Holy Mole!

In staying true to JAK, I want to be completely honest: This meal was a long time coming.  We had actually given "J" this ingredient for our Valentine's Day dinner.  But, as fate would have it we ended up going with more of a traditional sweetheart's day dinner (Remember, using garlic on the steak and garlic mashed potatoes?  That beautiful tablescape, on the back porch.  Awww....memories).  Okay so, we knew in time "J" would tackle this ingredient and this Monday he did!

Mexican Chocolate was the ingredient!  Can you guess what he made with this??!!  "J' decided to make a homemade mole sauce!  I hear you saying "W-O-W".  That's right.  The difficulty of this recipe shows his dedication to this process.  He started cooking (non-stop) at Noon, and we ate at 7:45 p.m.  The mole recipe calls for well over 20 ingredients alone!  So, really....when you look up the word dedication in the dictionary there is a picture of "J" with his black and white striped apron.

As the historian for these Not So Mundane Monday's, I will do my very best to try and describe, explain, highlight, map out this dinner, etc.; although, one can understand if I don't record it exactly as it went "down".  Hello, over 20 ingredients to keep up with!

Chocolate starting to be chopped.

Dried Ancho and Guajillo chiles!

Onion, Garlic and Tomatoes under the broiler (these will be included in the mole paste).

The two types of chiles soaking in hot water.  This helps with removal of stems and seeds. 

The seeds from the chiles and sesame seeds being toasted on the stove.  This, along with the chiles, will become a part of the mole paste.  But, the ingredients don't stop there.......

Oregano, thyme, cloves, peppercorns and a cinnamon stick....heating up on the stove.  Again, all ingredients that will be a part of the mole paste.

Mexican peanuts and almonds toasting on the stove.  Yet another two ingredients that will be included in the mole paste!

The broiled onions, garlic, tomatoes with the peanuts and raisins (yes, raisins) about to be added. 

Chiles, herbs, and seeds added and processed.  It's starting to look like a mole sauce! 

The "sauce" then comes to a simmer on the stove.  You might be asking: "When did the Mexican chocolate get added?".  Good question.  It hasn't yet!  You go through ALL of that, and then add the chocolate at this point.  Once at this stage, it simmers and then you add the chocolate and let it cook for about an hour.  Or......

Until the mole becomes thick (hence, the mole "paste").  When I arrived that evening, all of the above had been done (remember, started cooking at Noon!).  What was left was this thick mole paste.  Don't be alarmed, however.  This paste is just the beginning to the mole sauce.  Can you imagine, 7 hours and this is just the beginning?  I actually tasted the paste, to familiarize myself with it.  The initial taste is definitely a bitter chili flavor, that then turns to a very peanutty flavor.  Very interesting.  The texture is thick, coarse and dry.    

The mole was being created to go over tequila/lime and cilantro marinated bone-in chicken.  Here is the whole chicken in a plastic bag with the marinade soaking in the yummy flavors. 

Okay, continuing on with the mole sauce.  You take fresh tomato sauce, and heat on the stove. 

Then you add one cup of the mole paste.  Note: The entire mole paste making process yields 4 cups of mole paste.  You only need one cup of it to create enough mole sauce to feed an army.  The other 3 cups can either A. be stored in the fridge for 6-months or B. be stored in the freezer for 1 year.  Yes, ONE YEAR!  This stuff is poignant. 

To that, you add 1.5 cups of chicken stock. 

And, continue stirring/cooking.

In the meantime, the chicken goes into the oven to bake. 

This week's table!  The blue head with his sombrero "like" hat reminded us of the University of Oklahoma's Seed Sower.  We had a chuckle from it.

Something "A" wanted to accompany the mole with was Mexican squash.  I had first of all never even seen this vegetable before, let alone could even begin to know what it would taste like. 

When cut it resembles a pear.  But, the taste sure doesn't.  It's got a very fresh flavor, but it's very mild.

How to prepare: You boil them.

Then add onion and garlic to a saucepan and brown.

The texture of the squash mixed with the grilled taste of onion and garlic is very exotic, and made for a nice addition (flavor and texture wise) to the meal.

Finished mole sauce!

Finished chicken!  I enjoyed mine like this: Flour tortilla with a little of the chicken, pulled from the bone, mole sauce and the squash/onion mixture then drizzled with Mexican cheese sauce (the white queso "stuff") and rolled up tightly.  Let's be honest: LOT'S of flavors going on in that tortilla.  LOT'S.  Between the 20 some odd ingredients in the mole, to the chicken, to the squash, grilled onions and on.  Really tasty and unique.

So, what in the world could be served for dessert?  You would think a Mexican chocolate pie, or something close.  But, no.  Something even better.  A homemade keylime pie!   

Fresh keylimes.  Two entire bags full, juiced by hand.  "J" truly is a master of his trade, and doesn't skimp anywhere!

Homemade crust, baking. 

The pie was made with condensed milk and fresh keylime juice with the topping made of the Mexican cheese (yes, the white cheese queso) with powdered sugar added.  It was very sweet and tart!

A piece for you, and a piece for me!

So, interesting twist: As I said above, the mole process yielded 4 cups of mole paste and we only needed 1 cup.  So, to two of our very loyal followers......congratulations.  You have just won yourself your very own cup of mole paste!  Laura Steen and Jenny Jones!  I'll be contacting you regarding delivery.  And, JAK hopes when you create your own mole sauce from our paste that you'll send us pictures of your journey.  We would love to post them!

Until next time....A la cuisine!