Roberto Santibañez On How To Make Mole Poblano

Set the oven or toaster oven to broil and preheat. Alternatively, you can preheat the oven to 500F. If youre using the oven broiler, position the rack 8 inches from the heat source. Core the tomato and cut a small X through the skin on the opposite end. Roast the tomato, cored side up, and tomatillos on a foil-lined pan, turning the tomatillos over once halfway through, until their tops and bottoms have blackened and they are a khaki-green color and cooked to the core, 20 to 30 minutes; and the tomato (without turning) until its top is blackened and its cooked to the core, 20 to 30 minutes total. Slip the skin off the tomato.Meanwhile, heat a comal, griddle, or heavy skillet over medium-low heat, and roast the onion and garlic on the comal, turning the garlic over occasionally, until it is just tender and golden brown with some blackened spots, 8 to 10 minutes; and carefully turning the onion slice over once, until its softened and charred on both sides, 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat 1/2 cup of the oil in a medium heavy skillet over medium heat until it simmers. Fry the chiles, a few of the same variety at a time, turning them over with tongs, until puffed and slightly changed in color, 30 to 45 seconds per batch of mulato and ancho chiles, 45 seconds to 1 minute for pasilla chiles, and about 11/2 minutes for chipotle meco chiles. As the chiles are fried, transfer them to a large bowl. When all the chiles are fried, add enough cold water to cover them and let them soak for 30 minutes. Discard the remaining oil from frying the chiles and set the skillet aside.Using tongs, hold the tortilla directly over a burner set to medium, turning it over frequently, until its dark, golden brown, and some burned spots appear on both sides. Crumble it into the soaking fried chiles.Have ready a medium bowl and a metal sieve set over a small heatproof bowl.

Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of oil in the reserved skillet over medium heat until it shimmers and fry the following ingredients one by one. As theyre fried, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the medium bowl (for ingredients that are difficult to scoop, empty the contents of the skillet into the sieve to drain first, then return the oil to the skillet and put the fried ingredient into the medium bowl).Fry the almonds, stirring, until they are golden, about 2 minutes.Fry the pumpkin seeds, stirring, until they are puffed and only slightly browned, about 1 minute.Fry the raisins, stirring, until they are puffed, about 1 minute.Fry the bread, turning over once, until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes.Fry the plantain slices, turning over once, until golden, about 3 minutes.

Transfer the remaining oil (2 to 4 tablespoons) in the skillet to a 7- to 8-quart heavy pot and set aside.Wipe the skillet clean and heat it over medium heat until its hot. Toast 3 tablespoons of the reserved chile seeds (save the remainder for another use) in the skillet, stirring, until fragrant and a shade darker, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the chile seeds to the medium bowl. Toast the sesame seeds, canela, cloves, aniseed, coriander, allspice, and peppercorns in the skillet, stirring, until the sesame seeds are a shade darker, about 11/2 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to the medium bowl.

Drain the chiles and discard the soaking water, and puree them in the blender jar with about 2 cups of the stock.

Heat the reserved oil in the pot over medium heat until hot, then add the chile puree and cook (use a splatter screen so the sauce doesnt make a mess of the stove), stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.Meanwhile, working in 2 batches, combine the fried and toasted ingredients (from the medium bowl) with the roasted tomato, tomatillos, onion, and garlic in the blender jar, along with 2 more cups of the stock per batch, and blend until smooth, about 3 minutes per batch. Be careful when youre blending hot ingredients: Cover the top with a towel, and hold the top firmly in place with your hand.

Add the mixture to the chile puree in the pot as you blend it, and once youre done, swish a little liquid around in the blender and add it to the pot.

Add the chocolate, sugar, and salt to the mole, stirring until the chocolate melts. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally and adding more stock as needed to maintain a velvety consistency that thickly coats a wooden spoon, but isnt gloppy, about 45 minutes. Season to taste with additional sugar and salt.At this point you would add cooked chicken or turkey to the mole, reduce the heat to low, and cook until its just heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.