As far as I know, mole (yes, there are many) is a complicated and
sublime sauce.
I have just encountered a recipe for chili that calls for powdered
mole.
Is there such a thing?
How do you powder a complex sauce?

Could this person mean something else, such as powdered chiles of some
sorrt?

"chipotle" wrote in message
oups.com...
As far as I know, mole (yes, there are many) is a complicated and
sublime sauce.
I have just encountered a recipe for chili that calls for powdered
mole.
Is there such a thing?
How do you powder a complex sauce?

Could this person mean something else, such as powdered chiles of some
sorrt?

"How do you powder a complex sauce"?

Google came up with 1.3 million pages to sift through! Wow. However, first
take out the Complexity through the marvels of modern chemistry Chip. It
is not difficult if you follow the trades and the advances in sciences.
Lots of folks have self professed snobbery about cooking but Blind taste
tests show otherwise in many case in establishing a norm.

A "Chile or Chili Powder of sorts" yes. It is the dried form of the
ingredients and you just add your preference of liquids. If you know there
are many style of Moles, you can imagine there as many powders as there are
jars of Mole paste ranging from good to bad. Google for them. Just as RR's
30 minute meals irks the Gourmets, this thought of "prepared" really hacks
the " authenticos". But lets face it " home replacement meals", take out
dinners and frozen dinners are growing in the rest of the world just as they
are here in the US. There are more changes fast coming down the pike.

While I do like to know and want to "preserve the old ways", personally I am
not of the opinion that mole preparation for daily life has to be difficult
nor involve 12 distant family members and their offspring in a crusade
search for the holy grail of ingredients for a week before a weekend long
cooking marathon competition. It just has to address your tastes.
Restaurants cut corners all the time so do home cooks. I will, in order,
grab a fresh broth/stock, if available then a canned broth, then a paste
like "better then Bullion, then the grab for the cubes if all else is not
available, your broth can be fresh, canned, or cubed.

My favorite Mole is Verde made from toasted pumpkin seed with Poblano chiles
and slow cooked smothering a brined and spatchcocked chicken. I can get
the Pumpkin seed in the Bulk food isle, the dried chiles and other
ingredients such as Mex Chocolate in the International isle, the fresh
chiles, garlic, onion, cilantro, tomatillos, etc from the produce section
or my garden depending on the time of season and any eccentric ingredients
such as sesame paste for the Organic foods isle. I just do not have
culantro nor ezopte up here. So understand alot of what you read in
authentic recipe is the way it was back in the day. Well we have mixers,
food processors, microwaves, self programmable ovens that convect, grill
broil, bake and dry, slow cookers, toaster ovens, etc. Hell I grill indoors
as well as smoke and BBQ outdoors. Use what you have and if it passes the
taste test? , you done good; passing the Snob Test?, priceless!

"chipotle" wrote in message
oups.com...
As far as I know, mole (yes, there are many) is a complicated and
sublime sauce.
I have just encountered a recipe for chili that calls for powdered
mole.
Is there such a thing?
How do you powder a complex sauce?

Could this person mean something else, such as powdered chiles of some
sorrt?

Good to see you here again! Mole en polvo is sold in 10 kilo bags to
restaurants all over the US and Mexico. You don't see it too often in
supermarkets because of the popularity of Dona Maria's bottled mole.

Wayne

thanks for the answer. I actually wondered if it was just powdered
chiles.

Yes, the world has changed and we no longer have time to grind all of
that by hand. Not sure it was ever much fun!

I agree with what you say that the key is to suit your taste. But I
read those labels as well. They reveal what you decidedly do NOT want
to eat, and they reveal the products that are great short-cut
products.

There is a vast difference between short-cut and sloppy cooking I
think. But the bottom line is that it's all what we get used to. I
was raised on Wonder bread. When I first started eating grainy,
'health' bread, I thought it too dense. Today I wonder how I ever ate
that paper called Wonder Bread. LOL. All in our habits, so we should
try for good ones!

Thank you, Wayne.

