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July 19, 2005
Chicken en Molé- Weekday version
(TPCs easy weekday Chicken en Molé)
I love to make molé. Technically, since 'molé' is derived from 'mulli', the Nahautl word for 'sauce', this is a real molé, but a traditional molé has lots of ingredients that combine to create a wonderfully textured sauce with layer upon layer of flavor.
This ain't it by a long shot, but since the pantry and my time were both equally lacking, I made do with what I had. I took some chicken thighs I had grilled off the day before and simmered them in some chicken stock and some of the chili pureé I had left from the Traditional New Mexico Pork Chile I made recently, which gave me a big head start.
I added some more dried oregano, a bit of cumin, a pinch of cinammon, a few bittersweet chocolate chips, a squeeze of honey and simmered it until it thickened up to the right consistency. A classic molé gets its texture from pureéd nuts and tortilla but none of that here today. I took the kernels of a few ears of fresh corn and added that too for a bit more sweetness and texture. Grilled off a few flour tortillas and you have a very decent molé in less than an hour.
This looks like a pretty good molé if you've got the time to check it out. I wouldn't use as much oil as they call for, I'd replace some of the cloves with allspice, substitute almonds instead of peanuts, etc. but the recipe gives you a pretty good representation of the techniques involved.
What did you have for dinner last night?
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at July 19, 2005 9:30 AM
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What did you have for dinner last night?