shredded chicken, and freezing it for when it's time to make tamales?

Pinenut apricot? I'd serve it over pork or duck with corn, winter squash or yams, or something like that on the side. You need a meat that'll stand up to it. Try duck breasts. Keep the skin on, but score it several times, and try cooking them under the broiler for 5 minutes a side at about 6-8 inches from the broiler, probably the middle rack. Then another 3-5 minutes a side on a higher rack, maybe 4 inches from the element until the duck reaches medium to medium rare.

One of my favorite combinations with mole is turkey. Slow stewed- mmm. You can make it healthy with just breasts, but I prefer some dark meat and some bone for extra flavor!

I've tried may types of mole in the past, but have never tried apricot. Sounds great.

drink it.....it sounds so good

I've used it on enchiladas and burritos. One of my favorites is a cheese and onion enchilada with the mole under the broiler. No cheese over the mole.

quote:

Originally posted by mousec

I recently made a batch of mole for a recipe of baked cornish hens in pine nut apricot mole. The cornish hen recipe calls for only three cups of the sauce but the mole recipe made over seven cups. I can freeze the sauce but was hoping that somebody in Roadfood land could give me ideas and/or recipes for the excess mole.

For those unfamilar with mole it is a sauce made with dried chile peppers, nuts, dried fruit and spices and a bit of mexican chocolate. The process to make the sauce is fairly complex, there is a lot of toasting, roasting, blending and simmering it takes quite awhile to make the sauce but it is well worth the effort (I hope).

Anyway, sorry to ramble, but any tips, recipes, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Gracias!!!

Thanks

Send it my way, thanks!

Just thought of a funny mole story... Hubby CheeseWit & I went down to one of the growing Mexican corner restaurants in S. Philly (formerly the Italian section of the city) for lunch. I wanted mole, but they didn't have it on the lunch menu. I spied it on the carta de desayuno, served w/ eggs, and asked the waiter in my broken Spanish if he could make it for me with chicken for lunch. He was a little confused, but eventually returned w/ a large oval platter brimming w/ some of the best pollo con mole I've ever eaten. When it came time for la cuenta, he was unsure what to charge for this customized dish, and only charged $5 -- the price of the breakfast! If I'd ordered that meal in any of the fancier Mexican places, it would've been closer to $20!!! It made me feel like I was in Mexico for real.

quote:

Originally posted by JaneDough

Just thought of a funny mole story... Hubby CheeseWit & I went down to one of the growing Mexican corner restaurants in S. Philly (formerly the Italian section of the city) for lunch. I wanted mole, but they didn't have it on the lunch menu. I spied it on the carta de desayuno, served w/ eggs, and asked the waiter in my broken Spanish if he could make it for me with chicken for lunch. He was a little confused, but eventually returned w/ a large oval platter brimming w/ some of the best pollo con mole I've ever eaten. When it came time for la cuenta, he was unsure what to charge for this customized dish, and only charged $5 -- the price of the breakfast! If I'd ordered that meal in any of the fancier Mexican places, it would've been closer to $20!!! It made me feel like I was in Mexico for real.

Jane, which Mexican place was this? There are a few new ones near Pat's and Geno's. I may be heading over to Tony Luke's this weekend (the Roast Pork Italienne's freeze really well!) and I might give it a try. In my neighborhood (Lower Bucks), good Mexican is hard to come by and good mole is even harder to find!

I'm going to declare my absolute stupidity regarding this product, Mole. I've seen it in stores, but honestly, do not what it is used for, or how to use it. Suggestions, please.

I love Mexican food and have had it all over Mexico. There is very little food in the world that I have tasted that I have not liked or at the very least been ambivalent toward.
Mole is the exception. I don't mind some of the moles from northern Mexico where they go easy on the coco and heavy on the sesame, and I had one in Pueblo once that was palatable, but most food with mole is distasteful to me. . . expecially in Oaxaca where the make a very chocolate tasting mole and put it on chicken. . . YUK!
I really do feel bad about my mole aversion.
Mole is a very complex sauce and great care is taken to prepare it.
Hats off to you mouse if you are successful.

Thanks SH, but I want to know whatthe heckit is used on, is it a sauce, a condiments, a meal unto itself? What the heck is it?

Carlton,
Mole itself is a sauce. The story is that it was developed in Mexico by a nun to honor a bishop's visit. A lot of people dispute that story though. Moles usually have some chocolate, spices, raisins, nuts and chiles in them. It's commonly used with chicken or turkey but you occasionally find pork recipes too. Common uses include enchiladas and even tacos with shredded chicken in a mole sauce. There's a lot of variety in them----some are sweet and some allow the chocolate flavor to predominate. Most people seem to like them with just a hint of the chocolate flavor. If you want to experiment the easy way there are usually jars of ready made mole sauce in the supermarkets. While not great at least it will give you an idea what it's about. A good mole in a restaurant can be an amazing thing.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by EdSails

Carlton,
Mole itself is a sauce. The story is that it was developed in Mexico by a nun to honor a bishop's visit. A lot of people dispute that story though.

The reason I find it unconvincing is that there are different versions of mole all over Mexico (some even without the chocolate). Nuns would have had to have the same inspiration numerous times and that bishop would have had to get around widely. Given what's in it, I suspect mole is one of those wonderful concoctions of Aztec and Spanish foods, the nuts (actually, often seeds like sunflower or pumpkin), chiles and chocolatl from the Aztecs, the raisins and some of the spices from the Spanish.

