Dateline: June 19, 2020. Mole Concentrate to share with friends

We had some chicken that needed to be cooked, so I decided to make a big batch of mole concentrate  and share with friends.

Ingredients

3 medium to large onions, cut into eighths, no need to peel, but do cut off stem and root ends a bit

6-10 garlic cloves, depending on their size, again no need to peel

24-30 dried peppers, a mixture of guajillo, ancho, pasilla, chipotle, etc.  What ever you can find and/or have on hand, stemmed and seeded as best you can.

2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, depending on size

2 T adobo sauce

1-2 c white wine, preferably a semi sweet one, I used a riesling

1 T cumin seeds

1 T coriander seeds

2 small sticks cinnamon

3-4 allspice berries

1 T chili powder

1/2 package of Baker's bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2-3 heaping T of cocoa powder

1 T salt

2 t Mexican oregano

agave syrup

Additional salt and pepper to taste

Avocado oil

Method

1.  In a spice grinder, add cumin, coriander, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and 1 T salt.  Grind to a fine powder.

2.  Heat a cast iron griddle or pan until very hot.  This can also be done outdoors on a grill.  When pan is hot, put the onions cut side down along with the garlic cloves.  Sear the onions on both cut sides as well as its back.  Flip the garlic cloves over and brown on both sides.  Remove from heat.  

3.  Put the peppers on the pan.  Heat them until they are pliable and have changed color a bit.  Most of the peppers will go from a dark red or brown to a brighter red.  Turn them over the soften on both sides.  Remove from the heat.

4.  Put peppers into a bowl and cover with warm water.  You may need to weigh them down with a plate.  They should soak until the peppers are very pliable and fully saturated, this could be 10-20 minutes.

5.  Put onions into a blender jar.  (The more powerful the blender, the less straining will be necessary.  I used a Vitamix).  Peel the garlic cloves and add them to the blender.  Add the chipotle peppers and white wine to the blender and grind to a fine paste.  You may been to add more liquid in order to get the blender to grind properly.  

6.  Heat a pot up and film with avocado oil.  Add contents of blender and stir fry.  It will splatter, stand back!  Reduce heat.

7.  Take soaked peppers leaving the soaking liquid and add to the blender.  You will need to add some more white wine or some soaking liquid to allow the blender to do its job.  Grind to a fine paste and add to the onion garlic chipotle mixture in the pot.

8.  Stir to combine ingredients in pot.  Add oregano.   Taste, remember, this is uncooked at this point.  It will be a bit bitter and raw tasting.  Add 1 t of agave syrup to calm the bitterness.  Bring to a low simmer.

9.  Add bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder and stir to combine well.  Do not walk away from the pot, the chocolate has a tendency to burn if left unattended.  Taste again, you may need more agave and salt again.

10.  Cook down until the mole starts to thicken.  This should make 3-4 pints.  Package up and distribute to friends.

How to Use the Mole

To use the mole concentrate, saute up the protein of choice, chicken or turkey goes well with this mole, as would tofu or tempeh.  When meat is almost cooked through, add 1 cup of the mole sauce.  Scrape up any crusty bits on the bottom of the pan.  Thin the mole with 1 cup of chicken stock and cook until slightly thickened.  Taste, and adjust seasonings.  If bitter, add agave syrup, if bland, add salt with additional chili powder, if too spicy, add agave syrup.  Mix well and serve with the tortillas of your choice.  This will also make fantastic mole enchiladas.