Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Mole



Mole

This is “somewhat” traditional Mole. I say “somewhat” because even though it is made using a Mexican product, the real deal is done much differently (dry the chiles, ground them with other spices and chocolate, etc). But it is safe to say that growing up in a very Mexican household my mom only used “mole Doña Maria” when making mole, so it is traditional (at least to me!). Now, the flavor is NOT spicy at all (some moles are). This is sweet and yummy. You can serve it with rice (red) or make it into burritos. I am sharing my mom’s secret ingredient: peanut butter!

You can find mole in the Mexican/ethnic/international aisle in most grocery stores.

1 small jar of “mole Doña Maria” (the red kind, sarves 4)
1 whole chicken, cooked, shredded. Strain and reserve the stock.
Peanut butter (creamy, not crunchy)
Flour tortillas (see my recipe below), or red rice as a side.

-Mix the contents of the jar of mole with twice as much peanut butter (I usually just eyeball it) and 4 times as much chicken stock (mixing is much easier if the stock is still warm)
-Combine to make asauce, making sure all the mole is very well dissolved.
-In a pan combine the mole/PB sauce with the shredded chicken and bring sauce to a boil.
-Add more stock if necessary (you want it to be “saucy”)
-Taste and add more PB if needed. It should not taste bitter.

(sorry the amounts are so vague, I usually just eyeball it, but it is very easy to make and very hard to mess it up)
(also, give it a try! dont discard it just because you think chicken and PB dont go together... they DO! in MOLE)