# Mole - Chicken



## giggler (Feb 21, 2012)

I think about a year ago someone.. Buckytom or Tattrat from New jersey said they know how to make this dish with Dona Maria bottled sauce..

the instructions on the bottle are vary vague..

I want to make this for the Daytona Race this weekend..

but need some Help!

Thanks All, Eric, Austin Tx.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm looking at a bottle of Rogelio Bueno (brand) Mole "Mexican Condiment." Package directions say add one part mole to three parts chicken broth (or water, IMO not advised). The bottle size is 8.25 oz. Put the mole and 24 oz. of chicken broth in a bit pot and bring to a boil. (Start out with the mole sauce and get it hot and keep stirring while you continue to add broth until you reach the recommended amount.) Then add perhaps a whole cut up chicken with skin removed and reduce the heat, cover and simmer for maybe 45 minutes to an hour, checking occasionally and stirring, add water if necessary to prevent sticking or over thickening.

After an hour you're done. You are done when the meat falls off the bones. Serve with (IMO suggested) flour tortillas, refried beans, Spanish rice, and taco garnishes (avocado, cilantro, lettuce, chopped onion, chopped tomato, salsa, etc.).

I wouldn't have this mole sauce in my larder if this wasn't what I do with it. YMMV

This is the basic drill with any commercial mole sauce. I think your Dona Maria comes in a cute glass container that you could recycle for serving beverages, perhaps tequila if shot glasses aren't big enough.


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## TATTRAT (Feb 21, 2012)

lol, I 'm not from Jersey, silly.


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## TATTRAT (Feb 21, 2012)

From what I know, you brown off your chicken, pull aside, drain all but like 2T of the renderings, add in the sauce, bring to a simmer, add in stock, bring to simmer, put chicken in, cover, simmer for 20 min.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 21, 2012)

Tat Rat has a good suggestion too. Brown your chicken in a bit of oil then follow my directions. I recommend no skin, or discard the skin after the initial step. I've found that this dish benefits from cooking for at least 60 minutes. Maybe more. I like it best when the sauce is thick and the chicken falls apart.

Some day I'd like to toss in an amount of bitter chocolate, just to see what more chocolate does for it. (Chocolate is part of mole traditional ingredients.) I might throw in some small hot chili peppers too, particularly at the beginning, to try a hotter mix.


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## TATTRAT (Feb 21, 2012)

More browning, more flavor, pretty simple.


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## giggler (Feb 23, 2012)

my plan is..

brown one whole chiken (cut up) in oil, then remove.

then saute one onion (cut up)
one bell pepper (cut up)

then place all back into pot with Dona Maria Sauce (very thick) and 1 QT. water and some chix boulion cubes (3)

simmer for 1 Hour.

Then serve over rice with sidecar of Guacamole?

Does that sound about Right ?

I need to feed about 8 people.

maybe 2 whole chix?..

Eric Austin Tx


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2012)

Your white meat will be tough and dry if you cook it that long.

Add it later.

And I'd use canned or packaged or homemade brith and not cubes.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 23, 2012)

My opinion:

1. Remove the chicken skin. It will come out IMO yucky. And one chicken for 8 people sounds a bit short. Two for 8 is ample and then some.

2. The onions and peppers don't sit right with my opinion of the dish.

3. A full quart of liquid might be too much, and you don't want soup. Bullion cubes should be reserved for emergencies only. Use chicken stock instead. Of course the pure mole sauce is thick. It thins out when you add the broth, obviously, and the juices from the chicken will thin it some more. Check the bottle directions. Mine (different brand) says dilute 1:3 mole:stock. If the sauce gets thicker then add water as necessary later in cooking.

My chicken mole comes out fall off the bone and really tender after 45-60 minutes cooking, which is a good thing IMO. Remember to simmer it on LOW and check/stir or the sauce at the bottom will thicken and burn to the bottom of the pan.

I think the dish goes well with warm flour tortillas. Guac is always good with anything.


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## Zhizara (Feb 23, 2012)

I bought Doña Maria Mole while shopping today.  I've never tried it.  Can anyone give me an idea of the flavor?

What else can it be used for?


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## DampCharcoal (Feb 23, 2012)

Zhizara said:


> I bought Doña Maria Mole while shopping today. I've never tried it. Can anyone give me an idea of the flavor?
> 
> What else can it be used for?


 
Exactly what I was thinking. I'm intrigued and will probably pick up a bottle tomorrow.

I walk by it every day (can't remember the brand) but I've long wondered how it's used and what it tastes like.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 23, 2012)

Zhizara said:


> I bought Doña Maria Mole while shopping today.  I've never tried it.  Can anyone give me an idea of the flavor?
> 
> What else can it be used for?





DampCharcoal said:


> Exactly what I was thinking. I'm intrigued and will probably pick up a bottle tomorrow.
> 
> I walk by it every day (can't remember the brand) but I've long wondered how it's used and what it tastes like.



Mole is a Mexican sauce with chili peppers and chocolate. I've made it from bottled concentrates such as mentioned previously in the topic. It's not what I would call spicy "hot" and the taste of chocolate is not strong either. It's kind of a mellow blend as made from the concentrates. Some people might describe it as "spicy not hot" and might not like it because of the spiciness. It is certainly not bland.

Wikipedia: Mole (sauce)

It can be served over meats, poultry and probably other dishes (maybe enchiladas). I like to make my mole sauce and cook the chicken in it at the same time as I described previously to get chicken mole.

I'd like to try making my own some day, probably from my Rick Bayless cookbook. Rick Bayless Mole Recipe You might get an idea what mole is like by reading his recipe.


