Mole Amarillo Recipes

MOLE AMARILLO -- MEXICAN YELLOW SAUCE -- YELLOW MOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
• In a dry cast-iron skillet or comal, toast the guajillo and ancho chiles over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until fragrant; turn them and shake the pan so they don't scorch.
• Put the toasted chiles in a bowl, cover with the boiling water, and let soak until softened and reconstituted, about 20 minutes.
• Return the skillet to medium-high heat to get quite hot.
• Rub the onion, garlic, tomatillos, and tomato with the oil.
• Lay the vegetables in the hot pan and roast, turning occasionally, until soft and well charred on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Put the vegetables in a bowl to let them cool a bit.
• Meanwhile, grind the peppercorns and cloves in a coffee grinder or spice mill.
• Put everything together in a blender or food processor and puree in batches until completely smooth.
• Melt the lard in a skillet over medium heat and pour in the puree.
• Cook and stir for 5 minutes, until the mole deepens in color.
• In a small bowl, mix the masa harina with 1/4 cup of warm water until smooth and lump-free.
• Whisk into the sauce and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened and able to coat the back of a spoon.

TAMALES WITH YELLOW MOLE: TAMALES DE AMARILLO MOLE

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl soak the corn husks for 30 minutes.
• In another bowl, add the masa harina and salt and with a whisk, mix well. Slowly add the chicken stock to the masa harina and mix well until a dough-like consistency. Make 10 ping-pong ball size balls of dough.
• In a plastic-lined tortilla press (both sides), press out each ball of dough to form a 5-inch round (about the size of the press). Carefully remove the tortilla, and place a spoonful of amarillo mole sauce, a spoonful of shredded cooked chicken. Fold each side of the tortilla and place in a corn husk length-wise. Secure both ends with a string or part of the husk used as a string, and repeat process.
• Steam for 30 minutes.
• Toast chiles on a griddle. Remove and place in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and let stand for 20 minutes.
• In a hot cast iron pan, roast the onion, garlic, tomatillos, and green tomatoes. Roast until well charred on all sides. Place in a bowl and let cool.
• Meanwhile grind peppercorns and cloves in coffee grinder. When the vegetables are cool enough to handle peel off the charred skin and puree them in a blender with the hoja santa leaves, drained chiles, and spices.
• In hot pot, heat the lard, add the pureed strained sauce, and cook for 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl, add the masa harina and water. Mix until well blended. Add this mixture to the sauce and cook for 5 minutes more, until done.

MOLE AMARILLO

Steps:

• Clean the chicken pieces and place them in a stockpot with boiling water, onion, garlic, and salt, reduce the heat and poach the chicken until tender about 30 minutes. Remove chicken and reserve broth.
• Heat 2 pots of water to boiling. Add salt. Add chayote to 1 pot and green beans to the other. Cook each to al dente. Drain. Slice chayote and set both aside.
• For the Mole: Clean the anchos and guajillos with a damp cloth, cut them open, remove the seeds and stems, and spread them flat. Roast them on a hot comal or thin skillet. Remove from the skillet and place in a bowl of hot water and soak for 20 minutes.
• On the same comal or skillet dry-roast the tomatillos, tomato, onion, and unpeeled garlic, remove the garlic when black spots appear and peel it, and leave the vegetables until blistered and soft.
• In a small skillet, lightly roast the black peppercorns, cloves, and cumin until the aroma is released.
• Transfer the reconstituted chiles to the blender with enough water to process. Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in large pan and pour the chile mixture through a sieve into the hot pan, it is important that all the pieces of chile skin are blended or removed so the sauce will be smooth. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 8 minutes.
• While frying the chile mixture, blend all the roasted vegetables and roasted spices with enough water to puree. Add this mixture to the frying chile paste, let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until it is reduced. Add reserved chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Dilute masa harina in 1 cup water and add to mixture. Let it cook 10 minutes, check for salt. Add the cooked chicken, peeled and sliced chayote and green beans and cook until heated through. Add hoja santa or cilantro.
• For the rajas de chile: Make a small slit in each of the chiles, fry them in hot oil, until all sides are blistered. Remove from oil. Let them cool down and remove the skin, discard it along with seed and stems, tear in pieces, and place the strips in a serving bowl, quarter the pearl onions, and add to the chiles along with lime juice, oregano, and salt.
• Serve with white rice and hot tortillas along with the rajas de chile.