This mole sauce takes a bit of effort, but it can be made a few days ahead, on Monday, if you are making it for Thanksgiving. If you cannot eat nuts or prefer to leave them out, that's okay-mole sauce varies by each cook's personal preferences and by ingredients available regionally.
For Mole:
2 medium dried ancho chiles, seeded and membranes removed
3-4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 chipotles in adobo, seeded and diced
4 heads garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 large ripe (black) plantain, cooked
3/4 cup dry roasted, unsalted cashews
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon roasted peanuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon cumin
3-4 squares dark chocolate
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat and toast the dried chiles until they begin to change color, 15 seconds/side. DO NOT burn them, that will make your mole taste bitter. (If nervous about the skillet heat, my advice is to start at a lower temp and go slow, testing with 1 chile and having an extra 0n hand...chances are you would buy a bag of them anyways, and the comfort of knowing one mistake will not doom the dish is worth it, trust me!)
Tranfer toasted chiles to a large pot and add 1 cup broth and bring to a simmer. Cook about 20-25 minutes this way to rehydrate the chiles, stirring occasionally. Strain liquid and reserve. Chop chiles.
Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in large saute pan. Add onions and garlic, stirring occasionally so that garlic does not burn (if browning, take pan off burner, turn heat to medium and return pan to burner 1 minute later). Cook 5-7 minutes, until onion is tender. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let cook 15 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor along with the cooked plantains, cashews, sesame seeds, peanuts, bread, drained chipotles and spices. Add 1 1/2 cups broth and blend until smooth. Stop blending to stir occasionally and add extra chicken broth if needed to make this smooth. Press the mixture through a sieve into a bowl.
In large sauce pot, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Add tomato-chile sauce and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes (you will probably need to turn heat to medium-low at this point). Melt chocolate squares into sauce (use 4 for a stronger chocolate flavor). Simmer for 35-45 minutes, stirring regularly. If sauce thickens too much, add extra chicken broth to thin to desired consistency.
For Turkey:
1 12 lb turkey (defrost in refrigerator 2-3 of days in advance
1 cup mole
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
2 cups chicken stock
Remove neck/any gizzards or random parts that come with turkey. Rinse turkey and pat dry. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper and transfer to roasting pan. Spread 3/4 cup mole sauce over skin and 1/2 inside turkey cavity. Cover turkey with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (you can do this a few hours before cooking, but who wants to get up that early?).
Arrange oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 450°F. Add stuffing to turkey cavity, if using. Baste turkey with a little butter and tuck wings under breasts and tie together legs if using twine. Place in large baking dish.
Roast turkey 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F, cover turkey loosely with foil, and continue roasting 45 minutes more. Remove foil, add 1/4 cup stock to pan, and continue to roast, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes, 1 1/2 hours more.
Increase oven temperature to 450°F, rotate turkey pan 180° in oven to ensure even cooking, and add 1/4 cup stock to pan.
Roast turkey, basting occasionally until a instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh (do not touch the bone!) registers 170°F, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Remove turkey from oven and insert instant-read thermometer into middle of stuffing. If temperature does not register 170, remove stuffing from bird, place turkey back in backing dish and put stuffing in cooking dish and continue roasting until both are at the required temperature.
Let turkey rest 20-30 minutes before carving. Heat remaining mole sauce and put in a gravy dish.
Serve slices of turkey alongside mashed sweet potatoes and stuffing. Drizzle plate with mole.
Happy Eating!
Note: a stuffed 12 lb turkey will probably take 3 1/2-4 hours to cook, if not using stuffing, expect a total cooking time closer to 3 hours.
While perusing Epicurious's new recipes, I came across a recipe for buffalo shrimp. Those who know me might have noticed my particular love for buffalo chicken fingers, blue cheese and a cold beer-with grilled shrimp, it is just a smidgen healthier for you! (Not healthy, but healthier...)
I've adapted this based upon ingredients available local grocery store (hello, Duluth, MN) and my lack of remembering to bring a grocery list.
1 lb de-veined, shelled shrimp (leave last part of shell on tail)
1/3 cup Frank's buffalo hot sauce
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup sour cream (I always use full fat, because it tastes richer, but feel free to substitute lower fat or 1/2 plain yogurt and 1/2 sour cream)
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 chives, minced
Mix together blue cheese, sour cream, milk, lemon juice and chives. Add and pepper to taste.
Lightly salt and pepper shrimp and drizzle with olive oil.
Heat grill to medium-high heat (or use a George Foreman grill if it's raining, like I did).
Whisk together melted butter and buffalo sauce, pour into medium sized bowl.
Grill shrimp for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until pink and firm.
Toss shrimp in buffalo sauce.
Serve with blue cheese and your favorite vegetables.
Fra diavolo sauce, Italian for "brother devil," is usually tomato-based and always spicy. It's often served with a lobster tail or other shellfish. Here I prepare it with sauteed shrimp.
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (I like Delmonte or Contadina)
1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
1 lb linguine
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat up 2 tablespoons olive oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and turn heat to medium. Saute 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent being careful that garlic does not brown.
Add tomatoes and white wine and turn heat up to medium high until mixture is bubbling. Turn to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes.
After adding tomatoes and wine, heat up large pot of salted water. Once boiling, add linguine and stir to prevent noodles from sticking together. Cook according to instructions.
In separate saute pan, heat up 2 tablespoons olive oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and crushed red pepper and saute for about a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir into tomato sauce and cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in parsley and basil.
After pasta has been drained, toss with remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Mix in shrimp-tomato mixture and plate fra diavolo. Grind a little black pepper over each plate and salt to taste. Top with Parmesan cheese.
After spending 2 months bemoaning the lack of basil and Parmesan in Cuba, I discovered that the "albahaca" meant basil and was available in Havana's "super?markets", I went a bit overboard in making pasta (and was thus renamed "gordita," but that's another study). This remains one of my favorite sauces and is very easy to make.
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 red bell peppers (if small, use 3)
1 tomato, seeds removed and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced (or use 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 450.
Wash bell peppers and slice in half vertically. Remove stem, seeds and white stuff (I don't know what it is called-veins?). Place skin side up on cooking tray, drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on top and bake until tops are turning brown/black. Remove, let cool and remove skin from peppers and slice into smaller pieces.
In medium-large sauce pot, heat up remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and stir, turning heat down to medium to prevent browning. Let cook 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add bell pepper pieces, tomato, crushed red pepper and wine. Turn heat up to medium high so that liquid begins to simmer, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes.
Add chicken broth and bring pot to simmer and let cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If using dried basil, add now.
Carefully pour mixture into blender and mix until sauce is smooth. Return to sauce pot and stir in minced basil. Add Parmesan and cook over medium-low heat 10 minutes or until incorporated.
Serve with your favorite pasta (also great over grilled chicken breasts and linguine!).
P.S. "yerba buena," which literally translates to "the good herb," which is mint. Not my first guess, but I guess they would not sell the alternative at agromercados.
