Blustery fall days inspire afternoons of cooking slow-cooked meals. Of late, I am immersed in Latin recipes, especially as we approach Dia de los Muertos. I end up thinking about my abuelita when I'm in the kitchen, remembering the wonderful moments we shared at a kitchen counter while I watched her create culinary magic.
Salvadoran recipes are few and far between, so I end up branching out to meals from Mexico and South America.
One of my favorite Mexican dishes is mole, a wonderfully rich cacophony of flavors in an elegant, simple sauce. It's such a treat to make mole with the grinding of fresh spices and nuts, the roasting of red peppers, the chocolate.(There are other non-chocolate types of moles, which are all delicious, but I love poblano mole...the only kind with chocolate.)
Some mole recipes require several hours to make the sauce. I adore those recipes. But I'm equally impressed with recipes that can be made quickly while still preserving the goodness of a true mole.
I've been testing out a new cookbook from William-Sonoma, "The Weeknight Cook," which is targeted at parents who want to make healthy family dinners without being a slave to the kitchen. It had a recipe for a poblano-inspired Turkey Mole, which I made last weekend. I knew things were off to a good start when Seven saw the photo of the meal and asked if we could have it for dinner.
The recipe is simple and doesn't require any grinding of spices or roasting of peppers. In fact, there are no peppers in the recipe. This made me sad -- I will be adding them next time!
You start off by sauteing onions with sliced almonds and spices (cumin, oregano, etc. I used Mexican Oregano for extra kick). I didn't have sliced almonds so I just chopped them in my mini Cuisinart. It worked out fine but I lost the smoothness of a traditional mole. Also, the recipe calls for two tablespoons of bittersweet chocolate. I used four tablespoons because if it's going to be a chocolate mole, it needs to have a nice amount of chocolate! (Note: Telling your kids they are having chocolate in their dinner is a sure-fire way to entice them to eat this meal!)
Here's the the best part: After making the sauce (all of 20 minutes, you dump a few turkey breasts (bone in) into a pot and pour the mole over it, turn on the stove, and let it simmer for about 90 minutes. It makes your house smell amazing.
The turkey breast was delicious, tender and so flavorful. I served the turkey mole over rice, with fresh corn tortillas in case anyone wanted to make a taco, a side of fresh guacamole and chips. Truth be told, I had a few too many boquitas (bite-sized treats)-- it is tough to resist fresh guac:
We had enough turkey breast left over (about 1 1/2 cups) that I used it in a chili the next day...was so delicious!
I was pleased with the way the Turkey Mole dish turned out and like any recipe, you amend it to suit your taste preferences.
Now I just have to wait for the perfect weekend to moxie up and make my abuelita's tamales.
