Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Cherry Molé, Olé!

This is definitely a "throw it into the pot, job done" meal. The sauce is dark and warm, the chicken is fork tender, and clean-up is quick.

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Cherry Molé

Molé is one of those food terms, like confit, that has been generalized and now is more of a description than a true food. This Slow Cooker Chicken Cherry Molé is like the original form of a Molé in that it has many flavor building spices and ingredients, it contains chili pepper and chocolate, and it is dark and robust.

It is also EXTRA SIMPLE to make, and once you put it all into the Slow Cooker and stir, the only job you have is waiting to eat.

Molé (or mulli) means "sauce". The history of this concoction includes Spain and Mexico, with influences from Africa and beyond. Today, it is considered one of Mexico's culinary prides. In its most original form, a paste from blended and ground spices is made and cooked into a very fragrant and dark starter. To this is added many things, with every family having their own secret combination and traditional styles. Some of the ingredients include cilantro, nuts, sesame seeds, tortillas for thickeners, dried fruits and several different kinds of peppers.

For this labor and time friendly recipe, I have included dried cherries which pair well with the cocoa that is almost always in a Molé. The sauce is commonly served over turkey, chicken and sometimes pork.Rick Bayless, whom I obviously admire, serves one of the best Molés in his Frontera Grill in Chicago. If you ever get the opportunity, definitely try it.

In the meantime, pull out the Slow Cooker or Crock Pot and get ready for a very flavorful Mexican style chow down.Recipe: Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Cherry Molé-Olé

1 onion, chopped
3 cups Tomato Sauce (or large can of seasoned tomatoes)
1 cup water or chicken stock
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbls. honey
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (canned), chopped
3 Tbls. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 Tbls. chili powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cumin
pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
2 lbs. Chicken breasts or combination with thighs (boneless)

1) In a Slow Cooker, add the onion, tomato sauce, garlic, peanut butter, honey, dried cherries and Chipotle chile. Stir together.

2) Stir in the cocoa powder, the chili powder, the cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg.

3) Put the chicken on top of this sauce, season with salt, close the lid and cook on low for about 5-6 hours.

4) When done, use 2 forks to pull the chicken into shreds and fold into sauce.

This is wonderful on a little slider bun, or served as an entree with rice, potatoes or polenta. Everyone will be wanting mo' Molé. :D

Tomatillo & Chile Sauced Vegetarian Enchiladas - Daring Cooks May '10

Years ago I would have said Mexican food was when you bought a box of hard taco shells from the grocery store and filled them with ground beef that had been cooked with a packet of Taco Seasoning Mix and garnished with a squirt of Taco Sauce from a plastic bottle. As a kid, I really liked it, but obviously I was missing an entire country's worth of flavor, products and culture.

Tomatillo and Chile Sauced
(Hand-made Corn Tortilla)
Enchiladas with Mushroom & Spinach

Our hosts this month for Daring Cooks, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food, have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

I opted for a vegetarian recipe and my inspiration came from Everyday Mexican by Rick Bayless (a wonderful and simple to follow cookbook). I added a few tweaks, including the roasted Anaheim Chiles that gave the sauce little nibblets to chew.

It will not surprise anyone, who has read my posts, that I am a huge Rick Bayless fan (as raved about here), so this month's challenge was a regalo del cielo.

The first prep I did was to char-roast a few Anaheim peppers. It was too breezy to strike up the grill, but one of my favorite little cooking devices is this inside top-of-stove grill rack.
You could also use the oven on 400F, or a cooks torch (if you're very familiar with its use.) It's important to cook til the skin is completely black for optimum flavor, I find. When completely charred, remove from heat and quickly wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for a few minutes. The steaming inside the plastic helps make the cooked skins peel off so easily. When ready to continue, unwrap, split in half and remove core, seeds and stem.
Then peel, or use knife to help scrape, skin from the outside. Please resist washing the pepper as you'll wash away the very smokey flavor you just created. Slice the pepper and chop into medium pieces and hold for further use.

The next prep was to husk and chop the fresh green Tomatillo~

RECIPE: Tomatillo-Sauced Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms - adapted and tweaked from Rick Bayless


Grilled (or oven roast at 450F, or stove top grill) 3 Anaheim peppers - seed, peel and chopped

SAUCE:
4 garlic cloves - peeled
6 med. tomatillos - shucked and cut in half
1 Jalapeno pepper
1 Serano pepper
1 cup Fresh Cilantro - chopped large

1 Tbls. oil,
2 cups Veggie (or chicken) stock


In a blender, puree: garlic, tomatillos, peppers and cilantro.
In a saucepan, heat: oil, then add puree and cook til smooth and thick (about 5-7 minutes)
Add the stock and simmer for 10 Minutes, stirring.
Hold and keep warm while prepping filling (or you can refrigerate and reheat later).

FILLING:
1 cup sliced mushrooms (bella, shitake, etc)
1 red onion, thinly sliced
6-8 oz. fresh baby spinach
1-2 Tbls. oil
salt/pepper

8 Corn Tortillas
3 Tbls. Sour Cream
1 cup crumbled Queso Fresco (or other Mexican cheese, goat cheese, or feta)

In a large skillet, heat the oil on Med-High. Add the mushrooms, cook til browned, and add the onions (holding out a few for garnish). Continue cooking til onions are soft. Add the spinach and stir often as the leaves wilt - about a minute or so. Season with salt/pepper, cover and remove from heat.