BT is right, there are many versions of mole in Mexico. Chocolate is an ingredient in only a few. Of the seven classic moles of Oaxaca, only one contains chocolate. Try Mole Amarillo. It has no chocolate. It has a nearly floral quality and is perfect with masa based dishes and chicken.

quote:

Originally posted by zataar

BT is right, there are many versions of mole in Mexico. Chocolate is an ingredient in only a few. Of the seven classic moles of Oaxaca, only one contains chocolate. Try Mole Amarillo. It has no chocolate. It has a nearly floral quality and is perfect with masa based dishes and chicken.

It's true that there are moles without chocolate, but 99+% of those served in restaurants any place I've been in Mexico have cocoa in them.
I don't know about the other 6 Oaxacan moles, but every one I ever had was VERY chocolate. . . they are known for their strong chocolate moles.
Hell, without chocolate, you might as well call it chili sauce.

If that's the case, maybe with chocolate and a little cinnamon we would have Cincinnati chili?

Good mole is ambrosia to me. Here in So. Cal, mole is usually a rich, dark brown extremely flavorful sauce that drenches chicken or turkey. It will have a base of ground chiles, usually guajillo, pasilla or poblano, sesame seeds, peanuts, Mexican chocolate, raisins, tomato and garlic. After this, any additions are up to the chef.

A good mole imparts an explosion of piquancy as the melange of chile hot, sweet, nutty, garlic, fruity and tomato rich come together in united flavor. There is no middle ground with mole. One either loves it or hates it.

Good mole is heaven, but bad mole (read: bland, pasty) is inedible. Mole is one of two dishes by which I judge the cuisine of a Mexican restaurant, chiles rellenos being the other. I've developed the habit of requesting a sample spoon of the sauce when dining in untested waters.

Should you find yourself out this way, I'd be happy to provide you with some good mole dining recommendations.

quote:

Originally posted by carlton pierre

If that's the case, maybe with chocolate and a little cinnamon we would have Cincinnati chili?

Actually Mole does kinda remind me of Cincinnati chili, really. Good call! Get a jar from your grocery and taste it. Weird pasty stuff but if you mix in a little chicken broth you'll get a pretty decent mole sauce.

i love the mole at Curra's in austin,tx. i get it on the pork tamales
and it is devine..

i found a website dedicated to mole (moh lay) here
http://www.ramekins.com/mole/

Mole doesn't refer to the chocolate, but the breadth of preparation steps and ingredients (I think) There's a great place in Salt Lake that does 7 versions of mole, only one has chocolate in it. One is mostly pumpkin seeds, one is green with a whole bunch of vegetables. The people at the St'rant said that the point of the complexity of a mole is that you should experience a succession of different flavors asserting themselves in your mouth. Yum. And they do a tasting with a dab of each flavor on a plate. You can dip tortilla chips in each one before making a choice. It makes it much more approachable, so you don't make the mistake of ordering something you really don't want.

Sounds like SouthHill math works a little different that real math - IF indeed you mean that 99+% of all the moles encountered in Mexico had cocoa in them, I'd be very suspicious of the types of places you've been in. Maybe they're all tourist traps? Moles are regional and not normally available all over the country - Oaxaca traditionally serves up 7 of 'em. The common mole [w/ chocolate] served in the US is 'mole poblano' and comes from the city of Puebla; 'mole verde' can occasionally be found on menus here in California, and is made with tomatillos ['green tomatoes'], pumpkin seeds, and no chocolate.

I think of mole as being analogous to 'curry' - it's a sauce all right, but NOT one that is hastily tossed together. If it's simple, it's not mole.

Buen provecho,
Richard
Berkeley/SF, CA

quote:

Originally posted by SouthHillbilly

quote:

Originally posted by zataar

BT is right, there are many versions of mole in Mexico. Chocolate is an ingredient in only a few. Of the seven classic moles of Oaxaca, only one contains chocolate. Try Mole Amarillo. It has no chocolate. It has a nearly floral quality and is perfect with masa based dishes and chicken.

It's true that there are moles without chocolate, but 99+% of those served in restaurants any place I've been in Mexico have cocoa in them.
I don't know about the other 6 Oaxacan moles, but every one I ever had was VERY chocolate. . . they are known for their strong chocolate moles.
Hell, without chocolate, you might as well call it chili sauce.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Brooks Alba


I think of mole as being analogous to 'curry' - it's a sauce all right, but NOT one that is hastily tossed together. If it's simple, it's not mole.

Buen provecho,
Richard
Berkeley/SF, CA

You are sure right on that score. I made some mole poblano once. By the time I roasted the different kinds of nuts and seeds, charred and skinned the chiles and so on, it took two days. That's why I like it in restaurants--THEY do the work.

You ever eat at Casa Aguila in the Sunset (now, sadly, defunct)? They made superb mole poblano and everything else there was wonderful: If you looked in the kitchen, there were about 5 or 6 middle-aged Mexican ladies who looked like an extended family doing the cooking for maybe 10 tables. It was like renting a Mexican grandma for an hour or two to cook your supper.

Richard, ok, so I exagerate. And there aren't too many tourist traps in the places I go in Mexico.

I said in my original post that
"I really do feel bad about my mole aversion.
Mole is a very complex sauce and great care is taken to prepare it."

BTW: Where have you been in Oaxaca where when you order something with mole it is not a chocolate thing? My experience has been that if it's called mole, especially in Oaxaca, it's got chocolate in it.

Yea, American Mole Poblano in a jar is chocolate based. . . I believe they use sesame seeds also. Interesting though, because the one time I had mole that I liked, it was in Peublo. . . on some delicious banana leaf carne tamales. . . but makes sense, my wife used to put a little chocolate in her chili, but since learning about mole, she just adds a tbsp of mole poblano from a jar.

and tomatillo mole?! I've always called it and heard it called Salsa verde.
tomatillos, jalapenos, onion, cilantro, whatever in a blender, simmer, and chill. Great on main dishes. . . like mole is served.

Buen provecho.