Best Oaxacan Chicken Mole Recipes

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH OAXACAN MOLE

Steps:

• Wash the chile, remove stem and seeds. Place in a medium bowl and cover with warm water. Let stand for 30 minutes. While chile is soaking, add the sesame seeds and spices to a large skillet and toast over moderately low heat, stirring until fragrant. Place toasted mixture in a grinder and process to a fine powder. Set aside.
• In the same skillet add in 1 tablespoon oil and warm slightly. Stir in raisins, almonds and tortilla. Cook over low heat until almonds are toasted and raisins plump. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
• Add the tomatoes to the skillet and cook, turning frequently until skins are blistered on all sides. Transfer to a bowl. Add onion and garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring until lightly browned taking care not to burn the garlic. Place contents in a blender or food processor container and lightly chop.
• Add a tablespoon of oil to skillet, stir in chopped vegetables and spice mix. Cover over medium heat until warmed through. Drain the chiles and add along with chicken stock. Partially cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 1 hour. Remove from heat, add in chocolate and process in a blender in batches or using stick blender process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet warm 2 tablespoons of oil and in batches if necessary brown chicken over high heat, turning as needed to brown all sides. Place browned chicken in oven proof dish, pour prepared mole over all. Cover and bake in preheated oven until chicken is cooked through, approximately 1 hour. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with additional sesame seeds and chopped fresh cilantro.
• Note: The mole can be prepared ahead of time and frozen in 2 cup portions. Defrost in refrigerator and warm before pouring over browned chicken. Bake chicken and mole as directed.

COOK: RICK BAYLESS' OAXACAN BLACK MOLE WITH BRAISED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large dutch oven, heat 3 Tbsp of oil (use the oil in which you fried the chiles) over medium-high heat. Add the tomato puree and cook until thick and dark (the color of cinnamon), about 20 minutes. Add the nut puree and cook for 7-8 minutes, until the color of olive or anchovy paste. Add the banana-spice puree and do the same, cooking another 7-8 minutes, until it's the color it was before adding the latest puree. Finally, add the chile puree, turn heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes until very thick and black. Stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups broth and the chocolate, partially cover and simmer gently for an hour stirring often. Season with salt and sugar, taste and adjust as needed. Nestle the thigh/leg pieces in the sauce, partially cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the breast pieces, cover completely, and cook an additional 25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Pull out the chicken pieces and put on a plate or serving platter. Spoon sauce over the chicken and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with Arroz Blanco (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/ARROZ-BLANCO-MEXICAN-WHITE-RICE-53064791)

OAXACAN CHICKEN MOLE

Steps:

• Using 1 tsp of the chili powder, season the breasts, along with salt and pepper to taste.
• In a heavy skillet that comfortably holds both breasts, heat the oil over mediium-high heat and cook the chicken until brown on both sides (about 2 minutes per side); transfer cooked chicken to a plate and add the remaining chili powder, along with the cumin and cinnamon, to the skillet and saute, stirring, for 15 seconds.
• Stir in the tomatoes and their juices along with the chocolate and simmer until the sauce thickens up, about 5 minutes.
• Add chicken, along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate, back into the skillet and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes.
• Taste sauce; add salt and pepper if desired.

OAXACAN CHICKEN MOLE

Steps:

• Put the reserved chile seeds into an ungreased frying pan and toast over fairly high heat, shaking them around from time to time so that they brown evenly. Then raise the heat and char until black. Cover with cold water and set aside to soak for about 5 minutes. Strain and put into a blender jar. Add the broiled tomatoes, unpeeled, to the blender jar along with the water, cloves, allspice, thyme, marjoram, and oregano. Heat some of the lard in a small frying pan and fry the sesame seed until a deep golden color, a few seconds. Strain, putting the fat back into the pan and the seeds into the blender jar, and blend as smooth as possible. Fry the rest of the ingredients, except the chiles and chocolate, one by one, strain, and put into the blender jar, blending after each addition and adding water or broth as necessary to release the blades. Heat 1/4 cup of the lard in the heavy pan in which you are going to cook the mole, add the blended mixture, and fry over medium heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan from time to time, for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, put a few of the chiles and about 2 cups of the water in which they were soaking into the blender jar and blend until smooth. When you have blended all the chiles, add them to the fried ingredients together with the chocolate and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add about 4 cups of the chicken broth and continue cooking for 35 minutes. Skim the fat that forms on the top if you are going to make tamales or mole. It is added to color and flavor the masa. Add more broth if necessary, the mole should just coat the back of a wooden spoon. Add the chicken and salt to taste; cook for 10 minutes longer.

