I literally took a week to hole up in my apt after work to prep for ~dia de los moles~.
I brought home a suitcase full of edible goodies from Oaxaca, including mole paste at Jennie's request demand. And because I'm a GOOD FRIEND, I came home with two pounds of four different pastes. Consider... a mole BAR. Build your own plate of moles where you start with rice (or tortilla), then pick a protein (or veggie), then smother in mole (or several). Maybe ambitious but I was inspired by this sampler platter for one (or two) at Restaurante Coronita.
I thought it could be gimmicky and not actually good but the reviews were positive, and this bitch can't pass up an opportunity to basically be able to order one of everything plz. This is like my dream and probably every restaurant's nightmare.
The waitress explained it to me in Spanish and I managed to pick up everything - or at least the key points.
We start at the darkest one, which ironically tasted the lightest but also the saltiest. It was brothy and served with beef - in my light research of mole differences, I will assume this one was mole chichilo. I didn't dislike it, but once I made my progression to the other six, it quickly became my second to least favorite. Moving to the right, we have the mole amarillo, also with beef (and potatoes). Kinda thin in texture and probably the least flavorful. I was asked by a few people if I had tried yellow mole which may or may not be a Oaxacan thing, so I was on a mission to find it, but happy to stick to my tried and true negros and verdes and poblanos and coloraditos. Next we have mole verde with pork (and potatoes). It was very fresh and after sampling all seven, I determined this was the best one to end on. These first three are meant to be eaten with the stack of tortillas they served on the side.
The following four are to be shared between that little bowl of rice in the middle. Next up and first in the rice lineup, pina! Mole manchamantel perhaps for the pineapple that punches you in the face right away in a good way. It was also the spiciest. Served with pork, I loved this one - loooovveeee pineapple, looovvvveee spice. Mole coloradito (or wait was it poblano) follows, with chicken and more depth in flavor and less spice. The last two are the only ones that contain chocolate - so mole negros? Or one of these was the coloradito. Oh man, either way, these were of course my favorites. I love the sweet complexity and spicy intensity, and I want as many spices as you can pack into a sauce. I liked the thickness, like diving into a murky tarpit of aroma.
Fuck me, I'm going to host a mole bar.
And it was a success. I even successfully had leftovers for a week and then I had quesadillas for the week after that. We're going to go backwards because that's how Blogger decided to order the pictures, and it is too much of a hassle to reorder them. Plus it makes me feel like I'm watching a video in reverse and that's fun.
Bok choy (top 'dilla) and cured oyster shrooms (bottom 'dilla).
Absolutely slathered in generic hot sauce [not pictures].
I utilized all my quesadilla meals to work on my cheese crust.
Crusty cheesy quesadillas with the cured shrooms and bok choy nubs on the outside. I did not have ingenuity on this day.
Quesabirria tacos with weak cheese crusts. But with a healthy side of chicken thigh (ha) and giant ass beans.
Messy quesabirria tacos with fermented chili and giant ass beans on the side - plated like a janky butterfly.
I mean look, look at it *face holding back happy tears emoji*
Okay so I had so much birria to practice my cheese crusts with... BECAUSE Matthew contributed a big bag of pork birria (middle). What a saint.
Other saint is David with the giant bowl of carnitas. And I shredded a dinky pan of chicken thighs for the only one who doesn't eat red meat. Our new friend Veronica brought two big bags of chicharrones (and the giant pan of elote) which was a great textural call for our plates of mostly saucy stewed things.
[A lot more unpictured ugly delicious quesabirrias.]
I also hauled this ceramic taco plate back from a neat art gallery in Oaxaca because I fell in love with it instantly. Contrary to what my rude friends say, it is neither a roof shingle nor a wall sconce. It is a taco plate, and it is displaying carnitas with kabocha and queso fresco; birria with okra and queso fresco; and carnitas with cured mushroom and queso fresco, from top to bottom.
The featured moles of the evening were, from bottom to top, rojo, negro, verde, almendrado, and my own variation which I call - pantry clean out mole... mole limpiar la despensa?
The mercado lady recommended 1/2kg mole paste to 1kg chicken broth, but since I was feeding some vegetarians, I made a simple clear veg broth with mushrooms, celery, and carrots. And an equally simple tomato and onion broth that stewed for a day.
Oh, and the rice was toasted with Mexican oregano.
We're almost at the end!
The veggiesssssss. My platter eye candy. My entire Saturday morning. It was actually simpler than it may look. Okra and the giant ass beans I saw and had to have at Ranch 99 were simply roasted with salt. Easy peasy. The oyster mushrooms were cured in simple brine with liquid smoke earlier in the week and scored and seared before service. The eggplant was salted to draw out some water before steaming and topped with sesame oil, garlic, and fermented chili (this was the Asian touch I can never resist including). The kabocha squash was marinated in salt, white pepper, and cumin and coated in potato starch before frying since it was such a hit last time.
Sigh. A single tear falls delicately down my cheek every time I look at this picture.
Okay last part - my haphazard pantry clean out mole, mole despensa!
I followed the general framework I learned from Mimi when I rummaged through my bedroom pantry. Half the inspiration actually came from finally organizing and labeling everything and now there is a rhyme and reason to where everything is! I even put up a little whiteboard to track specific special ingredients that I consistently forget I have. And then I resolved with myself to not purchase any more pantry items until I can consolidate my stuff out of the overflow shelf space in the kitchen. [And then I went and bought a bunch of dried goods for our next potluck theme - why am I like this?]
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| ft all my ceramic bebes :) |
So
chocolate - turns out I grossly underestimated my chocolate stash and have enough baking chocolate in various forms to fill its own basket. And yet I still bought a block of chocolate from Oaxaca which is what I chopped up for mole despensa because it felt most appropriate.
aromatics - enough cloves of garlic to satisfy my heart, which is made of maybe 80% garlic.
nuts and seeds - basically combined the straggling bits of nuts I found in various baggies, we have pistachios, almond slivers, and walnuts. A shitton of black sesame seeds because I also wanted this mole to be dark.
fruits/sweeteners - dried figs (which I soaked in tequila for several days hehe) and the carrots used in the aforementioned veg broth.
spices - Mexican oregano, star anise, bay leaf, fennel seed, cinnamon bark.
herbs - half a bunch of cilantro, not pictured.
chiles - NM chilies which I always have on hand.
thickeners - stale hojicha sourdough bread ends I must've saved to make soup at some point.
The end result was pretty good if I do say so myself. Not like, this-is-my-favorite-mole-ever good. [I think my favorite was surprisingly the verde. Also liked the rojo more when I revisited it with my leftovers.] Pretty good in like a I-found-this-hodge-podge-of-ingredients-in-my-room-and-I've-never-made-mole-but-I-trusted-everything-would-go-together-well-and-hey-they-did way.
Not pictured were the purposely burnt sugar flan and definitely not messed up alfajores for dessert.
Not pictured are the vegan and decidedly non vegan (containing lard AND duckfat) refried beans sides.
Also not pictured are the two bottles of mezcal we killed and the cricket salt everyone except Jennie was skeptical of and the oranges that finally arrived like 3 hrs later with Morgan and Michaela even though I asked certain people TWICE.
Overall full tummies and obnoxiously loud conversation - my favorite way to entertain. And also that this was the first and maybe only time Jennie showed up first and on time to an event!
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