In the saucepan with the Enchilada sauce, add most of the chopped chiles (keeping some for garnish), and the sour cream and stir to combine.
Dip each tortilla into the sauce and place flat on plate. Add a little filling down each center of the tortillas, roll up and lay on a plate seam side down. Spoon the sauce over the top of rolled tortillas, sprinkle with crumbled cheese, onions and more chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.
I've made hand-made Corn Tortilla before and always have a blast doing it. It is much easier than you think, once you get your rhythm going.

A lesson I learned a while back was to NOT substitute just any corn flour to make tortillas. The corn flour used for tortillas, and tamales, etc. has been treated so you must find the right kind and then, it couldn't be easier. I used a brand I found in a common grocery store, although well stocked with Mexican ingredients. Maseca makes Masa Harina that is sold in a large yellow and beige bag usually found with wheat flours.

RECIPE for CORN TORTILLAS: adapted from Rick Bayless

1 3/4 cups Masa Harina
1 + 2 Tbls. hot tap water

Mix these together, by hand, in a large bowl until completely combined and making a dough.

Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into golf-ball size balls in the palm of your hand.

Using a Tortilla Press (or a heavy cast iron skillet) and two pieces of plastic wrap (a large ziploc bag cut apart makes the perfect weight for this) press each ball into about 5" circles.

With each press, peel the top plastic off and lay the plastic aside - then place the dough circle down on your flat palm and peel away the remaining plastic from the top. Place each tortilla on a hot griddle pan (see picture for my favorite one to use) that has been heated to med.

Cook until it releases, about 30 seconds, flip and move to a hotter part of the griddle and cook on each side for another 30-45 seconds each side. If it puffs a bit, just press down gently with a spatula.

As each tortilla is done, remove carefully from the griddle and place in a towel to keep warm. I usually cover the towel with foil for extra heat containment.

My family barely spoke during this dinner, we were all so enthralled with the flavors and brightness of these Tomatillo and Chile Sauced Enchiladas.
I used the leftover corn tortillas as baked chips the next night with a quick guacamole. ¡Olé!

Daring to Cook: Spanish Rice with Squid

I took the dare! Now, here's the truth. I had SO much fun! This was my first time cooking with the DARING KITCHEN folks-- a group of bloggers, started by Lisa and Ivonne in 2006 and still going, growing and cooking! Once a month a host chooses a recipe for the challenge and this month's host is Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga's Recipes. The recipe is from Jose Andres and his original recipe uses Cuttlefish, but no luck finding that - so mine is SQUID with RICE.

One of the many reasons I had a great time with this challenge is because Jose Andres is one of the most important Spanish Chefs of today and is one of my favorites, along with the chef he trained under at El Bulli - Ferran Adria. I met Ferran at a book signing once in LA, and spoke my broken Spanish to him, and he politely nodded- (probably thinking - I hope she cooks better than she speaks.) This recipe is from the television show of Jose Andres, MADE IN SPAIN and in a video he graciously helps by showing the preparations. Jose has several restaurants, and I've been lucky enough to eat in the Los Angeles one called, Bazaar; unbelievably and oddly fabulous!

I created my meal of Rice, Squid, Mushrooms and Artichokes for a large gathering at my house, so served it family style.
There was not one piece of rice left on that platter. I highly recommend trying this recipe - don't be shy with the steps - they build the complex flavors and are so worth it. The sofregit (stewed tomatoes, onions, artichokes and mushrooms, etc..) as made in the recipe is more than enough which is wonderful so you can freeze for later and/or use as a base for other soups, egg dishes, meat sauces, bruschetta and your imagination.

Another aspect to this recipe is the Allioli (not Aioli which is a delicious garlicy mayonaise made with egg). The Catalan mixture (classically done in a pestal & mortar) is composed of simply fresh garlic, salt, a touch of lemon juice and slow drizzles of good olive oil. (I used an organic award winning Olive Oil from the beautiful family run Agriturismo Fiorano in Le Marche, Italy) This was a labor of love and again, well worth it. Not only does this creamy fragrant dollop make the Rice and Squid talk to you, it also can be used in other dishes (ie. the Ribbon Squash and Olives that I sauteed and added the Allioli as an earthy flavor booster.)


Would I make this again? Oh, AND again. When you have people, with their mouths still full, asking you to please cook more of this - you know you have a double dare!



Check out the other DARING COOKS for their versions on this recipe.

Rice and Cuttlefish:

* 4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
* 12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
* 1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
* 1 glass of white wine
* 2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)
* “Sofregit” (see recipe below)
* 300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.
* Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
* Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
* Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optional
Directions:

1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf to the cuttlefish and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.
Sofregit (a well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times
different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)-

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour
Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
* 2 small onions, chopped
* 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
* 4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
* 1 Bay leaf
* Salt
* Touch of ground cumin
* Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste

Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.
Ingredients:

* 4 garlic cloves, peeled
* Pinch of salt
* Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
* Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:

1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.

José's tips for traditional recipe: It's hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don't give up. It's worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you're adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.