Kate Connally wrote:
> A few weeks ago I made Mancha Manteles
> (Tablecloth Stainer) - a Mexican stew with a mole-
> like sauce. This was my first time. A friend
> sent me a recipe for it. She had just tried it
> and liked it and thought I would too. I got curious
> and googled it and found a bunch more recipes. Hers
> looked like a simplified, Americanized version. Some
> of the others were a lot more complex. I ended up
> basing mine on one of the recipes I got off the web.
> However I made a few changes.
>
> You can make it with various ingredients, pork, pork
> and chicken, or turkey. I used pork and for the
> veggies/fruit I used plantain, sweet potato, and apple.
> Some of the other recipes used pineapple, zucchini, or
> other fruits or veggies.
>
> It took 2 days to make it. ;-) (Well, not 2 whole
> days, but I spread out the various tasks over the
> course of 2 days, rather than work at it continuously
> for most of one day and kill myself.) It turned out pretty
> good although a tad hotter than I prefer, but not killer hot.
> I couldn't find the chiles they called for so I used about
> 5 chiles mulatos and 5 chiles pasillas. I ate it over
> rice although that's not the way it's usually served, but
> I wanted to stretch it.
>
> MANCHA MANTELES
>
> For sauce:
> 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes (I used 2 cans diced tomatoes)
> 1 1/2 medium white onions, peeled and quartered
> 1 medium sweet potato (I used 2 Jersey sweets)
> 5 dried ancho chiles* (couldn't find - used pasillas)
> 3 dried guajillo chiles* (couldn't find)
> 3 dried mulato chiles*
> 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
> 1/2 cup sesame seeds
> 1/3 cup whole almonds (I used peanuts as I already had them)
> 1/4 stick cinnamon (I used gr. cinnamon)
> 3 whole cloves (I used gr. cloves)
> 2 whole black peppercorns (I used freshly ground pepper)
> 6 cups chicken stock or chicken broth (I just used the
> broth from cooking the pork)
> 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
> 1/2 cup raisins
> 2 green plantains, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces (I used semi-ripe)
> 1 teaspoon kosher salt
> ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
>
> For poached chicken: (I didn't use chicken)
> 6 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
> 3 medium carrots, chopped into 1/2" pieces
> 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
> 2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2" slices
> 1 (3 1/2-pound) roasting chicken, cut into 8 pieces (discard wings and
> cut breast into 4 pieces)
>
> To serve:
> 3 slices pineapple (1/4 regular pineapple or 1 small pineapple)
> (didn't use)
> 1 1/2 apples (such as Gala), cubed (I used 2 Honey Crisp)
> 1 teaspoon kosher salt
> 2 teaspoon sugar
> 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 medium oranges) (didn't use -
> added a little cider vinegar - a couple of T. - instead)
> 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (less than ½ medium orange)
> (didn't use)
> 1/2 cup prunes, pitted and chopped (added extra raisins instead)
>
> *Ancho, guajillo, and mulato seco chiles are available at most
> supermarkets (NOT IN PITTSBURGH!) or online at kalustyans.com
>
> (To start I roasted some country-style ribs (pork shoulder)
> in the oven to brown them - about 1 hour. Then I put them
> in the slow-cooker and cooked them on high for about 1 hour
> until the meat was falling apart. I removed the meat, removed
> the bones and tore the meat up into chunks and reseverve to
> add to the stew later.)
>
> Prepare mancha manteles: Preheat oven to 350F. On parchment-lined
> sheet pan, place tomatoes, onions, and sweet potato and put in oven.
> Roast tomatoes until blistered, about 25 minutes, then remove from oven.
>
> (Didn't do this. I just baked the sweets and when cool I peeled
> and cubed them. Used the canned tomatoes.)
