Mole Verde Con Pollo Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the chicken chunks with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Quickly brown the chicken, in batches if necessary, and transfer it to a plate. Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of the chicken stock, after fond is deglazed, transfer the liquid to a small bowl and set aside.
• Give the pan a quick rinse and towel dry. Put the pan back over medium-high heat and when the pan is hot, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil (but not smoking) add the onion, and 2 pinches of salt, saute until nearly translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes, Stir in the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the dry spices to onion/garlic mixture and saute for 2 minutes. Next add the remaining 1 3/4 cups chicken stock (including stock from deglazing), and bring to a near boil but not bubbling. Turn the heat down to simmer, and whisk in the almond butter, tomato paste, sriracha sauce, salt to taste, and honey. Whisk the sauce until completely incorporated. Add chocolate pieces, and continue to whisk until melted. Gently simmer the sauce for 5 minutes on the stove, take the pan off the heat, and immerse the chicken into mole sauce. Cover the pan and put it into the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees F. Remove the cover from the pan and bake for 1 hour.
• As the mole bakes, spoon the mole sauce over the chicken if the chicken is exposed periodically, or give a gentle stir every once and a while if you see a skin forming. If the mole sauce seems to be reducing too much (if it looks overly pasty), then add a splash of chicken stock to thin it out. Take the pan out of the oven, remove chicken from the pan to a covered dish to keep warm. The sauce should be thick; if it's not gravy-thick then reduce it for a few minutes on the stove top. If the sauce is overly thick then thin it out with a splash of chicken stock. Taste and add more kosher salt if you like. Stir in most of the cilantro (reserve a few pinches for garnish), then add the chicken back to the sauce. Spoon the chicken mole into a serving dish and top with the diced tomato and remaining cilantro. Good accompaniments include a Spanish-style rice, roasted potatoes, stewed Mexican-style black beans, roasted pumpkin, or squash.
• Cook's Notes:
• - I prefer bone-in but can use boneless, bone in will make for moister, more flavorful chicken, if medium-size then split and cut breast (with or without bone-in) into 3rds, for large chicken breasts then cut into quarters.
• - Sriracha sauce is a spicy sauce from Vietnam with rooster on label, or you can substitute with fresh minced habanero pepper or good quality hot sauce to taste, (if not using sriracha make sure you use substitute heat with caution, for example 1 teaspoon fresh habanero is far hotter than equal part sriracha) but sriracha works best in this recipe. It's now available in most grocery stores.

Steps:

• Combine the ancho, pasilla and guajillo chiles and raisins in a medium bowl. Add enough hot water to cover, cover the bowl and soak until the chiles are softened and the raisins plump, 15 to 20 minutes. Strain. Remove and discard the stems from the chiles. Set the raisins and chiles aside.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with enough oil to coat and sprinkle with salt. Roast until the vegetables are soft and slightly charred, about 25 minutes.
• Place the sourdough on a small rimmed baking sheet, drizzle lightly with oil and season with salt. Spread out in an even layer and toast until golden brown, 6 to 9 minutes.
• Place the cloves, cumin and cinnamon stick in a small heavy skillet. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until toasted and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a small plate. Add 3 tablespoons of the sesame seeds to the same skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring often, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the toasted spices.
• Drain the chiles and raisins. Working in 2 batches, combine the chiles and raisins, roasted vegetables, toasted sesame seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin, sourdough and broth in a blender. Puree until smooth, return to the bowl and set aside.
• To refry the sauce, pour enough oil into a 6-quart saucepan to cover the bottom. Place over high heat. Once the oil just begins to smoke, partially cover the pot to protect from the sauce splattering and carefully pour in the blended ingredients (see Cook's Note). Immediately cover the pot, lower the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes; this will allow the flavors to marry and intensify.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To assemble the enchiladas, add about 1 tablespoon oil to a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Fry the tortillas one at a time, turning them once, just until soft and pliable; this will make them easier to roll and prevent them from cracking. Set them aside in a stack on a plate, covered, to keep warm.
• When ready to assemble, flip the stack of tortillas to use the ones on the bottom first, fill each tortilla with chicken, roll to enclose and place side-by-side in a row in a large baking dish. Once the dish is full, cover the enchiladas completely with the mole and bake until the chicken is warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame seeds in a small heavy skillet set over medium heat. Toast, stirring constantly, until just lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the enchiladas with the sesame seeds and serve.

Steps:

• Fry chicken in animal fat, until lightly browned.
• In a food processor blend cloves, peppers, pepper and tomatillos. Add mix to fried chicken and add 2 cups of water. Cook for 40 minutes.
• Just before serving add the epazote, parsley and hierba santa, which have been previously blended in a food processor with a little water, so they stay bright green.
• Cook for 5 minutes more and remove from heat. The sauce should not be thick.
• Serve with white rice on the side.