| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 55 min |
| Prep: | 35 min |
| Inactive: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 dried Anaheim chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- Hot water
- 1/4 cup whole almonds
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican, broken in pieces
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 serrano peppers, stemmed and seeded
- 6 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably Mexican, chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 turkey legs and thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- Shaved radishes, for garnish
- 1 lime, juiced
- Oaxacan Cheese, crumbled for garnish
- Cooked white rice, for serving
- Cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Instructions
- For the mole: Tear the ancho, Anaheim, and chipotle chiles into large pieces and toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat until they change color a bit, about 2 minutes. Put them into a bowl with the raisins and cover them with hot water. Soak until softened, about 30 minutes. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the almonds, sesame seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, oregano, and thyme. Toast for 2 minutes, grind in a spice grinder, and add the powder to a blender. In the same skillet, over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onions, garlic, and serrano. Cook until lightly browned, then add the tomatoes. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes, then add to the blender. Add the chocolate and the soaked chiles and raisins to the blender along with some of the chile soaking liquid. Puree, adding more soaking liquid, as needed, to make a smooth sauce. (This makes about 4 cups sauce, the recipe uses 2 cups, the extra can be frozen).
- Pour the lemon juice over the turkey in a large bowl and season it well with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet and brown the turkey on all sides Transfer the browned turkey to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan. Pour 2 cups of the mole sauce into the hot skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and return the turkey pieces to the pan. Simmer, covered, until the turkey is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the onion and radish slices into a serving bowl. Add the lime juice and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt, to taste. Mix well and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Serve the turkey over cooked white rice and the onion and radish salad. Garnish everything with cilantro leaves.
- Perfect White Rice…
- 2:1 ratio of water to rice… for perfect rice every time.
Reviews
Whoever thought the recipe says to use Abuelita or Ibarra chocolate is wrong! Don’t use those.
The problems with this recipe that i saw are:
-it doesn’t give a good radish to onion ratio for the topping, although you can change that based on your preferences…
-Oaxacan cheese? I live in South Central texas and I know my Mexican food. Oaxacan cheese is Mexican string cheese. You don’t “crumble it”. I think you should use queso fresco or panela.
-when i diluted the mole with the chicken broth, i felt the taste was too bland i had to add more chocolate to get the mole flavor i was looking for. In the future, I would dilute it with only 1 cup broth or even less.
-dried anaheims are also referred to as “new mexico chiles”, so if any of you have problems finding them, that may be why.
Great recipe, reminds me of my mom’s mole, except you forgot the roasted peanuts. The sesame seeds are a must! May I suggest Mexican rice instead of white rice, you can omit the serranos if you like. The rice mixed with mole sauce is my favorite part of eating mole. Excellent job Tyler I love your recipes, they’re on target.
In the ingredients section, he says to use SEEDED & STEMMED chiles!
I am from Puerto Rico, but used to live in Guadalajara Mexico, I love Mole Poblano…Tyler U ROCK!!!!!!! By the way Abuelita Hot C…Recipe is base on traditional Oaxaca chocolate.
You are going to want to actually read the recipe before running your mouth. The recipe calls for Oaxacan Cheese!!! Not chocolate. Ease up a little.
This is a fabulous recipe!! I am Mexican, and its pretty authentic. Im going to make it again tonight. I would pull out the cinnamon sticks though this time, as they don’t seem to grind as well, a bit barky feel. Cook with them, but remove them.
I love, love, love all your receipes Tyler!!
Thanks
I love, love, love all your receipes Tyler!!
Thanks
I am so excited to add this to my recipe keepers. I’ve been eating mole since I was a kid and haven’t found a satisfying mole since my Grandma’s. This isn’t my Grandma’s mole but it is still satisfying and delicious. I was so happy with the results. It is spicy, when you add the chicken broth it does dilute the spiciness. I had added some honey while I was blending because it was spicy (Honey cuts the heat). After adding the chicken broth I realized I could have left out some honey… I like a little heat. The flavor is great and I’m familiar with the ingrediants. If you were to make this for a group of friends or family, they will love it. For a short cut, you can use a rotisserie chicken and just add it to the mole, maybe cut back on the chicken broth if you do this to abut 3/4 cup.
I’m freezing the extra mole and using a rotisserie for an easy weekend night meal. I love your recipes Tyler, Thank you!
I’m freezing the extra mole and using a rotisserie for an easy weekend night meal. I love your recipes Tyler, Thank you!
As a mexican I take really seriously my food, so I love that Tyler took the time to do the real thing and no that tex-mex food that is not mexican at all(no offense Sunny and Robin), but you need to do your job and study. Thanks Tyler, I know you were in Mexico and learn how rich, healthly and beautiful is our food!
http://www.mexgrocer.com/mexcocina-mar3.html
That has the type of chocolate he used. For the instructions on how to make hot chocolate milk with it, it tells you to replace it with Semi Sweet Chocolate and Cinnamon, suggesting that it is, in fact, Semi Sweet, not the very sweet kind like they use in Abuelita. I thought it was Abuelita for a second as well, but it was much too dark. One Google Image search of “Mexican Chocolate” turns this up.
One of the best things I have ever made. HOWEVER, I really needed all your comments to get it right. I shopped for ingredients and had very good luck at local int’l market. I bought a turkey breast and butchered it into 4 pieces (should have had the butcher do it), and 2 legs. Made the mole and marveled at all ingredients but it all went well (maybe increase the raisins). Then the turkey: I immediately realized there were no instructions to shred it, and that’s when I came back to the computer and found all your helpful hints. THANK YOU! I chose to use the chicken broth, more than the recipe said to completely cover turkey and because I was serving to teens. The mole was pretty hot, but delicious! I am glad I did. I had about eight cups of mole–don’t know why, but I am glad to have leftovers. After the turkey was cooked, I pulled it out, let it cool a little, and then shredded it. It’s is big job because of the sinewy legs. (next time I will try chicken) Returned the turkey to the pot and simmered very low for 30 more min. FABULOUS!!!