Tequila Marinated Chicken with Mexican Mole

After Valentines Day we had a Mexican Fiesta, of sorts.  We had Tequila Marinated Chicken with Mexican Mole.  He used Emeril Lagasse's recipe and it was wonderful. My husband had made the Mole paste, about 6 mos. ago. For those of you that have never made Mexican Mole before, first you make the mole paste, which makes enough for several meals, and can then be frozen for up to one year  This recipe makes almost a quart of Mole paste.  To make the sauce, you take one cup of the mole paste and add even more ingredients. To the paste add  about 3 cups of chicken stock,  more Mexican chocolate, and canned tomato puree. . Then the sauce mixture has to simmer for about two more hours.  Making mole is definitely a labor intensive process, but well worth it.  My husband made this in a 2 day process  He didn't have an "army of Mexican grandmas" helping him, but I was the sous chef.( I borrowed that phrase from Brandon of Kitchen Konfidence Slow Cooker Mole.)   We also made   Mexican Rice, which I got from a former co-worker, who used her Mexican Grandma's , Abuela's recipe. The Mexican Rice recipe will be posted later.

My husband was so excited to make this recipe, as any foodie would be.  He  even went to the Super Mercado, to buy the chilies, Mexican chocolate, and Mexican oregano, and he doesn't speak any Spanish, but managed to find everything that he needed. So follow the link to Emeril's recipe for Tequila Marinated Chicken with Mexican Mole Sauce   This is the two day process to make the Mexican Mole. If you want to try and make the complete recipe in one day, go ahead, but I recommend that you are young, and have a good back and feet!

The First Day:

Before you even start you have to have your  mise en place set for the first day. First, fresh tomatoes, onion , and garlic are roasted and charred.  Then, ancho and guajillo chilies are toasted in a medium skillet Then, they're placed in  hot water to soften.  You can use the same skillet to toast sesame seeds and chile seeds. Move seeds to a large bowl, then toast peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves, oregano, and thyme in skillet. Add  to sesame seeds in large bowl.

Then add cooled garlic, charred tomatoes,and  onion in large pan, if you use an immersion blender, or you can put them in the food processor, along with the seeds and spices, drained chilies,  raisins, and roasted nuts, 1 c of chicken stock, low sodium, and puree until smooth. Refrigerate until Day Two. If you make the mole, it is a good way to clean out your pantry:).  This is where we stopped the first day. Now go have a Margarita, put your feet up, and relax.. 

 Day Two

Heat large pot with vegetable oil, and carefully add the pureed mixture. You will bring this mixture to a boil. Lower heat an let mixture simmer, and then you will add some of the Mexican chocolate  Cover and cook for about 1 hour, until mole paste is thick.  Now, you should have almost 1 quart of paste. Take out 1 c of paste, and you can refrigerate the balance for 6 mos or freeze for up to 1 yr. Now we have Mole Paste!

To make the sauce, you heat the oil in a large saucepan, adding canned  tomato puree mole paste and reserved chicken stock. then you add the rest of the chocolate, and cook until the sauce is nice consistency.

Keep sauce warm, if you're making the Tequila Chicken or any other chicken.,( see Emeril's recipe recipe)  We grilled the chicken,

Congratulations, you now have enough mole paste to last almost a year, depending on how often you eat it!

 Even when you make the sauce, you get almost 4-5 cups.  Enjoy!  Well, I'm going to have another Margarita now!