My husbands favorite meal, the meal he asks me to make for him over and over again for special occasions is this chicken mole. It's his birthday weekend so... how could I refuse?
Recipe Video Here!
I've gone through dozens of recipes, noted how moles are made on basically every cooking show in traditional and nontraditional ways, and eventually this is the recipe I've stitched together.
This may not be the most traditional mole but it's how we like it. The thickness, sweetness, savoriness, spice level, everything about it is just right for us and mostly contains ingredients we regularly have on hand.
Making a good mole definitely requires quite a number of ingredients, a few cooking techniques, and a whole lot of patience but it's WORTH IT.
I actually can't think of a better way to honor the life of the chicken we raised for this meal than to blanket it with this sauce made with produce from our own garden.
Chicken Mole Negro
Serves 4-6 depending on portion sizes
Ingredients:
4-6 roasted chicken leg & thigh sections (rotisserie chicken works too!)
4-6 cups Yellow rice (I use Goya Arroz Amarillo)
Sour cream (for garnish)
Cilantro (for garnish)
Lime wedges (for garnish)
Sesame seeds (for garnish)
For Mole:
2 "Holy Mole" peppers, or 2 pasilla peppers, chopped and deseeded
2 dried Hatch peppers, chopped and deseeded
2 dried guajillo peppers, chopped and deseeded
3 bay leaves
3 cups water, boiling hot
1 large onion, quartered
1 large tomato, quartered
2 small green tomatoes (tomatillos are traditional), quartered
6 cloves garlic, paper on
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup peanuts
1/4 cup almonds
Zest and juice of one orange
4 large dates, diced
1/2 cup chicken bone broth
1 slice of bread, toasted (a tortilla is traditional)
1 tablespoon dark chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon honey
2.7 oz Taza dark chocolate, chopped
Materials Needed:
Blender (The one I use is on sale right now!)
Small, 1/8th baking sheet
Large, 1/2 baking sheet
3 quart pan or larger
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F and boil 3 cups of water on the stove or in a kettle
Deseed and cut peppers into 2" pieces, place in large bowl with bay leaves. Cover with boiling hot water. I use this stainless steel kettle for everything!
Allow peppers to steep for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients
Roast the nuts for 3-4 minutes, just until they start to warm up and release their oils, they'll burn fast so keep an eye on them
Switch oven to broil; place onion, tomato, and garlic on your large baking pan lined with foil and drizzle with oil
Roast 3 minutes, flip everything over, and roast another 3 minutes until everything is dark golden brown but not quite burnt, the garlic might have to come out earlier than the tomatoes, tomatillos, and onion to prevent it from burning so keep an eye on it
Remove bay leaves from pepper water
Add peppers, with the steeping water, roasted vegetables, roasted nuts, spices, orange zest, orange juice, bone broth, honey, toasted bread or tortilla, chocolate, and dates to blender (do this in batches if you don't have a large blender!)
Blend VERY well, I probably blend mine for like 3-4 minutes on the highest setting, add to pan over medium low heat, bring to soft boil and reduce heat to low
Stir frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking, if it starts to look too thick, add a bit more bone broth
After about 30 minutes, blend it all again and taste for seasoning
Let sauce simmer another 45-60 minutes, you can always ADD seasoning so make sure you don't over-season with salt at the beginning, let it get happy in the pan and taste it as you go, the flavors develop the longer it simmers
While the sauce is simmering, make your rice and roasted chicken (the mole takes longer than both once you get it in the pan...)
Serve and enjoy!
Like I said above, this may not be the most authentic mole, please don't come for me. This is just how I've learned to make it over the years and this is the recipe my husband and I love.
There's a restaurant in San Marcos, Texas, Casa Maria, that I used to go to every week just to get their chicken mole (and conchas) and those are the flavors I'm trying to recreate. I just want to be back at Casa Maria, digging into my deep, dark plate of mole without a care in the world, but this is the best I can do in West Virginia!
I hope you give this recipe a try! It's not as difficult as some might think, it just takes a little time commitment and you'll never regret it. If you try it please let me know how it works out for you! You can tag me in stories or DM me on Instagram or TikTok @LizaHomesteads!
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