Fans of Mexican cuisine dream about this mole. It’s practically the national food of the region of Oaxaca. If you go to the fresh market in Oaxaca city, you can select all your ingredients and have the market miller grind them together for you into a paste. (The miller will use toasted cacao seeds, sugar, and almonds rather than pre-made chocolate tablets.)
Admittedly, the market approach has a few disadvantages. You don’t get the rounded flavor that comes from roasting the seeds, nuts, and spices. This recipe gives you full control, but it takes most of a day to make. We often double the recipe and pressure-can the leftovers in 12-ounce canning jars. That way we can enjoy mole negro at will.
If you’re a mole fan, you’ll notice that the recipe is very similar to the more common mole poblano. The main difference comes from the mix of chiles. Mole poblano usually uses just ancho chiles. The mulatos in mole negro have a darker, smokier flavor and the pasillas add a dark fruitiness.
The sauce is the star, so it’s gilding the lily to serve mole negro over enchiladas or pieces of meat. We prefer consuming it as enmoladas—warm tortillas fully coated in the sauce, rolled, and garnished with a little crumbly Mexican cheese. If cojito isn’t available, a cow’s milk feta makes a tasty substitute. It can be the same feta that tops the accompanying sweet potato salad.
MOLE NEGRO
INGREDIENTS
2 dried pasilla chiles
4 dried mulato chiles
3 dried ancho chiles
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/3 cup sesame seeds
6 whole cloves
3 inch stick of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon whole anise seeds
1/2 cup fat (lard, bacon grease, or chicken fat)
1/2 cup whole, unblanched almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup coarsely chopped white onion
6 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 ounces Mexican chocolate, grated
up to 2 cups chicken stock
fresh tortillas
crumbled feta for serving
DIRECTIONS
Toast chiles in hot frying pan or griddle until softened. Remove seeds, stems, and at least some of the veins. (The veins contain most of the heat.) Place in medium bowl with boiling water and soak one hour.
Toast sesame seeds in dry skillet over medium heat until golden—about two minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside to cool. Combine cloves, cinnamon, coriander and anise seed in skillet. Toast until fragrant (20-30 seconds) and remove to cool.
Heat fat in large cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. Add almonds and cook and stir until brown. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add raisins to pan and cook and stir until they puff up—about 30 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon.
Process raisins in blender until finely ground. Coarsely chop almonds and add to blender and process until finely ground. Add raw onion and raw garlic and process until finely ground.
Grind sesame seeds in spice grinder. Add to blender. Grind clove and spice blend in spice grinder and add to blender.
Add chiles, about half a cup of soaking water, and tomato paste to blender. Process until smooth.
Heat lard or bacon grease and add mole mixture. Stir to cook through and sweeten the raw flavor of onion and garlic. Add chocolate to melt. Stir in chicken stock to reach desired consistency.
SWEET POTATO AND FETA SALAD
Adapted from Mexican Light by Martha Rose Shulman
INGREDIENTS
3/4 lb (2 small to medium) sweet potatoes, peeled, cut in ¼ to ½ inch dice
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
juice of a large lime
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1/4 cup nonfat yogurt
5 cups chopped romaine hearts
2 oz feta, crumbled
DIRECTIONS
Steam sweet potatoes for 5 minutes, until just tender. Remove from heat and drain.
Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and cook, stirring often, until surfaces are browned. Remove and drain on paper towels. Transfer to bowl and toss with lime juice.
Mix together vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper, remaining olive oil and yogurt.
Place greens and cheese in salad bowl and toss with dressing. Top with sweet potatoes and serve.