Cranberry Mole

 From what I've seen and heard, mole gets a bad rap for being a very complicated dish to make. The truth is that the first time you make it, it can be a bit tricky. But here's the real trick to mole--you cook a bunch of ingredients separately, add them together, puree them, let it simmer, and voila--you have mole!

Mind you, this is obviously not the same method used in Old Oaxaca to make traditional mole. The ingredients are cooked over an open flame and then ground together in a molcajete, which is a large mortar and pestle made from lava rock that is cured. Talk about elbow grease. Unfortunately, I do not own a molcajete, although I have heard that there is a massive taste difference between grinding the spices and nuts into one another and simply whipping them up. Even though pureeing them does grind the ingredients down, when they're worked in a molcajete the flavors mingle differently because they're literally mashed into each other. So if you have the money and the time, go for it and savor the flavor. If you're on a limited budget and/or don't have the time, puree away. 

My mother is currently recovering from surgery, and her taste buds are a bit weak at the moment so she can't handle a lot of spice.  I made this mole as follows, but I poured a few spoonfuls into a small saucepan and diluted it with some more chicken stock, wine, and pomegranate juice. While the pomegranate juice was a healthy way to dilute it, I had to be careful not to add too much because it has a very sharp flavor. However, I do recommend some version of this if you want to introduce children with delicate taste buds to mole (or if you're willing, reduce the number of peppers or just forgo them completely). If you want the alcohol out, make sure you boil it for a few minutes. Also, if the mole seems too thin, try to reduce it by boiling.

It's honestly not tough to make mole your own. There are many different recipes out there, but this is my special holiday version. However, if you want it less spicy, you can always amend the number of peppers. If you want it thicker, add less chicken stock. If you want it thinner, add more chicken stock, wine, or even cranberry juice. Once you have a trial run, you'll get the idea of the process and the next time will be easier. 

If you are interested in making this for Thanksgiving or any type of meal, you can always make it a day or two ahead and simply reheat it when you're ready to serve. It'll be fine in the refrigerator for about a week and the flavors will only get better as time goes on. 

Cranberry Mole

5 cups gluten free Chicken Stock

4 dried Pasilla Chiles

3 dried Gaujillo Chiles

2 dried Chipotle Chiles

Olive Oil

Margarine, for frying (optional)

1 4 in. piece Canela (Mexican Cinnamon)

2 heaping tbsp. raw skinless Peanuts

15 raw Almonds

2 heaping tbsp. Pecan pieces

4 Garlic cloves

1 small white Onion, roughly chopped

1 cup dried Cranberries

1 pinch ground Cloves

1/4 tsp. ground Nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground Cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground Cumin

1/4 tsp. ground Oregano

1/4 tsp. Anise Seeds

1/4 tsp. Coriander Seeds

1/2 cup Red Wine

2 oz. grated Dark Chocolate

1 1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste

1. Cut the undesired ends off of the onion and cut in half. Peel off the skin and place the halves in a bowl and place it in the freezer. Allow at least fifteen minutes before taking it out and chopping the onion. The colder the onion gets, the less vapors it gives out that will cause you to cry. 

2. Rinse the dried chiles under the tap, preferably with gloves. If you don't have gloves and want to scrape out the seeds, do so with a knife. If you want a very spicy mole, leave as many of the seeds in as you like. If you want it less spicy, scrape all of the seeds out, though keep in mind that the peppers alone will provide a fair amount of heat. I prefer to leave a few seeds from each pepper in, but this gives the mole definite bite.

3. In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of the chicken stock to a boil.

4. In a cast iron skillet, toast the chilies under medium high heat until they soften a bit and become aromatic. Then place them in the chicken stock so that they are submerged and reduce the temperature to medium. Cover the saucepan with a lid, but occasionally dunk the peppers into the chicken stock so that they are fully saturated. Just be careful each time you open the lid; the peppery steam that comes out is not pleasant to get in your eyes.

5.Then fry the following and add more olive oil and margarine (if you want buttery flavor, or you can do one or the other) to the cast iron skillet each time you cook a new ingredient. Once each item is cooked, add it to a medium-sized bowl so that they can all be combined.

a.Piece of Canela for a few minutes, then add to dried peppers in the chicken stock to soften

b. The peanuts and almonds

c. The pecans until lightly toasted

d. The garlic until lightly browned

e. The onion--once it's gotten a bit of color, add dried cranberries, cloves, cumin, oregano, nutmeg, and cardamom

f. The anise and coriander seeds

6. Puree the ingredients thoroughly in a food processor. First, puree the dried chiles and piece of canela with the chicken stock from the large saucepan. Add about 1 tbsp. of olive oil to the same saucepan before pouring the pureed ingredients back inside. Second, puree one half of the bowl of mixed ingredients with a cup of chicken stock, then the second half with another cup of chicken stock. Make sure that all the ingredients are pureed thoroughly before pouring them all into the large saucepan.

7. Stir the puree together until it's fully combined, then cook over medium high heat before simmering for 15 minutes. Add the chocolate and wine and let simmer for 15 more minutes. Add salt to taste. Let simmer until small pools of oil form around the bubbles. 

 

8. If you are ready to serve it, spoon desired amounts on top of poultry and rice (optional). If you're not ready, this can simmer for as long as you like. If you want to make it a day ahead, package it when it's at a manageable temperature and refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!

