Chicken Mole with Dirty Rice

Chicken Mole is a crazy Mexican taste sensation that is so unique.  It is like the first time you taste Curry and you say, were have you been all my life...were is t he washroom.  With Mole it blows your mind that you can eat chocolate with Chicken and call it Mexican.  It is super dark chocolate so it is rich and roasty not sweet.  Add some heat to it and it is an unbelievable flavour combination that in so unique.  I want to cook this for someone who has never had it and watch the look on their face when they taste it.  I will post that too.

This is a recipe in this months FOOD & DRINK from the LCBO, a must have, it is loaded with great recipes, and it is free.  Many of the recipes I'm trying form it are adaptations as I am always missing something.  This one is no exception, but it turned out incredible. So this is my version.


MOLE SAUCE
2 dried Ancho Chilies (I substituted good chill powder with some Chipotle peppers)
3 tbsp slivered Almonds ( roasted till light brown)
1 medium tomatoe, cored and chopped ( I used 6 Cherry tomatoes)
Oil
1 Small Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 tblsp of Cumin and oregano (dried)
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsn Raisins
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup good equality 90% dark chocolate (don't substitute this for anything but dark)
salt and Pepper


THE SEARED CHICKEN
2 breasts for the chicks and 6 thighs for the guys.
oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 of chill powder, salt and pepper


DIRECTIONS


if you have the chillies fry in oil then add boiling water and soak for 30 minutes.
if you don't don't worry, I substituted later.


in dry skillet fry tomatoes till skin turn brown, careful not to burn
they should start smelling amazing, then remove
in same after tomatoes removed  cook onions till soft
add garlic, cumin and oregano cook till fragrant, 30 seconds.
return tomatoes and add stock raisins, and orange zest.  Bring it all to a boil and scrape up the bits from the bottom. 


Add the chocolate pieces and stir as it melts, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes till tomato is softened.


put in the blender with ground roasted almonds, and blend till fairly smooth,
This is were you would seed the chillies if you had them and add to blender.
what I did as I didn't have Ancho Chillies, I added 1.5 tblsn of chilli powder and 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder, you could add chipotle peppers or something really smoky to make taste amazing.  I also added a pinch of smoked pepper just in case it wasn't smoky enough




put in sauce pan and set aside till chicken is done


Lay the chicken out and cover with the oregano, chill, salt and pepper,
add oil to pan, get nice and hot and fry till they look amazing,
should only have to flip once.




when done, re heat the sauce and place it up.


I will add the recipe for the dirty rice in a bit.


amazing recipe, I will try it again with Ancho Chillies and tweak the recipe if I make any other changes.

MUSHROOM RISOTTO

This is a killer risotto, and almost foolproof.

the only way you can screw this up is it you didn't have a dog.

you'll need

2 cups arborio rice

7 cups of vegetable stock I used cubes of bouillon)

1/2 cup of dry white wine

a big mit full of dried mushrooms (sliced)

2 cloves of garlic

1 small onion diced or equivalent diced shallotts

olive oil

S+P

Method

pan fry the mushrooms in olive oil,

they should get crispy, try not to burn

once done remove from heat.

Heat the stock

in pan saute the onions in the olive oil (3 tablespoons) and add garlic diced

what the heck, throw in a big dollop of butter

(the kind you get from cows)

after they are soft, but not brown add the 2 cups of Rice

and at the same time add 1/2 tsp of both S+P

stir constantly on Med High for 2 minutes, don't let the rice go brown

pour in 1/2 cup of white wine and simmer that off for a bit.

throw in the fried mushrooms

then ladle in 1 cup of the broth at a time and let it render down before adding another cup.

keep stirring it and keep an eye on it so it doesn't get either too dry or too soggy.

you wan tto keep this process up until the rice is al dente (tender but still firm)

when you have acheived this take it off the stove.

Risotto isn't supposed to be soggy.

throw in a big dollop of butter stir and serve.

the chicken is just pan fried in some olive oil and butter with diced garlice

then I poured some balsamic vinegar over top whilst it is cooking.

once chicken is done remove it

then add some more balsamic to the pan with some diced garlic

and simmer it down till it becomes thick

add a dollop or two fo butter and whisk together, remove from heat and pour over chicken and risotto, or just eat it with a spoon.  Be careful if you do the latter with a white t-shirt, especially if it is your favorite white t shirt, the one that you got at American Eagle Outfitters on sale and they don't sell any other ones like it because the ones from old navy show your nerples.

Grilled Five Spice Chicken on a Foo Yung with Gravy

I have always loved Egg Foo Young in my Chinese take away, the bean sprout omelete with toasted almonds and gravy hmmm good.  So In our Peep Off I decided too try something in that direction.

Foo Ingredients:

Mushrooms

Bean Sprouts

1 Onion roughly chopped

2 Green Onions chopped

soy sauce

Oyster sauce

5 eggs

2 cloves of garlic

water chestnutts (small can) chopped

Salt and Pepper

mix eggs together and set aside

mixed other ingredients together.

Heat up some Olive oil

drop 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable mix into the pan

fry up for a couple of minutes just to wilt the bean sprouts a bit

then ladle in some of the egg mixture over top of the veggie mix

when ready, flip it over and fry the other side.

 

Gravy:

1 can chicken brother

soy sauce (1 tablespoon)

dry sherry (1 tablespoon)

a couple of drops sesame oil

pepper to taste

thicken it with a few teaspoons of flour in some water

bring to a boil and thicken

Chicken:

marinate a couple of chicken breasts in some garlic

1/4 cup of sherry

sesame seads

some sesame oil

s+p

when you take them out of the marinade after about 1/2-1hour

dust with some good quality 5 spice powder

and grill it over charcoal

when it is ready, slice it up

Garnish

roast some almonds and crush them up

Plate it up.

place a foo in the bottom of a plate,

pour a moat of Gravy,

add the chicken

and garnish with toasted almonds

Chicken + Mushrooms + Okra + Vermicelli + Sesame Asian Concoction