Slow Cooker Mole Rojo

I have certain dishes that I am very picky about.  Some may call it biased.  Some may call it snobbery.  I just call it taste.  Mole is one of those dishes.

Now, I almost hate to admit that the mole I like more than any other is my own.  Ha!  But in all fairness, the recipe originally came from Rick Bayless.  I've only adapted it slightly here and there over the years.  Maybe it's because it was "my first".  I mean, first love sets the bar, right?

Okay, that's not to say that I haven't enjoyed many other varieties of mole.  Made by an equal variety of people.  There's just something about that version that keeps me dreaming...remembering...craving.  I'm not alone, either.  My family feels the same way.  Immediate and extended.  I get requests every year around Thanksgiving and Christmas for a jar.  That's just usually the time that I make it.

You see, a really good mole takes time to develop those complex layers of flavor.  Chiles, nuts and seeds, tomatoes or tomatillos, dried fruit, spices, flavorful broth, (pleasantly) gritty Mexican chocolate, bread or tortillas - they all play their part in that medley.  But time plays an equally important role.  And, if you judge by the look of my kitchen on mole-making-day, so does a big, fat mess!  Let's not forget the (ahem) warmth that fills the kitchen...and eventually the whole house...when a pot is simmering for the better part of a day over an open fire.

So worth it, but precisely the reason that it normally gets made in the wintertime around here.

So, this mole is not the one I've been yammering on about.  HOWEVER, it is extremely close.  And I made it on a day where the thermometer outside my kitchen window registered 80+ degrees.  Without breaking a sweat.   Believe that.

You know why?  (Of course you do, it's in the title of this post.  Humor me.)  Because it's made IN A SLOW-COOKER!   So now I can comfortably make mole in the heat of the summer.  I'll admit it's not quite as good as my first love, but it's really close.  And the fact that the mess is basically non-existent compared to my dream-mole, I'm almost willing to overlook that.  Plus, with a few tweaks, I believe I can come even closer.

Slow-Cooker Mole Rojo

Deep, rich Mole Rojo made in a slow cooker.

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours+

Keywords: slow-cooker sauce entree soy-free almonds chiles Christmas Cinco de Mayo Dia de los Muertos Day of the Dead Mexican

Ingredients (2 quarts (12 servings))

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or good pork lard)
• 3 ounces mulato chiles, stemmed, seeded, & cut into 1" pieces
• 1.5 ounces ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, & cut into 1" pieces
• 1.5 ounces pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded, & cut into 1" pieces
• 4-6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 ounces whole almonds
• 2 ounces raisins
• 1 (15 ounce) can fire-roasted, diced tomatoes w/ their juices
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Mexican canela (or regular cinnamon)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground anise seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground cloves
• 1 ounce Mexican chocolate, roughl chopped
• 1 thick slice firm white bread, toasted darkly & broken into pieces
• 1/4 cup brown sugar + more as needed
• sea salt
• 2 quarts chicken stock/broth (or rich vegetable stock), approximately

Instructions

You have two options to start this mole on its journey - if you have a slow-cooker with a removable, fire-safe crock, great. If you don't, do this first part in a large pot and transfer to the slow-cooker.

Heat the oil in the bottom of the pot over high heat. Once hot, add the chiles, garlic, almonds, and raisins, stirring slowly and constantly for about 5 minutes or so. Th inside of the chile pieces should turn lighter, the garlic will be a light golden, the raisins will be puffed, and the almonds will be well toasted. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the ground spices, the bread, and the chocolate, and continue to stir for another 2 minutes or so. Add 2 cups of water, the brown sugar, and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Stir and bring to a simmer. Transfer the pot to the slow-cooker base (or pour into the slow-cooker), cover, and cook on low for 6 hours.

Scrape all of the mole base out of the slow-cooker and into a bowl. Add half of the mixture, along with 2 cups of the chicken stock the jar of a blender and blend until completely smooth. This could take a few minutes depending on your blender. Set a fine-mesh strainer over your slow-cooker crock and pour the mixture in the blender through, pressing to release all of the base, leaving the chile skins behind. Repeat with second half and 2 more cups of chicken stock. Stir 3 more cups of the chicken stock into the pot, cover, and cook on high for 2 hours longer. At this point, the mole should be the consistency of a cream soup. If it seems too thick, add in some of the remaining cup of chicken stock to thin it out. Taste, and adjust seasoning with about another 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon or so of salt.

Serve hot over chicken, turkey, pork, or eggs. We love it with carnitas and grilled chicken leg portions, as well. I also love it with just queso fresco and hot corn tortillas. If serving with chicken or turkey, sprinkle with a smattering of toasted sesame seeds. One serving is approximately 1/2 cup.

