Pollo Mole Verde Recipes

POZOLE VERDE CON POLLO (GREEN CHICKEN-AND-HOMINY STEW)

Steps:

• Heat the bacon fat in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the poblanos, jalapenos, scallion whites, pepitas, garlic, salt, cumin, coriander and allspice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatillos and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Working in batches, transfer some of the vegetable mixture to a blender, add some of the chicken broth and puree. Transfer the pureed mixture to a large bowl and continue until all the vegetables and broth have been blended. Return the mixture to the pot and add the hominy. Place over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the flavors come together, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the cilantro, scallion greens and 2 cups of water in the blender (you don't
• need to rinse it out!) and puree until completely smooth.
• Add the chicken and the cilantro puree to the stew, remove it from the heat and stir to combine. Let sit until the chicken is heated through. Serve the pozole with sliced onion, sliced radish, sliced avocado, crushed chicharrones, oregano and lime wedges.

POLLO MOLE VERDE

Steps:

• Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat; add pumpkinseeds. Cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently. Remove from heat; cool completely.
• Place pumpkinseeds, salt, cumin, cinnamon, and black pepper in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground.
• Place spice mixture in a small bowl; stir in 1/2 cup broth. Set aside.
• Heat skillet over medium-high heat; add tomatillos, chile, garlic, and onion. Cook 5 minutes or until browned, turning frequently.
• Remove from heat; cool. Quarter tomatillos. Trim root from onion half; discard root.
• Place tomatillos, chile, garlic, and onion in a blender or food processor; process until coarsely chopped.
• Add 1/4 cup broth, cilantro, and lettuce; process until smooth.
• Prepare grill. Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in skillet over medium heat. Add pureed tomatillo mixture; reduce heat to low, and cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in spice mixture and 1/4 cup broth; simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1/4 cup broth, stirring with a whisk. Remove from heat; keep warm.
• Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until done. Top chicken with mole. Serve with rice.

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.

ENCHILADAS VERDES DE POLLO

Steps:

• Arrange racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
• Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet and brush with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Roast on the lower rack until the skin is lightly golden and the chicken is cooked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Let sit until cool enough to handle.
• While the chicken is roasting, spread the tomatillos, garlic, jalapenos and onion on a second rimmed baking sheet. Roast on the top rack, tossing once or twice, until the tomatillos are tender and the jalapenos are browned and very tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool.
• Once the chicken is cool, discard the skin and bones and shred the meat into 1/2-inch pieces. Put into a large bowl and set aside.
• Meanwhile, char the poblanos. Turn your gas burner to high. Place 2 to 3 poblanos directly on the grate and roast, turning with tongs every 3 to 4 minutes, until the entire pepper is blackened and very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl and repeat with the remaining poblanos. (Alternatively, if you have an electric stove, arrange the poblanos on a rimmed baking sheet and broil on high as close to the heat source as possible, turning occasionally, until the peppers are charred on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl.)
• Wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the poblanos steam for 15 minutes to loosen their skin. When they are cool enough to handle, peel all the blackened skin from the peppers; it's ok if there are flecks of black on the flesh or if some of the green skin is difficult to peel off. Split the sides open to remove the seeds, rinsing under cold running water if needed. Transfer the cleaned peppers to a blender.
• Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and add to the blender along with the tomatillos, jalapeno, onion and any accumulated juices. Add the coriander, cumin, oregano and a 1 ½ teaspoons of salt and puree on medium-low speed until smooth. Add the cilantro and puree on low speed until the cilantro is chopped but you can still see pieces of it in the sauce. Transfer the sauce to a large bowl and generously season with salt. You should have about 5 cups.
• Toss the reserved chicken with 3/4 cup of the salsa verde in a large bowl and generously season with salt.
• Heat the remaining 1 cup oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until it bubbles immediately when you touch the edge of a tortilla to the surface. Working with one at a time, fry the tortillas, turning once, until just starting to brown, about 10 seconds per side; the tortillas should still be pliable. Transfer the tortillas to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
• Dip both sides of each tortilla in salsa verde to coat, and then transfer to a large plate. Spread 1 cup of the salsa verde evenly over the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Working with one tortilla at a time, spoon about 1/4 cup of the chicken filling across the center of a tortilla. Then fold one side of the tortilla over the filling and roll up the enchilada. Place them seam-side down in the prepared baking dish as you go (they should be nestled right up against each other). Top with any remaining salsa verde.
• Wrap the dish tightly with foil and bake on the upper rack until the sauce is bubbling and the tortillas are beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the creme fraiche and milk in a small bowl. Season with salt.
• Top the enchiladas with the queso fresco, crema, cilantro leaves and onion slices. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.