Holy Mole!

A few weekends ago, Adam was cruising online looking for a recipe to make with the Cornmeal, Jalapeno, and Fresh Corn Scones we found in Cooking Light and started to salivate for. He ran into this recipe for Pueblo Chicken, which peaked our interest. It contains nuts, dried fruit, a fresh banana, and even chocolate. A seemingly weird combination to put over chicken (or the portabella mushroom and potatoes I had), but it was actually fantastic! The taste is very similar to a mole sauce, and, if thinned out, could definitely be used as such for enchiladas or any other Mexican dish. Even though this recipe may seem a bit too odd, give it a try; you might be pleasantly surprised.

Cornmeal, Jalapeno, and Fresh Corn Scones (Cooking Light, September 2007)

Instead of using a pastry blender, as advised in the recipe, we used a food processor up until adding the corn and jalapeno into the mixture when we transferred the dough into a medium-sized bowl. The food processor makes scone-making a breeze.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 7 3/4 oz.)
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 1/2 Tbs. chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 ear)
2 Tbs. finely chopped seeded jalapeno pepper
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in corn and pepper. Add buttermilk, stirring just until moist (dough will be slightly sticky).
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 2 or 3 times with lightly floured hands. Pat dough into a 9-inch circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut dough into 12 wedges, cutting into, but not through dough. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.


Pueblo Chicken (www.cooks.com)

The recipe measures the ingredients in ounces, so we just estimated the proper amount and made it proportionate. In addition, the recipe calls for stewed chicken, but Adam simply butterflied a whole chicken by taking out its backbone and grilled it for about 40-50 minutes. I steamed some potatoes and grilled a portabella mushroom for the base of my meal.

3/4 lb. chiles (include some hot, med. & mild)
2 oz. pasa (raisins)
2 oz. almonds
3 1/2 oz. other nuts
3 1/2 oz. ciruela pasa (prunes)
3 1/2 oz. peanuts
1/4 slice white bread, broken in pieces
1/2 plantano (banana), cut up
1/4 tsp. each ground cloves, black pepper, cinnamon & anise
2 oz. ajonjoli (sesame seeds)
2 tbsp. lard
1 oz. (1/2 tablet) bitter chocolate
3/4 tbsp. sugar
2 chickens, cut up & stewed

1. Cut chilies in half, remove seeds and veins and fry in a little oil or lard, stirring with wooden spoon. Remove chiles from pan and then add fruits, nuts, bread and spices to the pan and fry them. Remove from pan. Brown the sesame seeds in the pan and set aside.
2. Grind the above ingredients except sesame seeds into a paste. Put the paste in a casserole with the 2 tablespoons lard, heat and stir to combine. Stir in the sesame seeds, chocolate, sugar and enough broth from the cooked chicken to make a sauce. Heat chicken in the sauce.