Store in a jar or container with a lid in the fridge for 5 days or so.

notes:

I think I'm going to add 2-4 ounces of toasted sesame seeds and some roasted tomatillos with their juices to my next batch, so that it comes closer to the flavor profile of the "regular" (non-slow-cooker) version of mole that I love so dearly.

Though this may not have quite the depth of flavor that a mole whose ingredients have been toasted and ground individually, and simmered over a slow fire has - the lack of mess it makes in the kitchen may be enough for me to make this version quite often. Plus, it doesn't heat up the kitchen.

adapted from Fiesta at Rick's

Want more MOLE?  Here's a few more varieties you can find here:
Mole Rojo
Mole Verde Queretano
"On Mole" + Mole Amarillo
Mole de Olla

Caldo de Res ...or is it Mole de Olla!? {Red Chile Beef Soup w/ Vegetables}

Caldo de Res and Mole de Olla are not necessarily the same thing.  But since dishes vary from region to region, sometimes they can overlap.  The recipe that I based this Caldo de Res on was actually labeled Mole de Olla.  But mi esposo and local Mexican friends tell me NO!  It's not Mole de Olla, it's Caldo de Res.  Confused much?  I asked hubby just what the difference is...and he says he doesn't really know.  I tried researching it a bit, but when I find pictures or descriptions of one or the other, they somewhat overlap.  Perhaps some regions leave the chiles out of their Caldo de Res?*  Perhaps some leave it out of their Olla de Mole?  After a few hours of hair pulling and trying to figure out here from there, I just gave in and decided it could be either-or.  I really do think it boils down to who is making it.  Methods seems to vary from region to region, city to city, family to family, and cook to cook.

When I talked about the different types of moles the other day, I mentioned that although not a sauce, Mole de Olla still qualifies as a mole in the broader sense of its original meaning of stew or sauce.  Looking at the meaning of the terms...Olla is actually the name of the pot that something is (traditionally) cooked in ...a tall, narrow earthenware pot.  So, originally...a soupy mole that simmered in an olla.  A caldo is basically a soup or broth.  So...a meaty broth in this case, if you will.

Yeah.  I'm still not any closer to deciphering the two.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on either.  If you've tried them.  If you make them.  What is your version, or the version you know you like?  And if you know the region of Mexico your version came from, I'd love to know that as well.  No matter the name, this is a rich, brothy soup laden with meat, chile, and veggies that is sure to satisfy.

Caldo de Res (or Mole de Olla)

Red Chile Beef Soup w/ Vegetables

inspired by & adapted from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen

yield: ~3 quarts

1 lb. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1½" chunks

1½ lb. oxtails, in 2" pcs.

~1 tsp. sea salt

2 small white onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 bay leaves

¼ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

⅛ tsp. ground cloves

~¾ oz. dried guajillo chiles, seeded & stemmed

~¾ oz. dried ancho chiles, seeded & stemmed

1 medium, very ripe tomato

small handful cilantro (or 5 sprigs epazote)

2 large carrots, sliced ¼" thick

2 medium zucchini, ½" dice

2 ears corn, husked & cut into 1" sections

4 oz. fresh green beans, snipped & halved

for serving:

white onion, finely diced

lime wedges

Place the meat in a large (should hold at least 6 quarts) soup pot or Dutch oven with 3 quarts of cold water.  Bring to a bowl, skimming of any gray scum/foam that rises to the top (these are the impurities and you don't want them in your soup).  Once the water is boiling, put heat on medium-low.  After the scum has all been skimmed off add salt, onion, garlic, bay leaves, cumin, pepper, and cloves to the pot.  Partially cover the pot and simmer it for ~1½ hours.  

While the broth is gently bubbling, rip the chiles open and toast them on a heavy skillet over medium heat for just a few seconds per side.  Place in a bowl and cover with very hot water.  Put a plate on top to keep the chiles submerged and let them sit for ~30 minutes.   Add chiles to the jar of a blender along with the tomato and 3 Tbs. of water.  Process until very smooth.  Strain through a medium-mesh sieve into a small bowl and set aside.

After the hour and a half is up, skim as much fat from the top of the broth as you can.  Stir in the chile puree and the cilantro (or epazote).  Partially cover again and simmer gently for another 30 minutes.

Uncover the pot and turn up the heat to medium-high.  Add the veggies and cook until just tender, ~10 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Ladle the soup into bowls, making sure to put some of everything in each bowl.  Pass the diced onion and lime wedges for everybody to add to their bowls as they like.

*Update: ...and yes, I'm told that Caldos usually are just the broth, without chile.  When you add chiles, it turns into the Mole.  Although, I'm guessing it has evolved over generations, like in my hubby's (and many others) family.  He grew up with chiles in his Caldo de Res.  But I do believe to be technically correct, without chile equals caldo and with equals mole. 