Mole can be bought ready-made from local markets or supermarkets. It comes
as a kind of paste or powder that can vary in color from deep black to green
or even yellow depending on the ingredients used. In modern supermarkets and
corner shops mass-produced mole is sold either canned, in glass jars, or in
cubes that can be dissolved in water or, more appropriately, broth.

"chefrwmiller" wrote in message
et...
Mole can be bought ready-made from local markets or supermarkets. It comes
as a kind of paste or powder that can vary in color from deep black to
green
or even yellow depending on the ingredients used. In modern supermarkets
and
corner shops mass-produced mole is sold either canned, in glass jars, or
in
cubes that can be dissolved in water or, more appropriately, broth.

We use Dona Maria, bought in jars, in the US and in Mexico when we are
there. It's as good as the best Oaxaca mole I've ever had.

"Doug McDonald" wrote in message
...
Wayne Lundberg wrote:

We use Dona Maria, bought in jars, in the US and in Mexico when we are
there. It's as good as the best Oaxaca mole I've ever had.

Its not as good as what we had in Chiapas, nor their Pippian (with the
squash seeds.) But it's what I use on chicken. However,
I admit a strange habit: I get Rogelo Bueno or La Preferida brand
brown (i.e. chocolate) mole and eat it raw, out of the jar. Dona
Maria is not good for that purpose.

Doug McDonald


Dona Maria is a bit greasy for that kind of eating, for sure!

Wayne Lundberg wrote:

We use Dona Maria, bought in jars, in the US and in Mexico when we are
there. It's as good as the best Oaxaca mole I've ever had.

Its not as good as what we had in Chiapas, nor their Pippian (with the
squash seeds.) But it's what I use on chicken. However,
I admit a strange habit: I get Rogelo Bueno or La Preferida brand
brown (i.e. chocolate) mole and eat it raw, out of the jar. Dona
Maria is not good for that purpose.

Doug McDonald

On Mar 19, 3:07 pm, "chipotle" wrote:
As far as I know, mole (yes, there are many) is a complicated and
sublime sauce.
I have just encountered a recipe for chili that calls for powdered
mole.
Is there such a thing?
How do you powder a complex sauce?

Could this person mean something else, such as powdered chiles of some
sorrt?

I don´t find mole as a complicated Mexican sauce, i prefer to look at
it as a fun sauce. There are 66 ingredients in traditional poblano
mole, this dish has many different versions. At my home, grandma was
from the north, she didn´t like it to be sweet or hot, so her mole was
more similar to a peanut sauce. I personally like mole very sweet and
hot. I have made mole while visiting relatives in the US, they are not
used to spicy food so I only used ancho chillies. It´s not that
complicated it, give it a try. *Don´t care too much about quantities.
This is a simpler version but it is still very good and much better
than the comercial stuff.
In a big pan place a whole chicken or chicken pieces to boil
withanough water and salt. In another small pan boil ancho chiles for
3 min and let them soak in the hot water. In a big skillet fry with
little corn oil
1 or 2 corn tortillas, just until they get soft, remove and fry some
sesame seeds, remove when they get golden, then fry some silvered
almonds, until golden, again remove and reserve. Fry some raisins, for
30 sec, very fast and remove. Fry some mince onion and garlic until
translucent and remove. Then start to blend all these ingredients ,
little by little, using a good blender and some water used to boil the
chicken. Open the ancho chillies and remove seeds and stems, you can
use running water. Add the chillies to the blender, you will add to
the blender cumin, cinammon, Maria Mexican cookies or animal crackers
or graham crackers, a piece of baguette bread or Mexican bolillo. Pour
sauce in big pan with chicken meat, you can place the whole pieces or
you can shredd the meat. Add a spoonful of peanut butter and a big
round of Mexican chocolate or....Hershey´s syrup. If using the syrup
use more baguette bread and less sweet crackers. Simmer and adjust
salt and pepper, you can add sugar if you like it sweet, and othe kind
of chillies (guajillo, chipotle, mulato..) if you like it hot. Serve
with white rice and hot corn tortillas and sprinkle more sesame seeds
over it.