Chicken Mole - (Pollo con mole)

Firstly I have to apologise for the photo. I dished up tea and started eating straight away, as I was very hungry. When I was just about finished, I realised that I hadn't taken a photo, hence the picture of my husband's lunch.

This is chicken in mole sauce, we saw this on Austar while watching World Kitchen with chef Nicki Wickes. We all were very hungry after watching her cook it, so I found the recipe and decided to cook at the first chance I had.

So last night after food shopping, I rushed home and made it. YUM !!!

Now I didn't have the time or inclination to be cooking the garlic cloves whole, as I had grown garlic myself, they are small and tender. So after a good whack with the pestle I peeled them and pounded them in the mortar, I also added about 2 tsps of oil and mixed it together. Also at the end I stirred in some fresh coriander leaves. I used chicken breasts, which when cooked I removed then sliced into bite size pieces and stirred back into the sauce while I was adding the chocolate.

Mexican Chicken Mole Stew

4 dried chilli, 5 garlic cloves, 2-3cm stick cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon each of dried basil, oregano, cumin seeds (or 1 tablespoon fresh of each), 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander – leaf and stalk, 3 tablespoons oil (olive or other cooking oil) 1 large onion, chopped, 1 can chopped tomatoes (approx 400g), 1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock , 8 chicken pieces, 40g bittersweet, dark chocolate, 1/4 tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper Cooked rice

Heat 1 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic cloves, skin and all. Toast these for 10 minutes until the skins begin to blacken in places and the garlic has begun to soften. Remove from the heat. Blend in a mortar and pestle, or food processor, the garlic, chilli, basil, oregano, cumin seeds and coriander and finally add the oil and toasted garlic from the saucepan. Blend together and if there are any large garlic skins that are easy to pick out then do so, otherwise ignore them.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the saucepan and cook the onions on a gentle heat until they are softened. Increase the heat to medium, add the blended spices and cook for 3-5 minutes until the onions begin to brown and the spices give up their aromas. Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes and chicken stock. Cook the sauce on a vigorous simmer for 10 minutes until it thickens. Add chicken pieces, salt and pepper, cover and bring to a simmer and cook for a further 30-40mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Add more stock (or water) if the sauce thickens too much. Add the chocolate and stir through. Before serving check seasoning and add additional salt, pepper or chilli as desired. Serve with rice and soft tortilla garnished with fresh coriander.

http://niciwickes.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=20942

So try it the recipe is actually quite easy, and once it is all together it just cooks itself.