Mole a la Samantha

I love Mexican flavors - cumin, coriander, hot sauce, chiles, chili powder, tomatillos, oregano, onion and garlic but I don't feel confidant enough to "wing it" with spices.

Our friend, Sam, is a real cook - real cooks don't use recipes - they learned to make meals from their mothers, grandmothers and friends.  This mole is made the way her grandmother, from the Guadalajara region, made it, and there is no chocolate in it.  Wikipedia says that this is the pre-Hispanic form of mole - chocolate was used for beverages.

Sam uses Manteca lard and Gebhardt's Chili Powder in the mole, she makes a roux for the sauce (I used Masa) and (surprise!) adds peanut butter at the end (her grandmother did too).  I couldn't get the Manteca lard, so I used another brand.  I did use the Gebhardt's Chili Powder, in addition to cumin, Mexican oregano and coriander.  Did you know that lard has no trans fats, unlike vegetable oil?  It does have cholesterol (as does butter), but so what?

I tried to spice it up with ancho, jalapeno and anaheim chiles but that wasn't enough.  Maybe guajillo and/or serrano next time?

The steps below may not be what Sam would do - it just made the most sense to me to do it this way.  I served it over a rotisserie chicken.  This is my first attempt - I am open to any suggestions or corrections! 

8 servings
8 calculated points

Tempranillo

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6-8 tomatillos
• 2 ancho chiles
• 1 anaheim chile
• 2 large green roma tomatoes
• 4 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3 tablespoons lard
• ½ cup masa harina
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 large fresh hoja santa leaves or 6 sprigs cilantro
• Peanut Butter to taste
• Cooked white rice, as accompaniment
• Heated tortillas, as accompaniment

Directions

Clean the anchos and guajillos with a damp cloth, cut them open, remove the seeds and stems, and spread them flat. Roast them on a hot skillet. Remove from the skillet and place in a bowl of hot water and soak for 20 minutes.

On the same skillet dry-roast the tomatillos, tomato, onion, and unpeeled garlic, remove the garlic when black spots appear and peel it, and leave the vegetables until blistered and soft.

In a small skillet, lightly roast the black peppercorns, cloves, and cumin until the aroma is released.

Transfer the reconstituted chiles to the blender with enough broth to process. Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons lard in large pan. Pour the blended chile mixture through a sieve into the hot pan. It is important that all the pieces of chile skin are blended or removed so the sauce will be smooth. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown masa in a separate pan. Melt 1 cube of butter in another pan and slowly add masa, stirring constantly until roux is light brown.

While frying the chile mixture, blend all the roasted vegetables and roasted spices with enough broth to puree. Add this mixture and the roux to the chile paste, let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until it is reduced. Add the peanut butter and chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the cooked chicken and cook until heated through. Add hoja santa or cilantro.

Serve with white rice and hot tortillas.