Turkey with Cashew-Mole Sauce

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.

Elote: Mexican Grilled Corn

Grilling corn turns a mere vegetable into a tasty summer treat. The heat caramelizes the corn's sugars and imparts a delicious, smoky taste.

Mexican corn on the cob, or elote, combines the sweetness of grilled corn with salty cotija cheese, tart lime and fiery cayenne.

Making your own elote is rather simple:

4 ears corn
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup grated cotija cheese (use Parmesan if not available in your area)
1 lime
Cayenne pepper

Soak 4 cobs of corn, in their husks for 30 minutes (this will prevent the husk from burning before the corn has finished cooking).

Prepare a medium-hot grill.

Shuck corn, leaving husks attached to the ends of the cob. Pull husks back up and tie with a small piece of cooking twine.

Grill corn for 20-25 minutes, turning after every 5 minutes to ensure the kernels cook evenly.

Remove from grill and remove husks.

Roll each corn in butter and then spread mayonnaise over cob.

Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Sprinkle a little cayenne pepper over each cob, depending on your tastes.

Squeeze lime over corn before serving.

Queso Fresco

So, in addition to the Crema Mexicana that I made last night, I also made queso fresco for the first time. For those who are not familiar, queso fresco is a Latin American firm, crumbly cheese that is usually a bit salty and does not melt easily. Going along with the whole "in a recession thus must save money" mindset, I decided to make my own cheese. It is incredibly easy.

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon whole milk (pasteurized)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Salt

Heat milk over medium heat in large sauce pot until it starts to steam, about 180 degrees. I do not have a thermometer to check the temp, so I just waited until the milk was steaming, but not boiling.

Add vinegar slowly, whisking whilst you pour. The milk should curdle at this point. Turn heat to medium-how and continue stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.














Remove from heat and let set for 20 minutes. Lightly salt the curdled milk. (A couple of shakes-you can add more later).

Line a large colander with cheesecloth. Pour entire contents of sauce pot slowly into the colander. Lift the edges of the cheesecloth to form a make-shift sack, forming the curds into a large ball and let the whey (the liquid) drain from the cheese. Set in the colander until cool enough to handle.

Periodically (every 30 minutes or so) lift up sack and twist above cheese to squeeze out excess liquid. Do this for 3 hours, then refrigerate.

*The next time I make this I might add some diced bell pepper or jalapenos...or add minced sun dried tomatoes and black olives.

Crema Mexicana

After having a mystery white sauce at Tacos Lupita in Somerville, MA, and being told about crema mexicana by DuoDishes, I decided the two were the same and that I need to make it for a shrimp enchilada dish I am preparing for lunch tomorrow. It seems absurdly easy to make, and I really hope that it turns out.

My great fear is that is that although seems easy, it may actually turn into a fatal compound if the slightest error occurs. (Hi, my name is Caitlin, and I am a hypochondriac. "Hi Caitlin...")

But anyways, I did the deed and will update y'all tomorrow with a photo and description of the finished product. (As of the morning after...much thicker, added some cumin, paprika and chili powder). If you see no updates in the next week, don't make the recipe ; )

Anyways..here goes.

Ingredients:

2 cups cream, try to find one that is pasteurized but not ultra, super or overly pasteurized.
1/4 cup buttermilk
Dash salt

Bring cream to room temperature, or heat in small saucepan. DO NOT heat over 100 degrees Farenheit. This apparently is very bad. So don't do it!

Stir in buttermilk and a dash of salt.

Keep covered in warm (80-90) location. For example, southern California or Florida. If that is not possible, an oven's pilot light is supposed to be a good place. I have mine above my cable box (it always is warm to the touch). Leave overnight (6-8 hours). It should appear thickened after this time.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. It stays good about 7 days in the fridge.

You can spice it up by adding (after the overnight period) cilantro, cumin, paprika, chili, chipotles in adobo sauce...you name it!