COFFEE COLORADITO MOLE

Method

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add 2 ounces of oil and then the then the chicken. Sear the chicken until brown, but not cooked. Set aside. The chicken will continue to cook in the mole.

2. Toast the unpeeled garlic and the onion in a dry sauté pan over medium heat until soft (they'll blacken in spots), about 15 minutes, turning frequently. Cool, peel, and place in a bowl. Separately toast the peppercorns, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon stick in a dry sauté pan until aromatic. Add the Mexican oregano, and grind in a spice grinder. In a blender, combine the spices with the roasted garlic and onions and purée with ½ cup of stock. Set aside.

3. Toast the chiles separately in a dry medium heat skillet 1 or 2 at a time; open them flat and press down firmly on the hot surface with a spatula, approximately 5 seconds a side. They will lighten in color. Flip them and press down to toast the other side. Place the chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water to rehydrate. Make sure that the chiles are submerged to ensure even soaking. Let sit for 30 minutes turning periodically, until soft all the way through. Purée the chiles in the blender, using as little of the chile water as possible, about 1 cup. Pass the purée through a sieve or food mill to remove the skins.

4. Place the tomatoes in a dry cast iron frying pan, over medium heat, and let them roast with no oil until they have softened and charred slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. First they will give off their juices, then they will dry out. Remove the skins, and purée the tomato mixture in a blender until smooth, then pass through a sieve or food mill.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a 6 quart sauce pot over medium heat. Add the plantains and bread and fry until golden brown. The bread will fry more quickly then the plantains. Remove them from the pan, and set aside. Add more oil (if needed) and fry the raisins until they are plump, about 3 minutes. Remove them from the pan. Fry the almonds until light brown and start to pop, about 4 minutes. Remove them from the pan. Place the plantain, bread, raisins, and almonds in a blender with 1 ½ cups of the reserved broth and blend until smooth. Wipe out the sauce pot.

6. Add 1 tablespoon of lard over high heat until smoking. Add the chile purée a little at a time stirring constantly. It will splatter, but keep stirring and scraping up any purée that sticks to the bottom of the pot. Once all the purée is added, lower the heat to medium and continue to cook until the chile purée is thick, about the consistency of tomato paste. Add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, about 15 minutes, stirring to keep the mole from sticking or burning, once again cook the purée down to almost a paste. Next add the onion and ground spices mixture and stir well. Add the puréed plantain mixture and ground sesame seeds, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until thick. Add the coffee and 4 ½ to 5 cups of the broth to thin out the sauce, then add the chocolate, stirring constantly until dissolved. Season to taste with salt. Remember that moles tend to need a lot of salt to help bring the flavors together. Let the mole cook down for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The more time it has to cook, the better.

7. Return the chicken pieces to the broth and cook through. Add more broth to the mole if needed. The mole should be thick enough to just coat a spoon, no more. Place a piece of chicken on a serving plate and ladle a large spoonful of mole on top. It should completely cover the meat. Serve with corn tortillas.

Note: A mole is always better when it has the chance to sit overnight and let the flavors meld.

Yield: 8 portions