More often than not my Grandma used a jar of Doña Maria mole paste, fresh-boiled chicken, a few spices, and that was it. Mom on the other hand uses some additional fresh ingredients and only a few tablespoons of mole paste to enhance all the natural flavors and tame the sweetness of the chocolate. This simple flavorful mole recipe gives you the soul of traditional mole without all
the hard work.
Chicken Mole
(Pollo Con Mole)
7 to 8 Servings
Chicken
- 4½ cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 1 to 2 pounds chicken breasts
- 1 bay leaf
Mole Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ bolillo (substitute small French roll), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 2 California chile pods, stemmed, seeded, diced
- 1 large or 2 small tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, and chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
- 3¾ cups chicken broth (reserved from boiled chicken), divided
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1.5 ounces Mexican chocolate (recommend Nestle-Abuelita), coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons mole paste (recommend Doña Maria)
- 2 teaspoons salt
Directions
Prepare chicken:
In a large pot, heat water, salt, onion, chicken, and bay leaf. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate to cool off, and then shred. Discard bay leaf. Reserve broth and onion.
Make mole sauce:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, bolillo, chiles, tomatillos, tomato, and sesame seeds and sauté for 10 minutes, until soft.
Pour half the broth and boiled onion into a blender and add half the sautéed ingredients. Add peanut butter, chocolate pieces, cocoa powder, mole paste, and salt and blend until very smooth. Transfer the sauce to a large skillet.
Pour the other half of the broth and sautéed ingredients into blender. Puree and add to the mixture in the large skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of the shredded chicken and stir until chicken is covered with the sauce. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring continuously to keep it from sticking to skillet.
Plate some mole on a serving plate and toss a handful of sesame seeds on top for garnish.
Note: To save time, you can also use 2 cups of shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken and canned low-sodium chicken broth.
Recipe from Muy Bueno: Three Generations of Authentic Mexican Flavor by Yvette Marquez Sharpnack, Veronica Gonzalez-Smith and Evangelina Soza, www.muybuenocookbook.com.
Reprinted Courtesy of Hippocrene Books, Inc.
Photo credit: Jeanine Thurston