Do you ever go through the grocery store and by on impulse? Who doesn’t. My Easy Chicken Mole is a good example of my impetuousness.
Jump to RecipeI love to go down the ethnic aisles of the various grocery stores I go to. Then, invariably, I see something on a shelf that I think would be great to try. Well if you are like me, your pantry gets filled with all these items long before I ever think to cook with them. I have been on a kick to reduce the number of items in my pantry as well as in my spice cabinet. I am making progress but I have a long way to go.
So the genesis of the recipe is the jar of mole sauce I found in my pantry. I am sure the sauce could have been used as is with the addition of some stock to liquify it. I decided I wanted to enhance the sauce. So I pan roasted some dried chilies and softened them in boiling water. I also pan roasted a tomato, garlic and some onions. All of these items were thrown into a blender and pureed to a sauce.
I par baked the chicken in the oven while I continued to work on my mole sauce. The blended ingredients went into a Dutch oven. I still added chocolate, more spices and the prepared mole and simmered. The flavors were unbelievable – PURE LUCK. Eventually, the chicken was added back in and simmered in the sauce. The braising softened the chicken and enabled the mole to sink into the meat.
The roasted chicken.
Creating the chili portion of the sauce.
Developing the mole sauce.
The Easy Chicken Mole plated.
Easy Chicken Mole
Sometimes using some prepared ingredients is not only delicious but it can help you make a quick dinner like this Easy Chicken Mole.
Ingredients
- 5 Whole Chicken breasts
- 2 Tsps Adobo seasoning
- 6 Whole Dried chilies – variety
- 1 Whole Roma or plum tomato
- 4 Whole Cloves garlic
- 1/4 Whole Yellow onion diced
- 3 Tbsp Prepared mole
- 3 – 4 Cups Chicken stock
- 3 – 4 Ounces Chocolate
- 2 Tsp Ancho chili powder
- 2 Tsp Chili powder
- 1 Tsp Cumin
Instructions
-
Begin by adding the adobo seasoning to the chicken and bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, first heat the chilies until they char. Pull them out and pour boiling water over them to soften. This will take 10 – 15 minutes. Next, add the tomato and garlic and brown for 4 – 5 minutes on low heat. Finish by adding the onion with just a drop or two of oil. Brown for 5 minutes.
Add all these ingredients to a blender with 2 cups of the stock and some of the chili water. Blend until smooth. Pour into a Dutch oven and simmer on low heat. Add in the prepared mole and simmer. Next, add in the spices and chocolate and continue to simmer. Taste the mole for seasoning. I added a little more chocolate. After the sauce has simmered for 10 or 15 minutes, add the chicken in and simmer for another 15 minutes which will finish cooking the chicken.
Serve over brown rice. I also made a slaw and roasted carrots for my bowl. I topped the chicken mole with Mexican crema and cotija cheese. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply