Ancho Chipotle Mole Recipes

MANCHAMANTEL MOLE SAUCE RECIPE {CHARRED PINEAPPLE AND CHIPOTLE MOLE}

Steps:

• Toast. Remove stems from ancho chiles and shake out the seeds. Tear into thick strips so they can lay flat. Heat a dry comal, cast iron skillet, or frying pan over medium heat and lay chile strips in pan. Toast on both sides until darkened and fragrant, but not burnt. Remove as they are toasted.
• Soak. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add toasted chiles and remove from heat. Use a plate to submerge completely under water. Let sit 30 minutes.
• Char. Heat broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with foil and place onion, garlic, and pineapple on prepared sheet. Broil until charred on all sides, about 15 minutes. Remove garlic as it gets toasted, it will cook much quicker than onion or pineapple.
• Toast nuts. Toast peanuts and almonds separately in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Let both cool slightly, then grind in a spice or clean coffee grinder until finely ground, but not a paste. Set aside.
• Grind. Grind cloves, peppercorns, and cinnamon in a coffee grinder until finely ground. Set aside.
• Fry. Heat oil or lard in a large pot (large enough to cook mole in--I used a 4-quart Dutch oven) over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add plantain slices and fry on both sides until golden. Use tongs or slotted spoon to remove to a plate, leaving oil in pot.
• Puree. In a blender combine drained, soaked chiles, ground nuts, a third of the charred vegetables, and about a cup of the cooking liquid from the chicken. Blend until very smooth. Pour into a large bowl and repeat with remaining charred vegetables, ground spices, fried plantains, and chipotles adding enough chicken broth to get things moving but not too much to make it runny (you'll use about 3 cups total). You may have to do this in two more batches depending on the size of your blender.
• Simmer. Return pot with oil to medium heat. Once shimmering, add pureed sauce (careful it will spatter). Stir continuously to cook the sauce in the oil. Add salt and reduce the heat to low. Cook until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.
• Serve. Serve with roasted chicken or pork or in tamales.

AUTHENTIC MOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Toast guajillo chiles, ancho chiles, and chipotle chiles in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until warm and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth.
• Heat 2 cups chicken broth in a saucepan until it begins to simmer, about 5 minutes. Pour broth into a blender.
• Toast dinner roll pieces and tortilla strips in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth and chiles
• Allow the chiles and toasted bread and tortillas to soak, fully submerged, in the chicken broth until softened, about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture until smooth.
• Cook tomatoes and tomatillos in a dry skillet on medium-high heat until soft and blackened, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place tomatoes in the blender with the chile puree.
• Melt lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, cumin seeds, thyme, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice berries; cook and stir until onions are soft and golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and other whole spices; add onion mixture to the blender with the chile-tomato mixture and blend until smooth.
• Pour chile puree into a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in chocolate chicken broth, sugar, and salt. Bring mixture to a simmer; stir until chocolate is melted and sauce is thickened and slightly reduced, 10 to 15 minutes.

SPICE-RUBBED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH MOLE, GREEN RICE, CILANTRO, LIME AND GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• For the mole sauce: Put the almonds in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the almonds to a plate.
• Increase the heat to high, add the oil to the saucepan and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the garlic and onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, chipotle puree, ancho chile powder, sesame seeds, New Mexico chile powder, cinnamon, chile de arbol, allspice and cloves. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the mango, raisins, tortilla chips, molasses, honey, maple syrup and reserved almonds. Pour in the warmed chicken stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mangoes are soft and the mixture is reduced by half, about 50 minutes.
• Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender, let cool for 5 minutes and then blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan over high heat. Add the chocolate and cook until reduced to a sauce consistency, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the green rice: Add the rice and 3 cups water to a saucepan and season with salt. Bring to a boil, stir, place a lid on the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook until all of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Remove the rice from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Stir in the cilantro, green onions, poblanos and some salt and pepper.
• For the spice rub and pork: Remove the pork from the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Combine the ancho chile powder, brown sugar. pasilla chile powder, cinnamon, allspice, chile de arbol and 1 tablespoon salt in a small bowl.
• Season the pork with salt on both sides. Dredge the pork in the spice rub and tap off any excess. Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over high heat until it begins to shimmer. Cook, turning every few minutes to sear on all sides, until the pork is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the oven and cook to medium doneness (or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees F), 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the tenderloin to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before slicing into 1-inch-thick slices.
• Ladle some of the mole sauce onto each plate and put 3 slices of pork on top. Put a scoop of rice on the side. Add more sauce on top, some crumbled goat cheese, a squeeze of lime and chopped cilantro.

ANCHO AND CHIPOTLE MOLE

Steps:

• In a bowl, cover the anchos and chipotles with the boiling water. Let soak for 30 minutes, until softened. Drain, reserving the liquid. Discard the stems, cores and seeds; coarsely chop the chiles.
• Preheat the broiler or light a gas flame. Char the peppers for 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover with plastic and let steam for 5 minutes. Peel the peppers and discard the skin, stems and seeds, then coarsely chop.
• In a small dry skillet, toast the cloves, cumin and cinnamon stick over moderately low heat until darkened and fragrant, 1 1/2 minutes. Let cool. Grind to a powder in a spice grinder. Transfer to a plate. Add the sunflower seeds to the skillet and toast, shaking the pan a few times, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Transfer the seeds to the grinder; finely grind.
• Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the garlic and cook over low heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until glossy, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.
• In a blender, combine the chiles and their soaking liquid with the bell peppers, the ground spices, the ground sunflower seeds and the garlic mixture and blend until smooth. Scrape the mole into a large bowl and season with salt. Transfer the sauce to jars and refrigerate.