Best Cherry Chicken Mole Recipes

CHICKEN MOLE

Steps:

• Put the chicken and peppercorns in a large pot, cover with water and season with salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over low heat and cook until tender, about 40 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a large plate and set the cooking liquid aside.
• Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing, until golden, about 5 minutes. Set aside 2 tablespoons for garnish and transfer the rest to a blender. In the same skillet, toast the cloves, cinnamon stick, and anise and coriander seeds until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add to the blender.
• Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chile peppers. Heat 4 tablespoons canola oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles and fry until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with hot water and set aside to soak until pliable, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds and tortilla pieces to the oil in the skillet and cook, stirring, until the seeds and tortillas are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add to the blender along with the oil from the skillet. Add the softened chiles and puree, pouring in 2 to 3 cups of the soaking liquid to make a thick, smooth sauce.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chile sauce and fry, stirring, until thickened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add 4 cups of the reserved chicken cooking liquid and simmer until the sauce starts to thicken, about 20 minutes. Add the chocolate and simmer, stirring frequently, until the chocolate melts and the sauce reduces, about 20 more minutes. Add the sugar and season with salt.
• Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and warm through over low heat. Garnish with the reserved sesame seeds.
• Photgraph by Con Poulos

MOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Add chicken, garlic, onion, bay leaf, chicken bouillon, salt, oregano and water to pot. Bring to a low boil and cook over medium heat until chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate, (reserving the broth) cover to keep it warm and set aside.
• Add the sesame seeds to a large dry skillet over medium heat and cook them, stirring constantly, until toasted. Be careful not to burn them. Set aside.
• Use scissors to cut a line down all the chilies to open them up flat. Remove veins and seeds.
• Add a few tablespoons of oil to the skillet over medium heat. In a separate large saucepan, add 2 cups of water and turn heat to medium-low.
• Once oil in the skillet is hot, add one layer of chilies at a time to the skillet, frying on both sides for just a few seconds, careful not to burn them, then transfer them to the saucepan of water.
• We will continue to fry most of the remaining ingredients, one at a time, so add a little oil between each batch, as needed, just to coat the bottom of the pan.
• Fry the peanuts stirring often so they toast but don't burn, about 45 seconds. Add to the pot. Repeat with almonds, then raisins, then animal crackers, then corn tortilla, and bread slices, adding each to the saucepan and pressing down as much as possible into the water.
• Turn skillet heat to medium-high and add more oil if needed to coat the bottom of the pan. Add onion and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and fry for just a few seconds before spooning the onion and garlic into the pot. Add sliced plantain to the hot oil and fry on both sides, then add to the pot.
• Reduce heat to medium and add peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, anise, and crushed red pepper to hot oil and fry for a few seconds, stirring constantly, then add to the pot.
• To the saucepan with all of the ingredients, stir in 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 ½ teaspoons chicken bouillon.
• Add the chopped chocolate to a bowl and pour some of the chicken broth into it, to help it melt. Set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoons lard or oil to a large saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside.
• Working in batches, add everything from the pot with the chilies to a blender and add enough of the reserved chicken broth to allow the mixture to blend. During one of the batches, add ¼ cup of reserved toasted sesame seeds. Blend each batch for several minutes, until completely smooth, adding more chicken broth if needed.
• Pour sauce through a fine mesh strainer (discarding what's leftover in the strainer) into the pot with the melted lard.
• After everything has been blended and strained to the pot, add the melted chocolate and broth mixture (you can blend it too, if the chocolate has not completely melted), to the pot. Add 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar, to start, then add more to taste, as needed.
• Cook the mole sauce over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring often. If the mixture is too thick, add more chicken broth (I usually end up using all of the remaining chicken broth). Taste and add salt or sugar, as needed.
• Place chicken on a plate and ladle a big spoonful of sauce on top, then garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with Mexican rice and warm corn tortillas on the side.

CHICKEN MOLE

Steps:

• Split, stem, and seed the chilies. Toast them in a medium dry skillet over medium-high heat, flipping and flattening with a spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer the chilies to a bowl, cover with very hot water, and set aside until soft and pliable, about 30 minutes and then drain.
• Adjust the oven rack to its highest position and preheat the broiler to high. Put the tomatoes, onion, and garlic on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil the vegetables until the skins are charred and the garlic is soft, flipping as needed, about 8 minutes for the tomatoes and onions and 3 minutes for the garlic. Cool and then squeeze the garlic out of their skins, and put in a blender along with the drained chiles, tomatoes, onion, 3/4 cup chicken broth, chocolate, almonds, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, bread and chipotle en adobo. Blend until smooth.
• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Carefully add the mole mixture and cook, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining chicken broth. (The mole sauce can be made to this point a day ahead and refrigerated.)
• Add the chicken to the sauce and simmer until the chicken is heated through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, scatter the sesame seeds over top and serve with rice if using.
• Put the onion and chicken in a medium saucepan. Cover with the broth and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until the chicken is just firm to the touch, about 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, and cool the chicken in the liquid for about 30 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a large dish or bowl to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Strain the broth and store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for later use. Remove any fat from the surface of the broth before using.

CHICKEN MOLE

Steps:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken pieces in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium, and stir in the bay leaf, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, cloves, and cinnamon until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes, brown sugar, and chicken broth, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering, stir in the chocolate chips until melted, then return the chicken pieces to the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken is tender and no longer pink at the bone, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the raisins, and cook 3 minutes longer. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.

AUTHENTIC MOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Toast guajillo chiles, ancho chiles, and chipotle chiles in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until warm and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth.
• Heat 2 cups chicken broth in a saucepan until it begins to simmer, about 5 minutes. Pour broth into a blender.
• Toast dinner roll pieces and tortilla strips in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth and chiles
• Allow the chiles and toasted bread and tortillas to soak, fully submerged, in the chicken broth until softened, about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture until smooth.
• Cook tomatoes and tomatillos in a dry skillet on medium-high heat until soft and blackened, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place tomatoes in the blender with the chile puree.
• Melt lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, cumin seeds, thyme, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice berries; cook and stir until onions are soft and golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and other whole spices; add onion mixture to the blender with the chile-tomato mixture and blend until smooth.
• Pour chile puree into a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in chocolate chicken broth, sugar, and salt. Bring mixture to a simmer; stir until chocolate is melted and sauce is thickened and slightly reduced, 10 to 15 minutes.