Mole de Olla Mexi-rean Style

This is a variation that highlights two of my major culinary influences: the cuisines of Korea and Mexico. Both use a lot of chilis, zucchini, onion, garlic, and herbs.

This particular dish tastes like the Korean dish yookkae jang, but instead of dried ground chili powder (kochu karu) it uses pureed dried chilis. I Korean-ized it by making it spicier and thicker than I've seen it served in Mexican restaurants. It's about the same consistency as a chiggae, a boiled, stew-ish like dish, typical of Korean home cooking with a complex flavor base.

The only versions of mole de olla I've had the opportunity to try have been from restaurants (besides my own homemade one). I'm partial to Coatzingo's on Roosevelt Avenue between 79th & 80th Streets. I would definitely welcome any invitations from 'real' Mexicans out there to sample theirs. hint, hint.)

I started with the recipe from this blog post, but I used some Korean techniques to make it "cleaner". For instance, soaking the blood from the beef ribs first reduces the foam and some of the grease. I also made it easier to eat by trimming the meat from the bone, and the fat from the meat. I traded the cilantro for epazote. (According to some, celery is not authentic, but when I make a stock, it's nearly automatic to use it, so I did.)

4 pounds beef chuck short ribs
1 + 1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, chopped into 1/2 in disks
2 celery stalks
3 plum tomatoes diced into 8 pieces
4 + 4 garlic cloves, 4 crushed, 4 whole
1/4 tsp of ground cloves
Some corn on the cob, each one cut into thirds
2-3 potatoes, diced into small pieces so they will cook as quickly as the other vegetables
1/2 lb string beans, trimmed and cut into 2 or 3 pieces
3 zucchini, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
One bunch of epazote

Some dried arbol and guajillo chilis. The arbol adds heat and the guajillo add a deep earthy flavor. The number of each you use depends on how spicy you like it. The chiles are the main flavoring for this soup though, so don’t go light.

salt to taste

For serving: tortillas, rice lime wedges, radishes, chopped onion, cilantro

Soak the ribs in cold water, changing the water several times, to leach the blood out.

Simmer the short ribs in water uncovered with half of the epazote, onion, carrot, and celery for 2 hours.

While the ribs are cooking, make the salsa roja.

Soak the dried guajillos in hot water for a few minutes, to reconstitute them a little. Stem and seed them. Cut the tops off of the arbol chilis and shake out as many seeds as possible. Put in the soaking water with the guajillos. After about 15 minutes, remove from water and place in a blender with the tomatoes, the chopped 1/2 onion, the whole garlic, the rest of the epazote, and cloves. Blend until smooth with the water from the soaking chilis.

Remove the epazote and celery. Discard. Skim grease from the surface of the stock.

Take out the ribs and separate the meat from the bones, slice the meat into large pieces, against the grain. Remove and discard any large chunks of fat. Put the bones and meat back into the pot. (When you serve, do not serve the bones, of course.)

Add the salsa to the simmering stock to taste. Adjust the salt. Cover.

Simmer the salsa with the ribs for 30 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the pot. Gently simmer for another 30 minutes.

Taste the stew, and adjust seasoning. If it’s not spicy enough, add more salsa. If it’s spicy enough but not balanced, add some lime juice; the citric acid will lift the flavors.

To serve, ladle the stew into bowls. Serve the tortillas on side plates with a couple lime wedges, some chopped onion, and radish slices, and maybe some chopped cilantro.

The best way to eat mole is to cut off some short rib meat with a spoon, wrap it in a tortilla with some onion and radish, and dip the whole in the soup to moisten it with the fiery flavor.

Pipían or Mole Verde (Pumpkin Seed Sauce) for Chicken

I based on the recipe on the one by Rick Bayles, modified the technique a little to make it less labor intensive, and added more of most of the flavoring ingredients. This is definitely not a a quick meal, but it requires less time and ingredients than many other moles.

1 large white onion, sliced 10 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in half
1 1/2 tsp salt 1 chicken (3-4 lbs), separate into 10 pieces: 2 boneless breast halves, drumsticks, wings, thighs, back, and ribs, plus giblets
4 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram 2 green onions, chopped into quarters
1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
a handful of large sprigs cilantro, roughly chopped
4 large romaine leaves, roughly chopped
about 10 large radish leaves, roughly chopped spicy green chilies to taste (roughly 6 serranos or 4 small jalapeños), stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped

Chicken and broth
In a large (6-quart) pot, bring 8 cups of water to a boil with half of the onion, 5 cloves of garlic, carrot, marjoram, thyme, bay, and 1 teaspoon of the salt and the chicken ribs, back, neck, heart and giblets. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.