>
> Roast onions until beginning to caramelize, about 35 minutes, then
> remove. Cook potato until knife easily slides in, about 45-55 minutes,
> then remove. In 10" dry skillet over moderately low heat, toast ancho,
> guajillo, and mulato chiles, turning once, until slightly darker and
> beginning to puff, about 2-3 minutes.
>
> (I toasted them in the oven instead.)
>
> Remove from heat and let cool. Once chiles are cool enough to handle,
> halve lengthwise, then remove and discard seeds, stems, and ribs.
> Transfer chiles to medium bowl, cover completely with water, and let
> stand 20 minutes. In small, dry skillet over moderate heat, toast
> unpeeled garlic, turning once, until starting to turn golden brown,
> about 10 minutes total. When cool enough to handle, remove skins and
> set aside. In small, dry skillet over moderate heat, toast sesame
> seeds, stirring to prevent burning, until starting to turn golden brown,
> about 5-6 minutes. Set aside.
>
> (I toasted the garlic and sesame seeds in the oven also.)
>
> In small, dry skillet over moderate heat, toast almonds, cinnamon,
> cloves, and peppercorns until light brown, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
>
> (I didn't toast the spices just added ground spices to stew.)
>
> Drain chiles well and place in blender. Add 2 cups chicken stock and
> purée until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Strain and set aside.
>
> (I didn't drain the chiles, just put the whole thing in
> the blender and pureed. Didn't use chicken stock.)
>
> In 10" skillet over moderate heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil until hot but
> not smoking. Add raisins and cook until puffed up, about 2 minutes.
> With slotted spoon remove raisins, place in small bowl, and set aside.
> Do not clean skillet. In same skillet, using oil leftover from cooking
> raisins, cook plantains, turning once, until golden brown, about 6
> minutes total. Place in bowl and set aside. When tomatoes are cool
> enough to handle, remove skins, then quarter and remove seeds. Coarsely
> chop and place in blender. Add onions, toasted garlic, and 2 cups
> chicken stock, then purée until smooth. Strain and set aside.
> Rinse blender, then purée toasted sesame seeds and 1½ cups chicken stock
> until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Strain and set aside.
>
> (I just put the canned tomatoes with the onions and garlic and
> and sesame seeds and pureed. I didn't add any stock.)
>
> Rinse blender,
>
> (Why? It's all going to get mixed together in the end. Sheesh.)
>
> then purée raisins, half of plantains, almonds, cinnamon, cloves, salt,
> and pepper until very smooth. Strain and set aside.
>
> (I pureed the half of the raisins, half the plantains, and the
> peanuts in some of the broth from cooking the pork.
>
> In 6-quart, heavy pan over moderate heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add
> chile purée and cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add
> tomato purée, sesame purée, and raisin purée, then cook 30 minutes,
> stirring constantly. Keep over low heat, adding remaining ½ cup stock
> if mixture gets too thick.
>
> (I just mixed everything to date in the slow cooker with the
> meat broth and put it on high and let it simmer until it had
> cooked down to the right thickness.)
>
> To poach chicken: In heavy, 6-quart heavy pot, place chicken stock,
> carrots, onions, and celery and bring to a simmer. Add chicken and
> cook, uncovered, at bare simmer, until cooked through, about 14-18
> minutes. Remove chicken from pot, place in bowl, and let cool. Discard
> cooking broth.
>
> (I didn't do this as I used pork.)
>
> To serve: Add chicken, sweet potato, remaining plantains, apple,
> pineapple, salt, sugar, orange juice and zest, and prunes to mancha
> manteles pot and simmer 10 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings. (Epicurious,
> September 2006, Jimmy Shaw Loteria at the Los Angeles Farmers’ Market)
>
> (After the sauce was made I added the reserved pork chunks,
> the cubed sweets, the plantains, and the apple chunks and cooked
> for about 1/2 hour in the slow-cooker on high.)
>
> Kate

Egad! That's very ambitious. The one I made in the distant
past pales by comparison, I'm sure.

--
Jean B.