I have loved Mole Sauce since I was first introduced to it at age eighteen.  My co-worker Loretta,  was of Mexican descent and one evening after work made us homemade cheese enchiladas with Mole sauce from scratch.  I was hooked.  Over the years, I’ve experienced everything from average mole sauce to spectacular mole sauce when dining at Mexican restaurants around the world. What I’ve never done is attempt to make this complex and richly nuanced sauce myself. That is until yesterday….

Cobbling together multiple recipes and then pulling ingredients from my pantry, fridge and freezer, I went to work.  It turned out incredibly well (Spence rated it A+ and 5 star). Of course, I neglected to write it down precisely while making it. That said, I’m going to share the steps I followed and what I used.  I’d encourage you to try it and play with these flavors until it tastes perfect to you. Was it alot of work? Yes.  Was the effort worthy of the outcome?  Oh yeah.

Mole Sauce

• 3 cloves minced garlic
• olive oil
• 2 T chili powder
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t cumin
• salt & coarse ground pepper

Place the garlic, olive oil and dry ingredients (above) in a sauce pan set at a medium-low heat, warming and softening the garlic – not browning it – for 7-10 minutes. Into the same sauce pan, add the following:

• 1/2 c chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1 – 2 T Chipolte in Adobo
• 1 16 oz can of chicken broth
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T grated or finely chopped sweet onion

After adding these items, bring to boil then reduce to simmer for 8-10 minutes. Pour through a strainer, place liquids back into sauce pan, discard solids.  Increase heat (not to boiling), adding these next ingredients:

• 2 T tomato paste
• 2 T smooth peanut butter
• semisweet chocolate chips – between 1/4 to 1/2 cup (start with less, add more to taste)
• 1-2 T sesame seeds – lightly toasted in a dry skillet

Stir together until smooth and allow to simmer at a low temp for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  The sauce will reduce and if it becomes too thick, add a bit more chicken stock.

Wet Beef Burritos with Mole

• 1 recipe Mole Sauce – heated
• Taco Meat – Ground Beef seasoned with garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, pepper & Mexican seasoning blend
• Finely Shredded Mexican Four Cheese Blend
• Flour Tortilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat each tortilla, one at a time, on the burner of your stove until soft and pliable (20-30 seconds).  Assemble by spooning in meat, then cheese – rolling up like a burrito. Place in baking dish. Continue assembling the remaining burritos. Spoon a generous amount of mole sauce over each burrito covering top and sides, top with more cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted on top.