A Broad Reference

Inspired by and mostly the same as Puebla-Style Fiesta Turkey in Mole Sauce Bon Appétit | May 2003 Any changes that were made were due to a lack of ingredients, and I indicated where I substituted something.

Right before the State special election, my twin sister Gwynie decided that we were under-informed about the ballot measures. To further our ability to vote in the election we decided to invite people over to discuss the ballot measures etc. Each person would pick one to be the expert on but everyone should have an opinion. ie no free loading ;^) haha. I think not that many Americans feel comfortable discussing their politics since it's a divisive topic, but in light of the impending budget crisis, it behooves us to talk about it now. A small group is better for discussion, and it worked out that not everyone whom we invited could come, so we had enough chairs to fit comfortably.

Our cousin Monica was moving out of her place, in preparation of her plan to go to school in Boston. Her roommate Jose's mom had made them a freezer full of tamales, which they'd kind of OD'd on. So she donated them to our cause. Thanks Mon! We had no room in our freezer so we stored them with Julie, and picked them up right before the party. They take about an hour to steam. We calculated 2-3 tamales per person.

We also had a bunch of different salsas at varying heat intensities. Mike made a killer spicy one from the Joy of cooking. Gwynie also made a tomatillo and guacamole salsa verde. We all made black beans, so there was a ton of them. Julie brought a mandarin & cabbage salad that Morgan made special for the party. I made a mole sauce. Which actually took several days to construct, mostly coz I didn't have all the ingredients at hand. Also each part of the recipe needs to be processed slightly differently, so I just did it sporadically and kept adding it to my trusty crockpot. It turned out beautifully, and improved over time. This recipe makes about a half gallon, so be prepared to freeze some of it for later. You'll be glad tho that it makes a large quantity, you don't want to go thru all this effort for a one time dish. Also many recipes call for you to strain the solids out and then add a thickener. I omitted the straining step and thus did not need to use a thickener.

Mole sauce
Ingredients
Turkey broth and meat
13 cups water
4 lbs bones turkey or chicken
1 large white onion, peeled, quartered
1 head of garlic, outer skin removed, cut crosswise in half
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Prepare a stock per my instructions Pull out the turkey meat when it's cooked all the way thru but still juicy. Set aside to cool, then shred meat. You can omit this part of the recipe if you want it to be vegetarian. The broth should have cooked down to about 10 cups of liquid. I feel that the broth adds a depth of flavor to the mole, but it would travel better at room temperature if it were vegetarian.

Chiles
1/2 cup cup lard or canola oil
5 dried ancho chiles
1 cup New Mexico red chile powder (thanks Diego!)
1 can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
I didn't have some of the fancy peppers they mention in the recipe, so I decided just to finish up the last of my New Mexican red chile powder which I had got from Diego (who is from Albuquerque).
Heat the oil and fry all the dried whole chiles, keeping a close eye on the skin. Use tongs to turn them, maybe 20 secs total? They should blister and puff up turning from a dark blackish color to almost jewel red. Don't burn them! Set aside in crockpot. Add 4 cups of broth/hot water and leave whole chiles to steep until soft and pliable (2 hours). The skin should peel right off the flesh, and you can remove the membranes and seeds depending on how much heat you want. I added in a can of chipotle chiles and the adobo packing sauce. I removed the seeds from prolly half these chiles but got fed up and left the rest intact. Make sure not to touch your eyes or nose while working with the chiles unless you are a particular fan of agony. Process all in Cuisinart until a smooth reddish brown puree. Toast the chile powder lightly until fragrant. Mix with puree into crockpot or over low heat in large deep pot and bring to simmer.

Fruit & flavorings
1/4 cup canola oil
1 onion, chopped
12 cloves garlic
1 large ripe plantain, peeled, thickly sliced (I actually omitted this coz I didn't have any)
1 pound tomatillos, husked, coarsely chopped
1 pound plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup raisins

Finely chop all onion, garlic and fry until glassy. Fry plantain until golden and caramelized. Add tomatillos, tomatoes and raisins, cook till raisins are plump and tomatillos breaking down. Grind it all in processor until smooth puree. Mix into crockpot with 2 cups of broth/water.

Nuts and seeds
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup whole almonds (I used almond meal)
1/4 cup pecans
1 tablespoon unsalted roasted peanuts (I used peanut butter)
1/4 cup shelled pepitas (pumkin seeds)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used tahini)
Toast each type of nut separately (different sizes and oils make it difficult to toast together without burning). Then grind finely. Add the almond meal, peanut butter and tahini. Mix in with chiles adding 2 cups more broth/water to keep it smooth and runny.

Spices
5 whole cloves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
5 whole allspice berries
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp aniseed (I used fennel seeds)
1 1-inch piece canela* or cinnamon stick
1 tbs dried oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tbs coarse sea salt
6 ounces (99% cacao) chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup chopped piloncillo (mexican cone sugar) or (packed) dark brown sugar (I omitted this for a less sweet effect)

Toast all of the spices individually and then grind. Add all ingredients to crockpot. At this point you should add the rest of the broth/hot water if left over (not to exceed the capacity of your pot) You want the sauce to be fairly runny to start. Leave to simmer at least 6 hours until it's about 2 quarts. The longer the better. Allow to cool. Store overnite in the fridge. This will deepen the flavor as it goes thru the cooling cycle. Taste and adjust salt as necessary. Serve heated over meat/tamales.