Mole Poblano With Chicken Thighs Recipes

CHICKEN MOLE POBLANO

Steps:

• For the mole: Tear the ancho, anaheim, and chipotle chiles into large pieces and toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat until they change color a bit, about 2 minutes. Put them into a bowl with the raisins and cover them with hot water. Soak unti softened, about 30 minutes. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the almonds, sesame seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, oregano, and thyme. Toast for 2 minutes, grind in a spice grinder, and add the powder to a blender. In the same skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil, onions, garlic, and serrano. Cook until lightly browned, then add the tomatoes. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 10 to 15 minutes, then add to the blender. Add the chocolate and the soaked chiles and raisins to the blender along with some of the chile soaking liquid. Puree, adding more soaking liquid as needed, to make a smooth sauce. (This makes about 4 cups sauce, the recipe uses 2 cups, the extra can be frozen).
• Pour the lemon juice over the chicken and season it well with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet and brown the chicken on all sides; remove the browned chicken to a plate leaving the oil in the pan. Pour 2 cups of the mole sauce into the hot skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and return the chicken pieces to the pan. Simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put the onion and radish slices into a bowl. Add the lime juice and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt. Mix well and serve with the chicken.
• Serve over cooked white rice with the onion and radish salad. Garnish everything with cilantro leaves.

MOLE POBLANO WITH CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Place tomatoes in medium bowl. Place 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add sesame seed and almonds; toast about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown. Pour seed and nuts into bowl with tomatoes.
• Return skillet to heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, the onion, garlic and raisins; season with dash salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes or until onion is translucent and raisins are puffed. Add onion, garlic and raisins to tomatoes.
• Return skillet to heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, the chipotle powder and chili powder; stir until oil and spices are well blended. Cook about 5 minutes or until powders begin to smoke and darken. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until chocolate melts.
• Pour melted chocolate-spice mixture into tomato mixture. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar and bread crumbs; stir until well combined.
• In blender, place tomato mixture and 1 cup of the chicken broth. Cover; blend at least 1 minute, gradually turning up to high speed. If sauce is not passing through blender blades smoothly, add more broth. Strain sauce to remove any sesame seed bits that didn't get blended completely. Set aside.
• In 10-inch skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 7 to 10 minutes or until browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet; place on plate and set aside.
• Add strained sauce to same skillet. Stir in additional chicken broth, 1/2 cup at a time, until the consistency of whipping cream (1 1/2 to 2 cups). Taste sauce; adjust seasoning if needed.
• Heat sauce to boiling. Return chicken to skillet (chicken should be completely covered with sauce). Reduce heat to simmer; cook 15 to 20 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut (at least 165°F). Serve chicken and sauce garnished with cilantro and additional sesame seed.

CLASSIC MOLE POBLANO SAUCE WITH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine the chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of the sesame seeds, almonds, tortilla, raisins, cloves, cinnamon, and coriander. Puree small amounts of this mixture in a blender until smooth. (I added a small of amount of water or rum each time to make it smooth.).
• Melt the shortening in a skillet and sauté the puree for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken broth and chocolate and cook over a very low heat for 45 minutes. The sauce should be very thick. The remaining sesame seeds are used as a garnish.
• Season chicken breasts to taste and grill over low heat for about 25 minutes or until desired doneness. Ladle mole sauce over each breast and scatter the tops with warm corn kernels. Garnish with cilantro leaves, thin slices of tomatillo.