Chicken Mole

Cookbook Category: Chicken, Tex-Mex

Serve this mole (pronounced mo-LAY and translated as "sauce") with brown rice, steamed corn tortillas and a green salad.

3 cups water
4 chicken breasts
2 chicken legs and thighs
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup crushed corn chips
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Bring water, chicken and celery to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, letting chicken simmer about 1 hour, or until meat comes away easily from bones. Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool. Strain broth and keep liquid; discard celery.

In a blender, combine half of the broth with the cilantro, salt, cumin, cloves, chili powder, garlic, raisins, corn chips and onion. Pulse several times to blend.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and carefully add the blended ingredients. (You are actually "frying" the sauce, here, so pour carefully to avoid spatters.) Heat and stir for 5 minutes. Add the remaining broth, tomato sauce and melted chocolate to skillet. Cover and simmer on low heat 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove skin and bones from chicken and cut into bite-size pieces; add to sauce in skillet. Taste and correct seasonings, if desired. Simmer for 10 minutes. Toast almond slivers and use as garnish.