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## DampCharcoal (Feb 23, 2012)

> "I'd like to try making my own some day, probably from my Rick Bayless cookbook. Rick Bayless Mole Recipe You might get an idea what mole is like by reading his recipe. "


 
Now THAT'S an interesting recipe. I think I'd better stick to the bottled stuff and decide whether I like it or not before I attempt that one! 

I like the list of ingredients tho, I have a feeling I'll enjoy it.


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## Kayelle (Feb 23, 2012)

Zhizara said:


> I bought Doña Maria Mole while shopping today.  I've never tried it.  Can anyone give me an idea of the flavor?
> 
> What else can it be used for?



Z, for what it's worth, I think Mole is something you either really like, or really hate.  You know, kinda the way people feel about licorice.

 It tastes nothing like licorice, but you get my point, and it's equally hard to describe the flavor.  It has an unpleasant bitter flavor and an unpleasant color also. In short, it's a good way to ruin some perfectly good chicken. 
All of the above is naturally my own opinion.

I enjoy all Mexican food except chicken Mole.  Actually there are few things I won't eat, but chicken Mole is one of them.


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## Zhizara (Feb 23, 2012)

From what I'm "hearing", it sounds like it might be good in chili? What do y'all think?

I hear ya KL.  I'm kinda getting into spicy, but, I've never had chocolate in chili either.  I do hope I like it; it comes in a nice little 8oz. glass!


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## Zhizara (Feb 23, 2012)

Okay, I took a taste.  First, opening ruins the lid, so I'd probably have to use it all at once.  At 4:1 with stock that's 5 cups.  Not so much, but kinda pricy for a flavoring.

If I was just making a sauce, I wouldn't need that much.   

It's definitely a strong flavor, and yes, the chocolate is definitely there.  Not much heat.  There is also an aftertaste of "burnt".


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 23, 2012)

Ya know, in a way mole _is_ a kind of Mexican chili. Except they don't add tomatoes or beans, or at least not traditionally. I think it would be really good with beef chunks as an alternative to chicken. Chicken cooks to a fall off the bone consistence in about an hour and blends nicely with the sauce. Beef would take much longer to get to fall off the bone tenderness, and I don't know how well mole would fare if cooked long enough to get beef done. Perhaps cook beef by some other method and serve with mole sauce over it. IMO the method I've described cooking the chicken in the sauce makes a very nice kind of chicken chili. Using skinless bone-in chicken pieces (thighs work well) you can pull the chicken right off the bones and discard them. I would remove all the chicken pieces from the sauce, debone them, and then add sufficient sauce to the chicken, reserving remaining sauce for other uses. Or use a whole chicken cut up and serve the pieces bone-in on your plate and pour sauce over or serve the sauce for people to serve themselves. Or you can cook the chicken by some other means and serve with mole sauce, particularly if you want skin-on pieces. (I avoid cooking skin-on pieces in the sauce because I don't want that much fat, and IMO chicken skin tastes good only when crispy but it will be flabby if cooked in the sauce.) Sorry if this reply is a bit disorganized...

There is not a LOT of chocolate in mole, not so much that your taste buds yell "Yummm! Chocolate!" And it's not milk chocolate. They probably use more like unsweetened chocolate to make the sauce.

Somebody should make mole mole. You know, like catch some moles and cook them and serve them with mole sauce. 

BTW those who aren't used to Mexican or Spanish pronunciation, the mole in mole sauce is pronounced _moe lee_ or _moley_, without accent on either syllable. Unlike the mole animal which is one syllable. Probably most everybody has heard it pronounced (the sauce not the animal) but perhaps a few DC members/visitors might not know that.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 23, 2012)

Zhizara said:


> Okay, I took a taste.  First, opening ruins the lid, so I'd probably have to use it all at once.  At 4:1 with stock that's 5 cups.  Not so much, but kinda pricy for a flavoring.



What brand did you get? My _Rogelio Bueno_ bottle I've got here says (paraphrasing) to add 3 portions of chicken broth (or water) to 1 portion of mole, then add sugar and salt to taste. Place over low flame (to avoid burning) and bring to a boil. May be served added to chicken, pork, scrambled eggs, tamales, enchiladas, rice and beans.

From my personal experience 4:1 would be too thin, and also I highly recommend chicken stock, not broth or water, although if serving with something other than chicken you might alter that.

I don't know about pricey. Here in L.A. my recollection seems to be about $4 and change for 8.25 oz. bottle. Our prices may be lower due to high Latino population and presumably high volume of sales.

It will be interesting to here about your cooking experience with the sauce and how it tastes over whatever you cook.

BTW it might taste more chocolate-y before it has simmered and mellowed. Or maybe you have a different brand. I usually get a different brand than what I have here, I think it was the Doña Maria brand. The one I have here is in a plastic bottle with flat crimp top. My usual brand comes in a glass bottle shaped like a little drinking glass, also with a crimped top, and yes you could save them until you have a set. I think I already said, serve tequila in them. They're about 4 times the usual shooter so your guests would be plastered they probably wouldn't even remember what the sauce tasted like!


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## CWS4322 (Feb 24, 2012)

Zhizara said:


> From what I'm "hearing", it sounds like it might be good in chili? What do y'all think?
> 
> I hear ya KL.  I'm kinda getting into spicy, but, I've never had chocolate in chili either.  I do hope I like it; it comes in a nice little 8oz. glass!


I add bitter chocolate to chili. I have also added "jarred" mole concentrate to chili. If you like mole, you'd probably like a bit added to chili. If you don't like mole, you probably wouldn't like it.


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