Today is the 3 year anniversary of Souper Sundays which is hosted weekly by my friend Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.  Be sure to head over there this evening and check out all of the wonderful soups (plus salads and sandwiches) she's rounding up for this celebration!

I am sharing this post with:

Mole Verde Queretano para la celebración Bicentenaria de Independencia

It is midnight...el Presidente rings the bell...shouts ring out in the dark...  ¡Viva Pancho Villa!  ¡Viva Zapata!  ¡Viva Libertad!  ¡Viva México!  Music starts to play...and doesn't stop for close to two days.  The whole town comes to the square with tables and food.  The kids are playing, everybody is dancing or eating, or shouting...some are dressed up like Pancho Villa.    Family, neighbors, friends...every which way you turn.

You grab a plate and make your way to the lady with the masa.  She's slappin' out tortillas faster by hand than a machine could do...not that that seems odd to you- because it is everyday life.  You take your steaming hot tortillas to the table with the carné...load 'em up...head over to the table with the huge vats of molé verde.  The woman who made this slathers it over your plate and automatically sidehands some toasted ajonjoli in a steady sprinkling across the top.  The tastes you love.  The music you sing along with.  The faces that bring you comfort.  The atmosphere that...as a child...a teenager...a young adult...you think will never end, suddenly does.

Perhaps you don't realize it for a couple of years.  You've gone out on your own...to a new country...to a whole new way of life.  Independence day hides backstage in your mind as you become acclaimated with this strange new land and its traditions...its culture.  As the years pass, and you've seen the celebrations of this new country's independence celebrated here, in July you begin to feel a hole.  For a few years, you're not really sure why.  What is it...this aching that resonates from a place so deep inside?  While you love your family...the one you created as an adult, as opposed to the one you were born into and embrace the traditions that your esposa grew up with in this new country in which you live, you realize how much you miss the traditions you grew up with.  The ones you thought would never end. 

Lucky for you, you married a girl who loves to cook.  And eat.  And Mexican food is her favorite.  And she embraces the culture in which you grew up, as well as her own.  She yearns for her own children to know, love, embrace both sides...and you know that one day, when you have enough money, she'll be the first one on that plane or perhaps in that car, on that bus, on that train with her bags packed, her camera charged and her pencil and paper ready as you head back to the place of your birth to celebrate in the tradition of old México.

Wishing you Mole and a Happy New Year!

 What a surprising thing blogging has been to me. Last year at this time, if somebody asked me what a blog was...I would have just given a shrug...the kind that includes raised eyebrows and wide eyes. I had just begun to see the term around, but hadn't yet sit down to investigate what it was all about. I'm sure I probably started by googling the word blog...and wouldja look at me now. Here I am, sitting in front of my computer, trying to put together one last post of the year. A post with my favorite meal...or food...or maybe flavor...whatever it is, it's my absolute favorite above all others...this year or any year.

I started making mole about 10 years ago. Actually, I think it was exactly 10 years ago this holiday season! Did you know that red molé is actually the national dish of Mexico? Even though, it is actually a sauce. A sauce, that is delicious with anything from poultry to carnitas to vegetables! And in Mexico, families (and family members) each have their own special molé ingredients and proportions. In ritual, they gather the most beautiful dried chiles...the kind that are still pliable...spices, dried nuts and fruits...and another star (usually homemade, too), Mexican chocolate. Yes, this is the sauce that some people call the "chile and chocolate sauce." But don't let that fool you, because it is SOOOOOO much more. Yes, they both add to the fabulous, earthen complexity of the sauce...but they are not alone. Look for dried chiles that are supple and pliable...you want them to bend. You want the warm smell to envelope you when you get near them. If they are hard and brittle...and you can't smell them...then why use them? I am fortunate enough to have homemade Mexican chocolate from a friends mami in Mexico, but the kind you can find at the market are very, very close in quality. Plump tomatillos and sticky raisins...thick bread...and the nuttiness of almonds and sesame seeds are more of the ingredients in this mole. Round it out with some piloncillo (or brown sugar if you can't find any) and some warm spices (freshly ground in w/ a mortar & pestle or in a spice grinder) and you're on your way. Molé takes a good day to make correctly. And you want to make it correctly! It'll show. I originally learned from the master and have tweaked and adapted over the years in order to make this molé mine, but I owe so much to Rick Bayless and his welcoming, instructional method of teaching through both his books and his tv show. Make your first batch from a trusted recipe, and then adapt from there. Mexicans themselves ask me how I learned to make this. They swoon just as much as I do. Just as the hubs...otherwise referred to as mexi...he'll tell you it's true. I can't even tell you the number of times I've been told... "You can get married now!" Good to know ;) This is what they tell a girl/woman in Mexico once she can truly cook.