Add the dark meat quarters and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the breast halves, cover and simmer for 13 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the chicken cool for a few minutes in the broth.
Remove the breasts, drumsticks, thighs, and wings, from the broth and set aside.
Use a spider to strain the onion, garlic, carrot, bay leaves, giblets, ribs, and back from the broth and discard. Spoon off any fat that rises to the top.

Pumpkin Seeds, while the chicken is cooking
In a large (10-to 12-inch), heavy skillet set over medium heat, spread out the pumpkin seeds and toast, stirring regularly, until all have popped (from flat to rounded) and turned golden (no darker); once they start popping, the whole process shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. At 3.5 minutes turn off the heat but keep stirring until the popping stops and you're sure that the pan has cooled enough so they won't burn.

Sauce
In a blender, combine the cooled pumpkin seeds with the remaining half of the onion and garlic, the cilantro, romaine, radish leaves, green onions and green chiles. Add enough of the chicken broth to blend to a smooth puree.

Pour the puree into a large pot or pan and stir constantly until very thick, about 10 minutes. Add more broth if it gets too thick, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes. (The sauce will look grainy at this point.)

Scrape the sauce into a blender, cover and blend to a smooth puree; if necessary add a little extra broth to give the sauce a medium consistency.

Rinse your saucepan, return the blended sauce to it, taste and season with salt, usually a 1/2 teaspoon.

Add the chicken and warm (but don’t bring to a simmer) over medium-low heat, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, then ladle the sauce over and around it.

The dish can be prepared a couple of days ahead: store poached chicken and sauce separately, covered and refrigerated. Heat the chicken and sauce together on the stove top just before serving.

Notes: The sauce can be made separately and used for very rich and delicious enchiladas.

The chicken broth is also good to add to some beans if you're making them to accompany your meal. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Serves 4, with about 5 cups sauce (so you’ll have leftovers for another round of chicken or for enchiladas or vegetables)

Margarita Chicken and Succotash Tostadas

This healthy-ish meal has a lot of fiber, complex carbs, and protein. I made the succotash and chicken to serve together, but also happened to have some leftover tostadas and sour cream. (Does the last two components cancel out the healthful aspects of the first two?) Anyhow, combined together, they made a great summer dinner.

I'm currently in an American food craze, using a lot of indigenous American ingredients and combining succotash with a fried tortilla, aka tostada, which incorporates black beans and pumpkin seeds fits into this phase. I also served the tostadas with new purple potatoes, boiled in heavily salted water, sprinkled with olive oil and dill. Succotash is native to the northeast U.S., tostadas come from Mexico, and potatoes originated in Peru.

The succotash uses butter beans instead of lima beans, which I don't like, but also edamame can be used. I used Goya* products because I think their frozen vegetables taste freshest and their beans the best. The tostadas were from a small pack of 10 I found. I don't know the brand. The oil and butter can be left out and fat-free sour cream used to make this nearly perfectly healthy (besides the tostada.) You'll have a lot of succotash left over but the chicken makes 4-5 tostadas.

Succotash
1 bag frozen *corn, thawed
1/2 bag frozen *peas, thawed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can butter beans, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, and finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup toasted shelled pumpkin seeds
1 tbls melted butter
1 tbls olive oil
1 tsp dried dill
salt and pepper to taste

Margarita Chicken
1 lb chicken breast tenders

marinade
l/2 c. lime juice
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbls *adobo seasoning
2 shots tequila
pepper

Tostadas
sour cream

Combine the ingredients for the marinade and marinate the chicken for at least 90 minutes while making the succotash.

Combine all the vegetables and pumpkin seeds for the succotash. Melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the dill, salt, and pepper. Fold into the veggies being careful not to mush up the beans too much. Adjust the seasonings and herbs to taste.

Grill the chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Top the tostadas with a thin layer of sour cream, a generous scoop of succotash, and dot with the chicken, in that order.