Mole Paste (Used for Making Mole Sauce)

fast_cars's Note:

Adapted from Emeril’s recipe, on FoodNetwork,Tequila Marinated Chicken in Mole Sauce, the first step in creating Mole Sauce is to make this paste, which yields 3 1/2 cups. The paste is then further combined with additional chocolate and chicken stock to make an exquisitely complex Mole Sauce to serve with roasted chicken, turkey, pork, fish, Emeril's Tequila Marinated Chicken or in enchiladas. Garnish with the usual in Mexican cuisine, diced avocado, corn tortillas, cilantro, and pickled onion. Since only about a cup is used at a time, the remainder freezes well for use at a later time. I will try this with duck and/or rabbit and get back with you on this one.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3.5 cups

• 2 large tomatoes, cored, cut in half, seeds removed (1 1/4 pounds)
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 10 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 10 dried ancho chiles, stem removed, seeds reserved
• 5 dried guajillo chilies, stem removed, seeds reserved
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/4 cup toasted almond
• 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 cup chicken stock (plus a little more if necessary)
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 3 1/2 ounces mexican chocolate, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes, pureed in blender
• 1 cup mole, from recipe above
• 1 -1 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 ounce mexican chocolate, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Broil garlic cloves, tomatoes and onions. Remove garlic cloves after they have softened, about 10-12 minutes and continue broiling the tomatoes and onions until slightly caramelized.
2. Heat a large skillet and toast the chilies until just browned and fragrant, being careful not to burn. Place toasted chili pods in a large glass bowl and cover with hot water, allowing to soften.
3. In same skillet toast reserved seeds from chilies and sesame seeds, then transfer to a separate bowl.
4. With skillet still hot, toast the cloves, peppercorns, oregano, thyme, and cinnamon stick a few seconds until fragrant. Then add to bowl with toasted sesame and chili seeds.
5. Once garlic cloves have cooled, peel them and combine in blender with the tomatoes and onions, rehydrated chili pods (do not add in the rehydrating liquid), the toasted seeds and toasted spices, along with the nuts, raisins, and about 1 cup of chicken stock. Puree until smooth and thick, scraping down the sides. (After first trying a food processor, we were able to get a smoother puree using a Ninja style blender).
6. In a large deep pot, heat the cooking oil (I used peanut oil). Once hot, add in the pureed mixture, being careful to avoid splatter burns. Once mixture has come to a boil, lower heat, bring to a simmer and then add 3 1/2 ounces chocolate to the pot.
7. Allow to simmer, stirring frequently, for about an hour until a deeply rich reddish brown shimmer has developed. (I love watching Rick Bayless on the Create Network cook this over an open fire in a large cazuela).
8. Use about a cup of this paste to make your Mole Sauce. Freeze the remainder away in 1 cup containers for a later use.
9. *********************************************************************.
10. To make Mole Sauce, heat about 1 tablespoon oil in large deep sauce pan.
11. Add pureed fire-roasted tomatoes and saute a few minutes.
12. Add 1 cup of Mole Paste.
13. Stir in remaining 1 cup chicken stock, bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer.
14. Add in 1/2 oz of chopped chocolate. Continue to simmer and add additional stock if necessary, until a suitable consistency, then keep warm until ready to serve.
15. Enjoy with grilled/roasted chicken, turkey, pork, variations with fish, or use to make enchiladas. Delicious with grilled chicken but my goal is to make this with rabbit and/or duck.

Reviews

[Muffin Goddess]

This was a huge hit with DH! I've made many attempts at recreating his family's version of mole rojo, but I have always gotten the same two comments across the board (too sweet, and not spicy enough). While this version isn't a perfect recreation of the family mole, this is the first pot of mole that wasn't too sweet, and was just spicy enough. Based on prior experiences, I knew that if I added all the chocolate that this batch was going to be deemed too sweet as well, so I did omit the bulk of the chocolate. I added 1 disk (~ 1.5 oz) of some Mexican dark chocolate with chipotle to the paste portion, and i didn't add any additional chocolate to the sauce part. I didn't do anything to alter the spiciness, though -- that was just due to the chiles called for in the recipe. I have to admit, I don't really care for dark mole all that much -- too much going on, and too bitter for my tastes. I will say, though, that I found this version more appealing that the others I've tried, probably because of the tomatoes (never had mole with tomatoes in it before). Since I was going into this knowing that it's a sauce that I just don't care for, my review is based purely on DH's opinion of this. I know that this is a good mole recipe, though, since I've seen enough mole being made by my Mexican in-laws. Coincidentally, I happened upon some whole frozen ducks in Costco the other day, so I made a roast duck to go with this, and some white rice. This made DH a very happy camper yesterday, so I thank you for posting this recipe. Made for PAC Fall 2012

[Chuckreich]

This paste is a wonderful base for an authentic mole sauce. It is rich with a complex mix of chilis yielding more umami than pure fire. Believe me, it is still darned hot!