Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Chicken Mole Sandwich

If someone handed you a 2 kg bag of enourmous chuncks of chocolate what would you do with it? I take it back, I don't want to know.

Truth be told, I’m not terribly fond of making “chocolate” related foods. When it comes to cocao I like it dark & bitter & plain. I don’t actually love chocolate cake, I rarely "crave" chococlate infused sweets that much, I’m not even terribly fond of working with the stuff. Of course I went through the chocolate leaves, chocolate curls phase, but that was more like a science experiment. To be honest, I like something that won’t melt at body temperature. (Baker’s hands not Pastry hands)

My son asked me why we don't eat the cacao bean straight, so I launched into a diatribe about where chocolate came from & how the Incas first used it and how the Westerners first defiled it etc…. It is then that I am hit with a lightning bolt of creativity from the Food God. (Bless his name) I crack open my 100Y Better Homes & Garden’s Grilling Book (Basically a manual for manly men who like to stand outside in a haze of smoke from a burn pit with tongs in one hand & a beer in the other) and find this:

“Would you believe chocolate & Mexican Chili peppers could taste this good?”

So I checked my heart:

4 Chicken Breasts (check)
Giant bag of chocolate (check)
Empty agenda except baby, dinner & oldest 3 kids for school (check-check and double check)

So it basically went like this, this is not word for word “by the books” but this is how it worked for me:

For the Mole
- 1 onion diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 (not Mexican but Korean) dried, deseeded & minced peppers
- 2 tbsp oil
- 85 grams of chocolate
- 1 c water

So you fry the onion & garlic in a skillet till tender & then add the pepper & water. When that comes to a simmer add the chocolate. Oh….there it goes….can’t turn back now. Simmer uncovered for about 3-5 min till it’s thick & throw in the blender & BLEND, baby!

Now stand there with a gleeful smile on your face as your whole household comes down one by one to try to “bum” chocolate off of you & instead discover that you mixed it with garlic. Nya ha ha!!

So the rest is easy as pie:

Set about 2 tbsp of the “mole mix” aside for each Chicken breast. Now cut a slit in your chicken breast horizontal like. This I enjoyed immensely. If you use a sharp knife you can slit the chicken starting at the fatest side & bring the knife around in a half circle but still only leaving a 2 inch incision where the knife when in. Next (forceps, nurse), spoon the chocolate mole into the chicken. Lather the reserved mole mixture on the bottom of the chicken breast (the side without the skin) & then grill on medium low or BBQ. Don’t ask me about timing cuz’ I always just wing it but it should take about 10 min for each side. Add more sauce when you turn it. And I don't know about YOU, but I like my grilled food with a little bit of a burn, makes me feel like I BBQ'd it for real.
Good Lord, that looks great!

Lastly, after you take it off the flame, let it rest for about 30 min. (Ain’t it exhausting being a chicken?)

Now for the avocado spread:

2 avocados
½ c mayo
½ lemon
s&p

Do I really need to tell you what to do with that? Keep it chuncky & adjust accordingly. I would’ve added a bit of EV olive oil even.

Now, slice & serve as a sandwich with some bread or Buns, (this is the recipe “all purpose” buns for burgers, works out pretty good) tomatoes & lettuce & avocado spread, I even reserved some of the extra chocolate mole sauce & put that in my sandwich too. And by gosh-golly, I was darn-tootin’ happy with myself. Between serving seconds & feeding mashed grossness to the Muncher, I thought it was a great sandwich.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was pure, unsweetened chocolate?

On another note, "...feeding mashed grossness to the Muncher"?? Who's "the Muncher"? Don't tell me Hunny is eating already & I really did actually just miss that much of his life!

Now to go console myself w/ chocolate... (J/K, heheh ;)

Anonymous said...

LOL! Al, you make anything sound fun and fantastic!
Love ya & looking forward to seeing you and the gang sometime. :)

Jay said...

Mmmm that looks so good! Exotic! You could SELL that! Now I know what my next birthday menu request will be! BTW there is only one "c" in chunky! ~According to the official slang dictionary anyway. ~Love, the spellhound of heaven

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Each one of your recipes is a winner. I'll give this one a try for sure. Junior.

Florence said...

AL! OMG this is the first time I've looked at your blog when I was this hungry and I'm getting hungrier by the minute. Oh my god, I'm salivating and it's not pretty!!! HELP. I MUST HAVE FOOD. I would run down to the 99 and buy some Jagarikos or something but it won't be enough now!!! You've ruined me to all cheap snacks. I must have this food of which you post, lest I die a slow and painful death! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Anonymous said...

So this is it.
http://mealsnmuscles.blogspot.com
Thank you for linking me.

Anonymous said...

Cool! Your blog is up and running! I checked daily for a week after your "Time to Say Goodbye" post, and then I left your site be...but apparently according to Christian, you were back in the blogging game.

hurrah!

Amanda Rudow said...

amanda the odd freckled fat one here.

i have to say, today was a good day to wake up to.
not only did you leave a really happy comment on my blog, i came here to find you'd not only resurrected this but with style also.
a massive hug to you and your genious for all the pictures of yumminess that made me drool and run for the kitchen. oh and your little random posts about your children make me laugh muchly.
=)

your kids look absolutely amazing, i especially love their modelling pictures. my favorite is the one of trav with his "best foot forward".

and you have a new baby? what's this?! i feel really isolated and stupid now...

well, here's to you and food and longwinded comments.

love, amanda

Babylove said...

Daddio: Thanks for the spell check. Great knowing you "got my back"

Flojo: I think it sounds more exotic than it even tasted. It was really just like a good BBQ sandwich.

Kenfrog: You found me, hee! Sorry wasn't meaning to keep anyone out of the loop.

Miss Amanda: You are too kind. Thank you for your comment. Yes, I suppose I did end up with another baby somehow & don't be fooled by the pics of Mr. Trav, he's still as monstrous as ever!