Well. But, any occasion is a special occasion if you add mole...so, I'm adding mole to this New Year's Eve. 

Mole Rojo / Mole Poblano

adapted from Mexico One Plate at a Time

yield ~1½ gallons (yes, it's a lot...but you'll want to share it and eat it for a while)

7 medium tomatillos

⅔ c. sesame seeds, toasted then cooled and whizzed in a spice grinder

½ c. vegetable oil or good rendered pork lard

6 oz. mulato chiles, seeded & stemmed & ripped in half

3 oz. ancho chiles, seeded & stemmed & ripped in half

3 oz. pasilla chiles, seeded & stemmed & ripped in half

9 garlic cloves, peeled

1 c. (~4½ oz.) whole, skin on almonds

1 c. raisins

1 tsp. freshly ground cinnamon

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp. freshly ground anise

¼ tsp. freshly ground cloves

2 slices thick, firm country bread, toasted dark

1 tablet of Mexican chocolate (~3 oz.)

~½ c. piloncillo or brown sugar

salt

Begin by gathering your mise en place...you'll be glad you did. Seed & stem your chiles...wipe 'em free of any loose dirt if necessary. Husk your tomatillos and rinse them. Toast your sesame seeds and grind them. Peel your garlic cloves, darkly toast your bread, and measure out all of your other ingredients. This is going to take either one very large pot or two pretty large ones (I usually use two 5-quart pots). Just start everything in one pot and do the dividing once you have the puree made. Also, go ahead and roast your tomatillos under the broiler until blackened and soft. Add those to a large bowl with the ground sesame seeds.

Next, heat your oil in the pot and quickly fry your cleaned chiles, in batches. It'll only take ~20-30 seconds total per batch. Remove them to a separate large bowl. Once they are all fried, cover with hot tap water and cover with a plate (to submerge them). Let sit to "plump" for ~30 minutes. Make sure to remove any stray seeds from the oil. In the same hot oil, fry the garlic cloves and almonds until they both turn golden and smell out of this world. Remove them to the bowl with the tomatillos and sesame seeds. Add the raisins and sauté until they plump up...and they will puff right up, it's pretty cool to watch. Remove them to the tomatillo bowl. Add the toast, chocolate (broken up a bit) and ground spices to the bowl with the tomatillos.

Transfer the chiles to a blender (in batches) and add a total of 5-6 c. of the soaking liquid to help them blend up. Transfer to a food mill, set over a bowl and turn the mill to release all of the liquid and leave the skins behind. I did this for years actually pushing through a strainer...it worked, but I'd be sweating by the time I was done...a food mill is a breeze!

At this point, turn the heat back on under your pot(s). They should still have a thin coat of oil on the bottom, if not, add a little. Once it is really hot, add the chile puree and lower heat a bit...cook down until it is the consistency of tomato paste, ~15 minutes. Watch out! This splatters like crazy! And it's messy. Very, very messy.

While this is going on, add the contents of the tomatillo bowl (in batches) to your blender (no need to clean jar) along with a couple cups of water, as needed. Once it is all ground up, pass it through the food mill, back into the bowl. Add this puree to the pot once the chiles have cooked down. Stir & let cook back down to the consistency of tomato paste, ~10 minutes more. I recommend grease splatter-guards or a face mask to guard from splatters. Add 3 quarts of water to the pot(s) and bring to a boil. Partially cover and lower to a gentle simmer. Simmer for ~1 hour, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (napé). You can always thin it out with a little water if necessary. Add the piloncillo and ~3 tsp. of salt. Taste...it should be spicy and slightly sweet and earthy and rich...and perfectly silky...all at the same time. Adjust seasoning as necessary. I let it cool down and then transfer to jars or containers for storing or sharing.

Now, use as you wish...one thing I like to do is to brown some chicken or turkey...but this time chicken (4 1/2 lbs. thighs & legs). Drain fat from pan, then pour a quart of mole over the chicken, cover and finish cooking. I then shred it all up and eat it with rice and queso fresco and cilantro...

 ...wrapped in tortillas.

 But, if you want to know my honest to goodness favorite way to eat mole...it is basically, as is. I toast some tortillas and stuff them with queso fresco &/or avocado slices, then dip them in hot molé. It is sheer ecstasy!!!

Another surprise...all of the amazing people I've met out here in blog-land!! I am so happy to have met and worked with so many wonderful souls...and to have made some genuine friends along the way. Thank you for such an amazing first year here in the world of blogging. I wish you all a safe, healthy and blessed New Year!!