Mole Poblano by Scarlett Lindeman

Preparation

Mole poblano is a rich, flavorful sauce with over twenty ingredients, making it one of the most complex moles to make. It’s a labor of love that requires frying each ingredient separately and then cooking the mole paste for over an hour to concentrate its flavor. You’ll need a high-powered blender here—or a stone molcajete, if you feel like tapping into tradition and grinding everything by hand. Making your own mole is time consuming, but this recipe will give you extra paste for future meals.

*This recipe originally ran in Mexico on HexClad.mx.

Make Mole Paste. In a HexClad 3QT/3L Hybrid Saucepan, bring 1 quart/1 liter of water to boil over high heat. Remove from heat and add chiles, prunes, and raisins, stirring to make sure everything is submerged. Cover saucepan and let sit for 30 minutes, stirring once. Strain solids through a fine mesh sieve set over a large bowl. Reserve chile mixture and soaking liquid. Wipe out saucepan.
In a HexClad 10"/25 cm Hybrid Fry Pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the lard over medium heat. Add almonds, peanuts, and pecans, and cook, stirring occasionally, until nuts are golden brown and toasted, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer nuts to a medium bowl.
Add sesame seeds to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Scape into bowl with the nuts.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the lard in the pan over medium heat. Fry tortilla and bread, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl with the nuts.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the lard in the pan over medium heat. Add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and allspice berries and cook, stirring, until fragrant and sizzling, about 1 minute. Transfer to a spice grinder or molcajete and grind spices into a fine powder.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the lard in the pan over medium heat. Add the plantain, onion, tomato, and garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 10 minutes.
Working in batches, puree hydrated chile mixture, toasted nut mixture, plantain mixture, ground spices, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon of salt, adding reserved chile soaking liquid as needed, until you have a thick, smooth paste like a pancake batter. Transfer to a large bowl. You may have to do this in 2 to 3 batches so as to not overwhelm the blender.
In a HexClad 8QT stockpot, melt remaining 2 tablespoons of lard over medium-low heat. Add chile paste, stock, and chocolate, then cover and cook on low, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, or until mole paste darkens. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until paste separates from sides of pot and leeches oil, about 30 minutes more. It should resemble cookie dough. Let cool, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. You’ll have about 6 cups/940 grams. Wipe out stockpot.
Make Chicken. Fill HexClad 8QT/7.5 L Hybrid Stock Pot halfway with salted water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot, and simmer until chicken is tender and meat starts to pull back from the bone, about 35 minutes. Remove pot from heat and keep chicken warm in poaching liquid.
In HexClad 3QT/3L Hybrid Saucepan, add 2 cups/473 milliliters of chicken poaching liquid and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 3 cups/700 grams of mole paste and whisk until smooth and shiny. Season with more salt, if needed.
To serve, remove poached chicken from broth, letting any excess liquid drip back into pot, and place 1 to 2 pieces of chicken on each plate. Generously spoon mole over chicken. Sprinkle more toasted sesame seeds over top and serve right away with steamed rice, if desired.