CHICKEN MOLE VERDE

Chicken Mole Verde image

Brian mastered mole verde under the tutelage of Brenda Godinez, a Cakebread staffer who creates exquisite flower arrangements for the winery. Brenda taught Brian that a proper mole requires many steps: almost every ingredient needs to be fried or toasted first to deepen its flavor. The mole verde, or green mole, relies on fresh chiles, tomatillos, and cilantro for its emerald color. When well made, the mole is velvety smooth. This recipe features chicken, but we sometimes use duck legs or pork. Truly, the spotlight is on the sauce. Serve with rice and a salad. Note that this recipe makes twice as much mole (the sauce, not the chicken) as you need to serve six people. But why make mole in small amounts? It freezes well, giving you a running start on the next dinner.

Yield serves 6

Number Of Ingredients 22

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Ingredients

3 bone-in chicken breasts and 3 leg-thigh quarters
1 white onion, thickly sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup sesame seeds
3 tablespoons hulled pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
3 tablespoons raw peanuts
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
1/2 ripe plantain (from a plantain cut crosswise), peeled and halved lengthwise (see Note)
2 whole serrano chiles, stemmed
1 large poblano chile, quartered and seeded
1/2 white onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 pounds tomatillos, husked
1 corn tortilla
1/2 small head butter lettuce, or 1 romaine heart, coarsely chopped
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
1 small or 1/2 large avocado, pitted and peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste

Steps:

For the chicken: Put the chicken parts in a large pot and add enough water to cover the meat by 2 inches. Add the onion, garlic, and salt. Bring to a simmer over high heat, skimming off any foam, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the meat begins to pull away from the drumstick and the thigh joint feels loose, about 30 minutes. Let cool in the broth, then strain and reserve the broth and chicken separately.
For the mole: Toast the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds together in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until the sesame seeds are golden brown and the pumpkin seeds have started to darken and pop, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add the 1/4 cup oil to the skillet and return to medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the peanuts until golden, about 1 minute. With a slotted spoon, transfer the peanuts to the bowl with the seeds, leaving the oil behind. Add the ginger, allspice, and cloves to the seed mixture.
In the same skillet, in the oil remaining, fry the plantain over medium heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes, then set the plantain aside. Add the serrano and poblano chiles, the onion, and the whole garlic cloves and fry until the chiles blister all over and the onion and garlic char in spots, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside. Add the tomatillos to the same skillet and cook, turning, until they char and blister in spots, about 5 minutes. Set them aside.
Toast the tortilla directly over a gas flame or under a broiler until it blackens in spots and becomes crisp, about 1 minute. Let cool, then tear into pieces.
Put the seed mixture in a blender and blend on high speed, adding enough of the chicken broth-about 1 cup-to make a paste that is as smooth as possible. Transfer to a small bowl.
Working in batches, put the tomatillos, plantain, chiles, onion, garlic, tortilla pieces, chopped lettuce, 1 cup cilantro, and the avocado in the blender and puree until smooth. (Put the tomatillos in first to have enough liquid to engage the blender.) Transfer to a bowl.
Put any leftover frying oil in a large pot and add enough additional vegetable oil to make 2 tablespoons. Set over medium heat and add the seed paste. Cook, stirring, until the paste becomes fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatillo puree and bring to a simmer. Add 5 cups of the reserved chicken broth and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/4 hours to develop flavor. Add the sugar and season with salt. Remove half the sauce (about 5 cups) and freeze for later use.
Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise. Cut the leg-thigh quarters in half at the joint. You should have 12 pieces. Place the chicken parts in the mole and simmer until hot throughout. Thin with more chicken broth if desired.
Divide the mole and chicken among 6 warm bowls or plates. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Enjoy with Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc or another crisp and herbaceous white wine.