Because "mole" sounds better than dried pepper, peanut butter chocolate tomato meat sauce

Mole Poblano holds a special place in my heart. I grew up in a place that had wonderful mexican food, much, much different than the awful sludge found here in lincoln. Mole was something that a lot of mexican families were very proud of, not to mention very secretive with. Want to get a families mole recipe off of them? Nice try. You'd either have to marry into the family or break into their home to get it. Which is exactly what people will be wanting to do to you once you master this:) Exaggeration? possibly, depending on how good my memory is here:) Seriously people, this is a special one that I have been tweaking for a couple of years. This is real mexican food. not cheddar cheese laden, sour creamified fluff. Get good at this dish and you will have something in your repertoire that can stand up to any dish, no matter how fancy pants it is.

Hardware: tea kettle/big pot/blender

Dish's mole poblano:

5 -6 dried ancho chiles, (stems and seeds removed)

handful of raisins

1 tbs epazote (wrapped in cheesecloth) (optional, dried herb found in mexican aisle of grocery)

2 slices stale bread (i use pain de campagne, i think it gives a good rustic flavor)

28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice

2 med sized onions

1 red bell, diced fine

2 poblano peppers diced fine

3 cloves garlic

handful celery leaves, minced

handful cilantro, minced

2 tsps chile powder

2 tsps cumin seed

2 tsp coriander powder

couple tbs peanut butter

1 round bar of ibarra mexican chocolate

1 heaping tablespoon turbinado sugar (you could use white or brown, just had it out)

fresh chiles, sliced (depending on your hotness/masochist tolerance)

meats of choice / i happened to use pork butt this time, but it's delicious with anything. could also be used with potatoes or beans or fried polenta for a good veggie main dish.

Fill kettle with water and bring to a boil. Put dried anchos, raisins, and sachet of epazote in a large bowl, fill with water, just enough to cover. let sit for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat some olive oil and saute your onion, garlic, peppers, celery and cilantro leaves until you get some color on them, and then add some salt, pepper, and your chile and coriander powder and the cumin seed. lower your heat, adding stock/water if the bottom of your pan is getting too much color. After about 20 minutes, remove the sachet of epazote, and pour the can of tomatoes and tear up the bread into the bowl with the dried peppers. Pour this mixture into a blender (you'll have to do this in batches) and puree until smooth. (when pureeing hot liquids, never fill blender more than half full and give quick, short pulses, otherwise, you could burn your pretty face off). Add the puree into your pot and also add your peanut butter and mexican chocolate. I'm going to be a stickler here and say that you must use nothing other than this chocolate, it has the perfect amount of cinnamon in it. you'll just have to trust me. keep stirring until everything has been incorporated, and then turn to low. Now it's time to add the well seasoned (salt and pepper) meat of your choice. Like I said, I added pork butt this time, but you are pretty safe with anything here. The key is to simmer away until what you are braising is incredibly tender. You can leave the pot on the stove for this, or, if your vessel permits, simmer away in the oven at 300F for about 4-5 hours, checking periodically. Alternatively. If you wanted to make this a veggie dish, just simmer some root veg in here (potatoes, carrots, etc) for a couple of hours. some soaked, dried beans would also be a great addition, just simmer until they are ready (prob at least a few hours.)

serve with fried tortilla chips (cmon you went this far, just fry them yourself, you won't regret it!), some rice and guacamole.

DISH recommends:

Oster classic beehive blender. Three years and running and this blendy has never let me down. now that I said that, it will probably break...