Tyler Florence's Chicken Mole Poblano

"What is Mole Poblano?"

Mole poblano, whose name comes from the Mexican state of Puebla, is a popular sauce in Mexican cuisine and is the mole that most people in the U.S. think of when they think of mole. Mole poblano is prepared with dried chili peppers (commonly ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle), ground nuts and/or seeds (almonds, indigenous peanuts, and/or sesame seeds), spices, Mexican chocolate (cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon and occasionally nuts), salt, and a variety of other ingredients including charred avocado leaves, onions, and garlic. Dried seasonings such as ground oregano are also used. In order to provide a rich thickness to the sauce, bread crumbs or crackers are added to the mix. (from Wikipedia)

I love mole. My favorite place in L.A. to get mole is at the restaurant Guelaguetza. Their famous mole negro is out of this world!

When I saw Tyler Florence make this recipe on the Food Network, I knew I had to try it. The only problem was that I couldn't find Anaheim and Chipotle chiles at any of the grocery stores near me! And this is L.A... (granted, it's West L.A., but still...) Ah well, I made it with only the Ancho chile, and it turned out great.

The nice thing about this recipe is that it makes double the sauce that you need, so I have leftover sauce in the freezer for another night. You'll see why this is so great once you taste the sauce. The nuts and spices add such depth to it, and the little bit of bittersweet chocolate brings out the sauce's richness. The end result reminds me of a really good "South of the Border" Chili sauce.

Here's the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-mole-poblano-recipe/index.html

The LONG list of ingredients:

• 2 dried ancho chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried anaheim chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried chipotle chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 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 capon or large chicken, cut into 10 pieces
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, juiced
• Cilantro leaves, for garnish
• Cooked white rice, for serving

Toasting the spices that go into the mole sauce

The spices after going in the grinder

Brown the Onions and Serrano

Soaking the toasted Chiles in hot water for 30 minutes

The mole sauce

Pan frying the chicken to brown it

Finish cooking the chicken in the mole sauce