Ingredients
- 8 cups water, divided
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 6 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts
- 5 ancho chiles (dried poblano peppers)
- 2 large jalapenos, halved
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 3 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded
- 4 whole garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 large bunch cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
- 16 corn tortillas, kept warm
- 2 limes, cut into 8 wedges
- 2 avocados, halved, pitted and flesh sliced
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
- Special equipment: Food processor
Directions
In a medium saucepan, combine 6 cups water, salt, sugar, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and cloves. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently. Once the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large bowl, add the chicken, and refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours or overnight. Bring the remaining 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. In a medium heatproof bowl, add the ancho chiles and cover with the boiling water. Weigh down with a plate so the peppers remain under water and let them soak for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the stems when the peppers have softened.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a sheet tray toss the jalapenos, onion, tomatoes, garlic and cumin with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Roast until nicely caramelized with good color, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the pumpkin seeds to a dry, hot skillet on high heat. Stir often, until the seeds are golden and begin to pop. Transfer to a food processor along with roasted vegetables. Add the soaked chiles, about 2 tablespoons of chili soaking liquid, the cilantro leaves and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the processor. Puree until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, blot dry with paper towels and put into a large Dutch oven. Pour in the mole sauce and bake, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 55 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool. When cool to the touch, shred the chicken and add it back to the sauce. Spoon the mole into corn tortillas and serve with lime wedges, avocado slices, shredded lettuce, red onion, and radishes. Garnish with cilantro leaves and enjoy.
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By JH2011
Miami, FL
on January 26, 2013
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This recipe is AWESOME!!! I followed the recipe exactly and we loved it. The sauce is thick when you begin, but as it cooks, there will be plenty of liquid. We did not find it too spicy, but we like a little heat. Remove the seeds from the jalapenos if you like less. Cook the chicken at 400 as she did...it turns out perfect, but larger chicken breasts will take longer. It's very easy to make, but you have to plan ahead to brine the chicken overnight, and it well worth it. I have made this about 10 times and it has always been a hit. We LOVE it!
By queenofqueens07
East Lansing, MI
on January 04, 2012
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This recipe sounded amazing on t.v., but I was a little disappointed. In my opinion, the cilantro killed it. I think this recipe has a chance at being good if you leave the cilantro out of the sauce. You may feel differently if you absolutely love cilantro. I've always been neutral about the herb, but I don't think it has a place in a recipe for what should be a deep, rich sauce. It was too earthy and tasted bitter. I can see why some other reviewers compared it to a pesto because of its texture. I will plan to give this another try but will adapt it to smooth out the texture and enhance the flavor. As for spice level, I found it not spicy at all. I even made half as much chicken as the recipe called for keeping everything else the same.
By automatique_faa...
Mukilteo, WA
on December 07, 2011
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I just had this for dinner tonight, delicious!!!
I made a few adjustments-I used roasted and salted pumpkin seeds that I bought from Trader Joe's so I was able to just skip the roasting step. I used about 3x as much garlic as the recipe calls for. I added about 1 TBS of sugar and grated 2 squares of dark chocolate into the mole. And I added about half a cup of chicken stock to the mole sauce while blending it in the food processor because it was just so thick.
I cooked it for 60 minutes at 400 degrees in a dutch oven (covered and the chicken turned out perfectly and super moist even though I used boneless chicken breast.
I didn't think it was too spicy at all, I thought the flavors were very balanced and it definitely wasn't too spicy.
I topped it with avocado, radishes, red onion, cilantro, lime juice (just as the recipe suggests and I used cabbage instead of lettuce.
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