In the beginning of March I somehow managed to sneak in a trip to Mexico before quarantine. My friend was getting a procedure in Puebla to reset her immune system for her MS, and we decided to go for emotional support. We visited Mexico City, Puebla and Cancun. Puebla was my favorite. The buildings were so colorful and there was a beautiful Spanish style cathedral on every corner.
The food was also nothing short of amazing. Every restaurant we went to had mole, a sauce I’ve always loved. I was not aware that there were different types of mole (!) The restaurant in the hotel we stayed at https://www.casareyna.mx/ had 4 different types of mole on one plate. I was especially drawn to the white mole, and I knew I had to recreate it when I got back to the states.
There weren’t many recipes online for Mole Blanco, and they were all incredibly different. I decided to combine the ingredients that sounded like they would work the best from separate recipes. This does make sense however since they say first mole was created by a woman who was using whatever she had laying around in her kitchen at the time.
The basics of the sauce recipes I found all combined a white colored nut, a spicy pepper, onion and spices. You are probably thinking, doesn’t all mole have chocolate? Apparently not haha. I decided to use pine nuts and a jalapeno. You don’t have to worry about presoaking the pine nuts and they blend up really nicely.
I decided to use chicken and charred poblano peppers for the filling. Because the sauce is vegan, I feel like you could easily replace the chicken if you’re vegetarian with another vegetable, like corn.
Ingredients
MOLE BLANCO
- 1 jalapeno seeded
- ½ onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- pinch of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup pine nuts
- juice from half a lime
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- salt to taste
ENCHILADAS
- 2 poblano peppers
- 1 lb chicken
- 2 tbsp white onion chopped
- 5 oz queso freso (mexican crumbling cheese)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- juice from 1 lime
- 6 flour tortillas
GARNISH
- a few sprigs of cilantro
- ½ avocado
- limes, cut
Instructions
MOLE BLANCO
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a baking sheet place the onion and jalapeno. Wrap the garlic in tin foil place on the sheet. Bake for 20 minutes to roast. 2. Add the onion, jalapeno, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, pepper and lime juice to a blender. Cover with enough water to allow the ingredients to blend smooth. 3. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium saucepan. Add the pureed mixture and stir constantly for 5 minutes, until the mixture has thickened. 4. Add the pine nuts to the blender. Cover with enough water to blend smooth. Add the pine nut puree to the mixture on the stove. Add salt to taste. Mix together and cook until the sauce reduces and thickens.
FILLING
- 1.In a medium pan, brown the chicken with a bit of oil. While the chicken is cooking place the 2 poblano peppers on the grate of a gas grill. Rotate the peppers until completely charred. Place the peppers in a bowl and immediately cover with plastic wrap for 5 minutes. Add browned chicken to a medium bowl. Using the back of a knife, scrape off the charred skins of the poblano. Chop into small pieces and add to the bowl with the chicken. Next add the queso fresco, onion, cumin, garlic powder and lime juice. Mix well.
MAKING THE ENCHILADAS
- 1. Place about 1/2 cup of the mole on the bottom of the baking dish. Lay the tortilla flat and add the filling down the middle. Roll up the enchilada and repeat until you have filled your dish and used all the filling. Mine made 6 enchiladas. 2. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining mole sauce. 3. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 350°F. 4. Remove from the oven and garnish with cilantro, avocado and limes.
Notes
