Mexican Mole Stew
Although we’ve become accustomed to the taste and style of European-made chocolates (most American chocolatiers stick to Continental methods when it comes to cocoa), the great chocolate traditions originally came from Mexico — specifically, the Aztec civilization. They drank their chocolate unsweetened, accenting their frothing cups with chilies, cinnamon, and vanilla rather than sugar. Not surprisingly, their richly-blended hot chocolate beverages were the province of the ruling class.
Remnants of that penchant for combining cocoa and spices can still be tasted in today’s Mexican mole family of sauces. They’re flavorful and thick (although not chunky) and are particularly popular with chicken. Although many sauces qualify as “mole” from the standpoint of being a type of sauce — guacamole, for one — in modern culinary parlance, mole refers to the tomato-based sauce that also contains cocoa powder, crushed chiles, and cinnamon.
Whether you use a sweet chile like sweet paprika (which is dried sweet red bell peppers) or one that’s closer to cayenne is up to you. Also, since certain brands of chili powder are blends of chile pepper and red pepper that have already been underscored by cocoa, cinnamon, and cloves, sometimes just choosing the right chili powder can give your dishes a bit of a mole feel. You can also make your own Aztec version of hot chocolate by adding cinnamon, cloves, and a hint of cayenne.
Mexican Mole Stew
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, cut into thin rounds
2 T. chili powder, preferably Spice Hunter
1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sea salt
32 oz. broth (can be vegetable, chicken, or beef, although if it’s the latter two, preferably broth from free-range animals)
15 oz. canned black beans (the Eden line of canned beans is BPA-free)
15 oz. canned diced tomatoes
3/4 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pasta (corn pasta happens to go wonderfully with this recipe and is gluten-free, but any whole-grain pasta is fine)
Lime juice to garnish
In a stockpot or large soup pot, sautée onion in 1 T. butter or ghee over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Add garlic, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in spices and cook for another minute. (Heating the spices in the fat gives them a chance to release their essential oils and therefore their flavors.)
Stir in broth, vegetables, and almonds. Since I use Eden beans — which are in BPA-free cans and are only seasoned with kombu seaweed and sea salt — I like to add the entire undrained can of beans, but that’s up to you. (I find that the bean “juice” thickens the stew nicely.) Let stew simmer for about 20-30 minutes. More time won’t hurt a bit, so if you want to let it happily burble away while you tend to other matters, feel free. Stews like this taste even better when they’re cooked for a long time. (They’re also delicious the next day, after they’ve “married”!)
Check the noodle package to see how much cooking time your pasta requires and add it accordingly. If the noodles require 10 minutes, for example, stir them in 10 minutes before serving, then immediately remove stew from stove.
(Note: if you’d like to make this a meat stew, feel free to stir in strips/cubes of leftover cooked meat when you add the pasta. If you have a tougher cut of meat in mind — i.e., one that will benefit from long cooking — cook it at the very beginning with the onions and let it stay in the pot the entire time. I often brown oxtails at the beginning if I want to turn the vegetable stock into beef stock.)
Squeeze a squirt of fresh lime juice into each bowl before serving. You could also serve the stew with sour cream, cheese, or fresh cilantro.
Enjoy!
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Tags: almonds, Aztec, cinnamon, cocoa, gluten-free, mexican, mole, pasta, stew
