It's time to Rumble! Mexican Style Mole Sauce (mo-lay)

I love Mole (pronounced mo-lay). I love the complexity and layers of flavors.  I love the comfort food feel and the spice without too much heat.  What I HATE is the time it takes to make a traditional mole sauce.  Traditionally it involves about a million spices that the cook needs to roast, crush, make into a paste and then cook forever.  Like all day and then some.  Way too much work for me.

But yesterday I was craving mole bad.  I figured there had to be an easier way to make it...right?  And I didn't have any of the traditional pablano peppers or onions.  I searched the internet for different recipes and stumbled upon a recipe that gave me the answer!  They used jarred salsa and a blender! Now why didn't I think of that?

So I broke out my blender and rumbled through my pantry to find the ingredients that I knew would make a good mole sauce and off I went.  Below is the full recipe.  Please don't be scared by the large list of ingredients.  These are spices that are pretty common and chances are you already having them sitting in your pantry waiting to be used.  Also, you can totally play with this recipe and leave something out and add something else in.  If you don't have mace or allspice, use a dash of nutmeg instead.  The only spices that are essential to make this recipe work are cumin, chili powder or paprika and cocoa powder.  The rest just make it taste yummier.  And yes...that is a word.

So now that you've made the mole what in the world do you do with it?  This is the BEST part!  You can use it for just about anything!  Traditionally it is slow cooked with pork or poultry but there is no reason you can't use this with beef or even tofu or seitan.  You can use it for an enchilada sauce (inside and out) or mix it with some sour cream/cream cheese and make a fabulous Mexican chip dip.

But whatever you do, make it.  Soon.  You will thank me for it.  Enjoy!

Upcoming posts:
~Solar Oven Cooking (tomorrow)
~Lemi Shine Review & Giveaway
~Rhubarb Festival (next week)
~Nielsen-Massey MexicanVanilla Review (coming soon)

Quick and Easy Mexican Mole Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salsa
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp paprika1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp season salt
1 tsp honey1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash clovesdash allspice
dash mace
1 tbsp olive oil2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth
1/4 cup tequila (optional  but it will help bring out flavors)

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients into the blender.
2. Puree until smooth, about one minute.
3. Use right away or store in fridge for a few days.

* If you pour this over defrosted chicken breasts, tenders or pork chops and bake them in the oven at 350 or 375 you will have a flavorful meal on the table in under 30 minutes.  Your family won't believe you made it that fast and you will love it when they ask for seconds.   Below is a pic of what I did, which is poured it over pork chops and slow roasted them in the solar oven.  All I can say is YUM!
** Serve with black beans or any other cooked bean and a side of rice.  Steamed veggies of any kind would be great with this but my family really likes broccoli.
***Cornbread also makes an awesome side dish.  The flavors compliment really well.