Oaxacan Mole

Ingredients

• 5 medium dried mulato chiles
• 3 dried ancho chiles
• 4 dried New Mexican chiles
• 4 dried guajillo chiles
• 1 corn tortilla, torn into small pieces
• 2 1/4-inch-thick slices of white onion
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 1/2 cups lard or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/8 cup pecan halves
• 1/8 cup unskinned or Spanish peanuts
• 1/8 cup unskinned almonds
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 pound (1 medium-large) green tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1/4 pound (2 to 3 medium) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 1 slice stale bread, toasted until very dark
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/3 ripe banana
• 1/4 cup (about 1.5 ounces) finely chopped Mexican or dark chocolate
• Salt, about 1 Tablespoon depending on the saltiness of the broth
• Sugar, about 1/4 cup
• 2 bone-in leg/thigh chicken pieces
• 2 bone-in chicken breasts

Directions

De-stem the chiles, tear them open and scrape out the seeds, collecting them. Put seeds into an ungreased skillet with the torn-up tortilla, set over medium-high heat, turn on an exhaust fan, and toast until thoroughly burned to charcoal black, about 15 minutes. Scrape them into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse for 30 seconds, then transfer to a blender.

Set an ungreased skillet over medium heat, lay on a piece of aluminum foil, and lay the onion slices and garlic cloves on that. Roast until soft and very dark (about 5 minutes on each side of the onion slices; about 15 minutes for the garlic). Cool the garlic a bit, peel it, then reserve both.

While the onion/garlic are roasting, turn on the oven to 350°F. Return the skillet to medium-high heat, add the lard or oil (to 1/2-inch depth), and, when hot, begin frying the chiles a couple at a time: After about 30 seconds, turning once, remove to drain on paper towels. Put them in a large bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.

While the chiles are soaking, toast the seeds and nuts. Spread the sesame seeds onto a baking sheet or ovenproof skillet, spread the pecans, peanuts and almonds onto another baking sheet or skillet, then set both into the oven. Toast about 15 minutes until all take on a dark hue. Reserve a few sesame seeds for garnish, then add the rest of the seeds and nuts to the blender with 1 cup chicken broth. Blend until smooth, and put in a bowl.

Without rinsing the blender, combine the tomatoes, tomatillos & 1/4 cup broth. Puree and put in another bowl. Again, w/o rinsing, put onion, garlic, toasted bread, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, banana and 1/2 cup broth. Puree and put in a separate bowl. Put half the chiles and 1/2 cup broth, puree and put in fourth bowl. Repeat with other half and add to a fourth bowl.

In a large dutch oven, heat 3 Tablespoons of oil (use the oil in which you fried the chiles) over medium-high heat. Add the tomato puree and cook until thick and dark (the color of cinnamon), about 20 minutes. Add the nut puree and cook for 7-8 minutes, until the color of olive or anchovy paste. Add the banana-spice puree and do the same, cooking another 7-8 minutes, until it's the color it was before adding the latest puree. Finally, add the chile puree, turn heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes until very thick and black.

Stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups broth and the chocolate, partially cover and simmer gently for an hour stirring often. Season with salt and sugar, taste and adjust as needed. Nestle the thigh/leg pieces in the sauce, partially cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the breast pieces, cover completely, and cook an additional 25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Pull out the chicken pieces and put on a plate or serving platter. Spoon sauce over the chicken and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with rice.