Herbed Pumpkin Seed Mole Mole Verde Con Hierbas Recipes

HERBED PUMPKIN SEED MOLE RECIPE - (5/5)

Steps:

• In a large skillet with high sides or in a large saucepan, toast the pumpkin seeds, cumin seeds, and oregano over high heat. Toss to make sure they don't burn, but toast until fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a blender or spice grinder and process until ground. Set aside. In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeños and cook until slightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes, tossing a couple of times, but not stirring too much. Carefully place the vegetables in a blender or food processor. Then add the broth, cilantro, parsley, epazote (if using), and salt and process until puréed. Pour back into the skillet and add the ground pumpkin seed mixture. Let simmer until flavors are well combined, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately. Any leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a couple of days. Note: If you don't have a spice grinder, a clean coffee grinder works great and a blender works fine, too. If you can't find epazote, you can substitute the green tops of radishes or just leave them out altogether.

HERBED PUMPKIN SEED MOLE (MOLE VERDE CON HIERBAS)

Steps:

• In a large skillet with high sides or in a large saucepan, toast the pumpkin seeds, cumin seeds, and oregano over high heat. Toss to make sure they don't burn, but toast until fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a blender or spice grinder and process until ground. Set aside.
• In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeños and cook until slightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes, tossing a couple of times, but not stirring too much. Carefully place the vegetables in a blender or food processor. Then add the broth, cilantro, parsley, epazote (if using), and salt and process until puréed. Pour back into the skillet and add the ground pumpkin seed mixture. Let simmer until flavors are well combined, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Serve immediately. Any leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a couple of days.

MOLE VERDE: GREEN MOLE

Steps:

• Toast the pumpkin seeds in an ungreased pan, turning them over and shaking the pan from time to time to prevent them from burning. Set them aside to cool and then grind them in an electric grinder to a fine powder. Put 1 1/2 cups of the broth in a blender, gradually adding the tomates verdes, lengua de vaca, hoja santa, chopped epazote, and chiles, blending as smooth as possible.
• Heat the lard in a flameproof casserole in which you are going to serve the mole and fry the blended ingredients, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking; cook for about 25 minutes. Add the rest of the epazote.
• Stir 1/2 cup of the broth into the pumpkin seeds until you have a smooth consistency and gradually stir into the cooked ingredients. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly for 10 more minutes. Take care that the pumpkin seed mixture does not form into lumps; if this happens, put the sauce back into the blender and blend until smooth. Add any remaining broth and salt, to taste. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water to dilute.

PUMPKIN SEED CHICKEN MOLE

Steps:

• In a dry cast-iron skillet toast pumpkin seeds, cumin seeds, pepper and oregano over a low heat, shaking the pan occasionally. Heat until aromas are released, about 5 minutes. Remove before seeds begin to brown and set aside to cool. In a blender grind mixture until a powder forms. In blender or food processor puree tomatillos, serrano chile, garlic, lettuce, cinnamon, cilantro, radish tops, onion and salt until smooth. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan heat olive oil over a high heat. Carefully, pour in pureed tomatillo mixture, and let sizzle for 30 seconds. Stir in stock. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn up the heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir in ground nut mixture and remove from the heat. Puree in a food processor or blender, in batches, if necessary. Pass through a fine strainer, pressing with the back of a ladle to extract all the juices, into a 13 x 10-inch flameproof baking dish. Place the chicken breasts in the sauce and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Serve the chicken and sauce over a bed of white rice. Sprinkle radish slices over the top.

MOLE VERDE

Steps:

• Add the tomatillos, poblano, onion, serrano chiles and garlic to a large preheated comal or cast-iron skillet set over medium heat. Cook everything until lightly charred and soft on all sides, about 20 minutes. The poblano should take the longest to cook, while the garlic cloves will be done in about 5 to 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a dry small to medium skillet over medium. Once warmed, toast the sesame seeds, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the toasted seeds to a large bowl and set aside.
• Toast the pepitas in the same skillet, stirring constantly, until golden, popped and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Add them to the bowl with sesame seeds.
• Toast the almonds in the same skillet, stirring constantly, until lightly seared and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Add them to the bowl with the seeds.
• Toast the bay leaves and cloves until the leaves lightly brown and the cloves become fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add to the same bowl with the seeds.
• Stem and seed the charred chiles, and add them along with the remaining charred ingredients and the toasted ingredients to a blender. Add the romaine, cilantro, epazote, hoja santa (if using) and 2 ½ cups vegetable stock. Blend until almost smooth yet slightly lumpy and textured. Use more of the vegetable stock as needed to smooth out the mixture. If you don't have a high-powered blender, you may need to blend in two batches, adding equal amounts of the wet and dry ingredients to each batch.
• Heat a large, deep pot over medium-low. Once warmed, add the oil. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, carefully add the mole from the blender. There will be some splatter. Stir in the salt and simmer the mole for 15 to 20 minutes, until the flavors meld together, stirring occasionally to make sure the mole doesn't burn at the bottom of the pot.
• Serve with seared mushrooms, tofu steaks or roasted cauliflower, paired with Mexican rice. Extra mole can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container.