PREP: RICK BAYLESS' OAXACAN BLACK MOLE WITH BRAISED CHICKEN

Steps:

• 1. De-stem the chiles, tear them open and scrape out the seeds, collecting them. Put seeds into an ungreased skillet with the torn-up tortilla, set over medium-high heat, turn on an exhaust fan, and toast until thoroughly burned to charcoal black, about 15 minutes. Scrape them into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse for 30 seconds, then transfer to a blender. Set an ungreased skillet over medium heat, lay on a piece of aluminum foil, and lay the onion slices and garlic cloves on that. Roast until soft and very dark (about 5 minutes on each side of the onion slices; about 15 minutes for the garlic). Cool the garlic a bit, peel it, then reserve both. While the onion/garlic are roasting, turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Return the skillet to medium-high heat, add the lard or oil (to 1/2-inch depth), and, when hot, begin frying the chiles a couple at a time: After about 30 seconds, turning once, remove to drain on paper towels. Put them in a large bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid. While the chiles are soaking, toast the seeds and nuts. Spread the sesame seeds onto a baking sheet or ovenproof skillet, spread the pecans, peanuts and almonds onto another baking sheet or skillet, then set both into the oven. Toast about 15 minutes until all take on a dark hue. Reserve a few sesame seeds for garnish, then add the rest of the seeds and nuts to the blender with 1 cup chicken broth. Blend until smooth, and put in a bowl. Without rinsing the blender, combine the tomatoes, tomatillos & 1/4 cup broth. Puree and put in another bowl. Again, w/o rinsing, put onion, garlic, toasted bread, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, banana and 1/2 cup broth. Puree and put in separate bowl. Put half the chiles and 1/2 cup broth, puree and put in fourth bowl. Repeat with other half and add to fourth bowl. Go to Cooking instructions (see link in description).

CHICKEN IN OAXACAN GREEN MOLE WITH WHITE BEANS

Steps:

• 1. Prepare the beans and reserve. Put the chicken into a large saucepan. Add the broth, 1 cup of water, half of the onion, half of the garlic, the carrot, and the crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the chicken, covered, until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces to a bowl and cover to keep moist. Pour the cooked broth through a strainer into a bowl and reserve for the sauce. Discard the debris. 2. In a blender or food processor, blend the tomatillos, jalapeños, cumin, allspice, cloves, the remaining half of the onion, and the remaining garlic. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth, and blend until smooth. 3. In a large saucepan, heat the oil until it shimmers. Slowly pour in the tomatillo mixture (so it won't splatter), and cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. 4. In the same blender jar, blend the parsley, epazote, hoja santa, masa, salt, pepper, and sugar with 1/2 cup of the cooked chicken broth. Purée the mixture until smooth, and pour into the pan with the sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, 20 minutes. Add the cooked chicken and the white beans. Simmer, partially covered, 10 to 15 minutes to heat through and blend flavors. Adjust seasoning. Serve hot.From "1,000 Mexican Recipes." Copyright 2001 by Marge Poore. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CHICKEN IN OAXACAN RED MOLE

Steps:

• 1. Prepare the mole several hours or a day ahead, for best flavor. Then trim excess fat and loose skin from the chicken. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until it shimmers. Rub the chicken with oregano and season with salt. Place the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn and cook the second side minutes until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook the chicken until no longer pink inside, about 20 minutes. 2. Reheat the mole sauce until simmering. Place 1 chicken quarter on each of 4 plates. Cover each serving equally with sauce letting it pool onto the plate. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Serve with tortillas.From "1,000 Mexican Recipes." Copyright 2001 by Marge Poore. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.