MOLE COLORADITO

Mole Coloradito image

Provided by Kent Black

Time 1h45m

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 16

Ingredients

6 pieces chicken: 3 half breasts, 3 thigh-legs
1 small onion, halved
9 cloves garlic, unpeeled
10 dried ancho chilies (see note)
1 dried pasilla chilies (see note)
4 large plum tomatoes, stem end removed
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 slices stale country bread
1/2 cup sesame seeds
15 blanched almonds
10 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
3 whole cloves
1 2-inch stick cinnamon, preferably Mexican canela or Sri Lankan, in pieces
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

In a large pot, boil 12 cups salted water. Add chicken, onion and 3 garlic cloves. Reduce to simmer. Cook 25 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate, and keep warm. Pour broth through a sieve into a bowl; reserve.
Stem and seed chilies. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, roast chilies 3 to 5 minutes until they smoke and blister. Transfer to a medium bowl, and cover with boiling water. Soak for 20 minutes.
In same skillet, roast remaining garlic cloves and tomatoes over medium-high heat 12 to 15 minutes. Turn to blister all surfaces. Garlic should be soft and tomatoes evenly covered with brown/black spots. When garlic cools, remove skin.
In same skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add bread, and fry until pale gold, about 2 minutes, turning once. Remove bread from skillet. Add sesame seeds, almonds, peppercorns, oregano and cloves. Cook, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, until fragrant and seeds are lightly colored. Reserve.
Drain chilies, discarding soaking liquid. Transfer to a blender with 1/2 cup reserved chicken broth. Puree, pushing down and scraping sides, as needed. In same skillet, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add paste made from chilies and cook, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes, until paste darkens and oil is absorbed. Transfer to pot chicken was cooked in.
In blender, puree fried bread, roasted garlic, tomatoes, seeds, almonds and spices with 2 cups broth. Scrape down sides as needed. Transfer to pot with chili paste.
Place cinnamon in blender with 1/4 cup broth. Puree. Press through sieve over chili paste mixture. Add 1 quart broth to pot, stirring to combine. Increase to high heat. Bring to a boil. Add sugar, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook 40 to 50 minutes, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Add reserved chicken. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Serve with rice and corn tortillas.