The Best Guacamole

I have loved guacamole since the very beginning. When I was little I was afraid of spicy food, which was very difficult for me when I was traveling through India. I probably had more varieties of french fries than anyone should be allowed to eat in a country with that much good food. I used to think that pasta sauce was too spicy and ate it with either an ice cube or butter. The ice cube was to cool it down. I was weird.

So when my parents made guacamole they always had to make me a separate bowl without any peppers, and I'd always scrutinize the bowl and look up at them skeptically and ask, "Are you sure it's not spicy?"

The best thing about homemade guacamole is that it's only as spicy as you want it to be. My recipe below calls for one Serrano pepper (pictured above), which I like because it has flavor and some kick, but I scrape out most of the seeds.

If you want more heat, add a Jalapeño (above) or even hotter, add a Habanero (below).

If you want less heat, Pasilla (below) and Anaheim peppers have less heat, but they're bigger peppers. 

But for less heat I recommend adding a Fresno pepper (below) because they're small, so even if you scrape out the seeds, you won't be getting a lot of heat.

It may take some trial and error to find what works best for you, but I recommend to stick to a heat level you're used to. But the real secret to this recipe is the cumin. It's an added flavor kick that really makes the guacamole complete. I also think that no Mexican dish is complete without lime juice and cilantro, so try not to avoid those ingredients. Traditional guacamole has a white onion, but I prefer the crunch and color of red onion. Either way, the important thing to remember when making this is that most ingredients should be added to taste. If you're going to splurge on the price of avocados and want to enjoy truly great guacamole, make it perfect for you. Also, if you want to make a much smaller portion of guacamole, use less avocados. Depending on the size of the avocados, 3 or 4 would work for 5 people.

Guacamole
2 Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 Red Onion, finely chopped
5 Avocados
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin, or to taste
juice of 3 limes
couple handfuls of chopped Cilantro
Salt
Black Pepper
1 Serrano Pepper, finely chopped

Cut the edges of the red onion off and peel off the skin. Cut in half, put halves in a bowl, and place in the freezer. After at least ten minutes, you will be able to chop the onion without crying.

Chop the tomatoes, cilantro, Serrano pepper, limes, and onion in advance and keep to the side.

Slide a knife into each avocado until you hit the seed, then rotate the knife evenly around the avocado until it is cut in half. Pull out the see and scrap the inside of the avocado into a large bowl. Repeat with the following avocados. With a fork, mash the avocado until only small chunks are left, but not so that it's nearly pureed.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Add more lime juice, cumin, salt, and black pepper to taste until you are thoroughly satisfied.

Serve with tortilla chips or as a side to Carne Asada or any dish. Enjoy!

Serves 6

Cilantro

Cilantro is one of my favorite herbs to work with. My boyfriend Serrano is practically obsessed with it--he puts it on everything he possibly can. He even stockpiles it in salads.

One thing I didn't know before I started this blog is that cilantro is the same as coriander. I was going through recipes in Rosemary Brissenden's cookbook Southeast Asian Food and some of her recipes called for coriander root and coriander leaves, which we call cilantro. It turns out this little plant is more versatile than I thought. The roots are bruised and normally used in Southeast Asian soups and curries. The seeds from the fruit are dried and we use them as typical coriander. If you buy it ground, it's just the ground up seeds. And cilantro are the leaves of the plant, which give dishes a fresh flavor.

Cilantro is also a staple in Mexican dishes. It's typically used as a garnish, but it can also be added to many different dishes to liven up the flavors a bit.

About a month ago, I went with a friend to Habana, a delicious Cuban restaurant I love in Costa Mesa. We split an order of paella, and it was served with several cilantro leaves on top. It totally changed the dish. I absolutely love paella, but I find that the flavors can start to wane fairly quickly into eating it. But the cilantro made it taste much fresher and lighter, and it gave an unexpected twist I've never tasted in paella before. It showed me how much one little herb can transform a dish.

One tricky thing with cilantro is often how to prepare it to use in a recipe. First of all, you always need to rinse it. Then you can dry it out by spreading out the stems on a paper towel. Serrano taught me a trick that worked surprisingly well--he wraps the cilantro in paper towels and rings the paper towel like a dish rag. The first time he did it I didn't believe that it would work, but when he pulled the paper towels apart I saw that the leaves looked dry and fluffy. Recently I put a whole bunch of cilantro in between paper towels, rolled them up, and rang the paper towel. It was easy and effective.

I will admit I'm very particular about how I chop cilantro. If you don't mind the stems, you can hold a few stems of cilantro at a time, arranging them like a bouquet so that the bottom leaves are all even. Twist the leaves a bit and hold down the stems and chop until you've gotten all the leaves.

Personally, I can't stand eating stems. So I like to rip the leaves off and discard the stems before I chop all the leaves together. This does take a fair amount of time, but I find it relaxing and meditative. It's best if you can recruit someone to do it with you so that you have someone to talk to, but you can also do it and watch TV or just enjoy some quiet time. Then you can chop the cilantro according to your recipe.

If I'm making a dish that uses cilantro as a garnish, I roughly chop the leaves and place them in a little bowl so that everyone can sprinkle some on their food. Unless I'm serving Serrano. Then I have several little bowls because I know he'll need at least two to himself.