I made this in February when Kristina came to Canmore and introduced us to her beau for the first time. We were hooked…we loved Ryan and his easygoing ways, especially with our playful Madeline. As Kia’s dad said to me once about my husband, “he’s a catch, throw the anchor out on him.” And she did.
This was the dish that inspired Kristina and I to put some of my favourite, go-to dishes on her blog. I wish I could say that this is my original recipe, or that I’ve made major adjustments to make it better, but this recipe is so good it needs little adaptation. This mole comes from Cook’s Illustrated Soups & Stews periodical from 2012. I must say it is my go to book for comforting, no-fail recipes.
This recipe is composed of many steps that need to be followed precisely. It is best to prep all of the ingredients before beginning to cook, as the timing of this recipe is precise, stirring is constant and ingredients can scorch or burn easily. Since I am going through all the food prep and steps, I usually double the recipe and freeze half. I think that this may actually taste better reheated than fresh since it gives the flavours time to develop.
What You’ll Need
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 1 oz bittersweet, semisweet, or Mexican chocolate, broken into pieces
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ tsp minced chipotle chili in adobo sauce (you can adjust this to make it more or less spicy depending on how much heat you can handle)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 8 (5 to 7 oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, preferably organic
- salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 ancho chilis, stemmed, seeded and broken into small pieces
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 2 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade* or sodium-reduced, organic
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp agave
- 2 scallions, sliced thin for garnish
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.- Combine raisins, almond butter, chocolate, garlic, chipotle, cinnamon and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.
- Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat. Brown the chicken in batches (being careful not to overcrowd the pan)** on both sides, 10 to 15 minutes; transfer to plate. Repeat until all the chicken is browned.
- Pour off all but 2 tbsp of fat left in pot (I usually find that I can skip this step since I use skinless chicken). Add torn ancho chiles, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until dark red and toasted, about 5 minutes. Stir in sesame seeds and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Stir in onion and cook until just softened, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in raisin-chocolate mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes (do not let the chocolate burn or your mole will taste scorched). Stir in the broth, scraping up any brown bits (mmmm, flavour!!) on the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes with juice and 1 tsp agave and bring to a simmer. Puree the sauce in a blender*** (or use an immersion blender) until smooth. Return to the pot, seasons with salt and pepper and additional agave to taste.
- Nestle browned chicken with any accumulated juice into pot, spoon sauce over chicken, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven and cook until chicken is very tender, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and shred (using two forks) into bite-size pieces. Whisk sauce to re-emulsify and stir in chicken. Gently re-heat over low heat if needed.
9. Serve on rice with cilantro, green onions and sesame seeds for garnish
Tips
*The outcome of your recipe depends entirely on the inputs or ingredients. Nowhere is this more true than with broth. Taste the broth you are using before you add it to your dish. If you don’t like it now you won’t like it later. Homemade broth is so simple to do. Stay tuned to this blog for an easy homemade roast chicken and broth.
**Some tips on browning. 1) Dry your meat. Wet meat will splatter and won’t brown as nicely. 2) Don’t overcrowd the pan. If the pan is too full, there is too much liquid in the pan and the meat ‘poaches’ rather than browns.
***Be careful blending hot liquids. Only fill the blender 1/3 full and place a tea towel over the lid and hold the lid down while pureeing to ensure that the blender does not spray hot liquid onto you.
xo Jacqui