The One About A Chocolate Dish and a Prayer to the Valar

Yeah, so I moonlight in the Food Channel and Travel and Adventure Channel at the weirdest hours. But at least I learn something new all the time. Like in that episode where Tyler Florence visits Mexico, I learned about an unusual dish. It turns out that Mexico's National Dish, Mole Pablano, is actually made with chocolate. Now how cool is that? Very very cool. Sounds appetizing? Yes! So I went to the Food Channel's website and found the recipe. Wheeee!

Mole Pablano

For the Mole:
6 medium dried mulato chiles
3 medium dried ancho chiles
4 medium dried pasilla chiles
1 chipotle chile
Vegetable oil or lard
1/2 cup coriander seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup almonds
1 1/2 ounces Mexican chocolate
4 tablespoons sugar
2 quarts chicken broth
Salt and pepper

For the meat:
2 large turkey breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Garnish:
1 large onion, sliced
2 radishes, sliced
1 handful sesame seeds
1 handful cilantro leaves

Method for the mole sauce (this should be done 1 day in advance):
Remove the seeds and stems from all of the chiles. Heat some lard or oil and quickly fry the chiles on both sides, taking care not to burn them. Put the chiles into a bowl, cover with water, and leave to stand for a few hours.

In a blender, puree the chiles with a few tablespoons of water until smooth. Place the chili puree in a saucepan and cook over a medium flame for 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a saute pan over medium heat, add the coriander seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon, and cloves and cook until their aroma is released. Transfer to a spice grinder and mix together. Add the garlic cloves and grind. Set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of lard in the same saute pan and fry the raisins briefly. In the same pan, fry the almonds and peanuts until browned. Transfer the raisins, nuts, and ground spices to a blender and puree together. They should form a smooth paste and may need a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth to blend effectively.

Add the blended mixture to the chile sauce and cook over a flame for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Break the Mexican chocolate into pieces and add it to the mixture. Continue cooking the mole for a further 15 minutes. Add the sugar and broth, and continue cooking the mole for around 45 minutes. Add salt and pepper, if necessary, and if desired some extra chocolate, to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the turkey breasts with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan and sear the breasts skin side down first. Once the turkey is crisp and golden on both sides, remove from heat and place for 15 minutes in the oven to cook the meat through.

Slice the turkey and pour over the mole sauce. Garnish with sliced onions, radish, sesame seeds, and some sprigs of cilantro.

In the immortal words of the monster plant from The Little Shop of Horrors: Feed me! :p

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Things finally turned for the better last Saturday. Whew. But man, I do not want to go through that ever again. Gawds. My world feels like it's being held together by glue which would tend to melt when the temperature gets too hot. Aaaaarrrrggghhh.... Nope. Definitely wouldn't want to go through that again. Things look like it's wanting to happen today again, though. Why oh why is this happening to meeeee????

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Had fun with the PHP witches last Saturday also. They are the weirdest people ever, but they're loads of fun to be with. I completely forgot everything I was ranting about last Friday. You guys are the best. :)

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My mind has been like a cauldron full of thoughts and ideas a-bubbling these days. And even more so today. Just what exactly am I getting myself into? Even though it goes against everything my instincts are telling me to do, I think I'd better employ some security measures. Better safe than sorry. But no, I'm not happy about it.

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A prayer to the Valar: please please please please please..... please don't make Orlando Bloom the next James Bond. Pleeeeaaaaase.

.:chronicled by senator skywalker at 5:40:00 PM:.
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