Molemaster

[muckefuck]

I mentioned to a few of you last weekend that monshu was making mole (the sauce, that is, not the animal), but because I didn't get around to finishing my post about that weekend, I never told y'all how it came out. The answer to that question is fucking awesome. The only downside was that the turkey legs released rather a lot of grease, so the sauce was better the second day after we'd had a chance to chill and skim it. For the record, would-be chefs, monshu pronounced the recipe "easy". The hardest part was actually the shopping, since he ended up going to three different stores in order to collect all the ingredients. That was because we hadn't yet checked in with welcomerain to get the 411 on where in the neighbourhood to shop for what.

We ended up with far more sauce than we needed, so monshu decided to braise a pork roast in the remainder. When I went to cut it, it went to pieces, so we made a virtue of necessity and shredded the bugger as you would for pulled pork. As we were reheating this in a dish of sauce, I realised we had no tortillas and ran out to Devon Market. On the way, inspiration struck, so I asked the first worker I saw if they sold crema mexicana as well. He directed me to the deli, the man I talked to sent me to another, and after a spot of confusion ("¿crema para la cara?", he dished me up some. Pork + mole + crema = SO AWESOME.

(Oh, and another installment in the reply to the "Are you enjoying cooking with gas?" question: monshu showed me how to warm tortillas by placing them directly on the heat, counting to twelve, and flipping them until they just start to get char marks. I don't know that I'll ever be able to eat cold or microwave-warmed tortillas again!)

As a side dish, monshu made kuku-ye bademjan with the lovely little eggplants we bought at Patel Bros. When we had the kuku sabzi at Massouleh, it struck us as similar to soufflé, but this recipe was just like a frittata (i.e. an omelette finished in the oven). Very nice in its own way--and probably a meal in itself for the vegetarianally-inclined. But I'm afraid it has trouble justifying its presence on a dinner plate when the rest is covered in juicy spice pork.

Comments

[darkphuque.livejournal.com]

My hat off to monshu as none of the Mole recipes I have made were easy, yes they didn't need a lot of technical skill, but they are very complex. I have, in my time, made 3 of them the traditional dark Mole, a great Green Mole and a red Mole. I didn't like the red as much as I thought I would. I usually make them after Thanksgiving to help use up the leftover Turkey. I didn't do it for the last 2 years, as I served Duck, and not Turkey.

BTW if the eggplant are about the size of a lg lemon, they are great for Imam Bayildi!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

He's now all fired up about making other types. I hope he picks green mole next, since I love pepitas.

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Aha, so that guy in the shop agreed with iberians that nata is the right word instead of crema!

Hint: crema de leche is the right term, LOL

I'm so jealous of your mole! I live with a Mexican guy who can't cook!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

¡Hombre! ¡No preparábamos panacota!

En los restaurantes mexicanos sólo se dice "crema" sin cualificación. Sé que ésta se parece a la crema agria, pero a mi no me sabe a la misma cosa. Es un poquito mas dulce, como la crema fresca francesa.

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Yo jamás he notado la diferencia entre la crema de leche francesa y la americana. Pero es que, para empezar, no estoy acostumbrado a ella - es inexistente en la cocina de aquí.

¿Crema?

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

Here it is called nata. There are two types: para cocinar and para montar. Normally in the US they are likewise labelled "for cooking" or "for whipping". Also "light" and "heavy". And crema is for la cara or other body parts.

Chuck

Re: ¿Crema?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

¿No se vende crema agria en España?

¿No se vende crema agria en España?

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

That's a good question. I haven't seen what I would consider the same product as sour cream in the States. At the hipermercado, Alcampo, where I usually buy groceries there is a whole aisle of refrigerated fermented milk products. Since the store is controlled by the Mulliez family, one of the wealthiest in France, they sell crème fraîche instead of sour cream. It is similar to the crema found in México.

Typically they use less gums and "stabilizers" in these types of products here as compared to the US. Curiously, the labels often list chemical ingredients in English rather than in castellano. It makes for interesting reading.

Chuck