Chocolate & Peanut Butter make a Delicious Mexican Mole Sauce!

We LOVE this version of Mole Sauce (there are many!!).  I make mine pretty spicy but, you can change it up to fit your taste!  Sometimes I add more cinnamon.  Sometimes I add more sugar to make it a little sweet.  If you start with a good base, you can't mess this sauce up!

The last time I ate at a Mexican restaurant the food was SO horrible, I wished I would have just cooked my own Mexican meal at home!!

I sure wasn't disappointed when I ate these!!  YUMMMMM!



Chicken Enchiladas with Mole Sauce
(This recipe makes 1 batch of Enchiladas (4 servings) and 2 batches of sauce--read below.) 

INGREDIENTS:

SAUCE:
8 cups Chicken Stock
6 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
6 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 can chopped green chilies
6 tbsp. peanut butter
4 ounces good DARK chocolate, rough chopped
2 whole cloves
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
8 tbsp. chili powder
6 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
6 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. tabasco sauce (or eliminate to have mildly spice sauce)

The list of ingredients above is doubled.  It makes 2 batches of sauce.  I make one batch of enchiladas and put the other 1/2 of the sauce in the freezer and use it later.  When you take this much time to make a sauce, you might as well make enough for two meals!  

(I left the ingredients so they are easy to 1/2 if you want to only make one batch.)

ENCHILADAS:  (4 servings)
8 corn tortillas
1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
2 cups of your favorite Mexican Cheese or Monterrey Jack, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS:

MAKE THE SAUCE:
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-low heat.

Add the onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and clove.

Cover and cook until onion is very tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the chili powder and flour--stir constantly cooking for 1 minute.

Slowly whisk in the chicken stock, and tabasco (if using).  Stir in green chilies.

Increase heat to medium-high and boil constantly until sauce is reduced--35-40 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Remove from heat.

Stir in sugar, salt, peanut butter, and chocolate.

Use immersion blender (or blend in blender in small batches) until completely smooth.

Check spices --add more cinnamon, sugar, salt, or tabasco to taste.

Divide sauce in 1/2.  Store half.

MAKE THE ENCHILADAS:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly coat the bottom of a baking pan with non-stick spray.

Put the shredded chicken in a large bowl.

Stir in just enough sauce to wet the chicken.

Add a handful of shredded cheese.  Stir in.

Fill each tortilla shell with chicken mixture and place seam side down in prepared baking pan.

Cover enchiladas with remaining sauce (if sauce has become really thick, add a bit more stock or water to thin.) and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

I love to serve this with a big batch of freshly made guacamole and corn chips!

still buying pasta sauce in a jar? Why?

I recently had a very simple tomato sauce at a really nice Chicago restaurant--I was amazed at how good it was and, I HAD to try to copy it!!!  This is it!  Nothing fancy but, SOOO good!!!  

Jarred sauces don't even compare to this easy homemade sauce!  It's FRESH, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS and has NO PRESERVATIVES!!!  

Since the ingredients are already roasted, there's no need to simmer this sauce all day long.  It's delicious, flavorful, and ready to use right after you blend and season it. 

ROASTED TOMATO BASIL PASTA SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

20 Roma tomatoes, washed and halved 
1 large sweet onion, chopped into large pieces
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt & freshly ground pepper
sugar
Olive Oil
2 tbsp. Dried Basil  (or Finely Chopped Fresh Basil) 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put tomatoes, onion and garlic on a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil over all and toss to coat.

Turn the tomatoes cut side up.

Sprinkle everything with salt & pepper.

Very lightly sprinkle only the tomatoes with sugar.

Roast approximately 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned.

Put everything (including any remaining olive oil) from the baking sheet into a deep sauce pot and use immersion blender to combine. (Or put everything into your blender.)  Blend briefly for a chunky sauce or longer for a smooth sauce.

Sprinkle basil into sauce, and adjust the salt & pepper.  (Salt really brings out the flavor of this sauce--not sure if you've used enough salt?  Take a spoonful of sauce out of the pot--salt it, does it taste better??  That's a simple way to help you determine if the entire pot has been seasoned enough.  Same with pepper!)

If using dried basil, let the sauce sit for a few minutes to allow the basil to soften.

Use this sauce in your favorite Italian recipe, or simply spoon over pasta!   

Enjoy!!! 

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

I made these cookies this year but, I forgot to take pictures.  They came out WONDERFUL and really tasted good!  I couldn't even tell that they were gluten free!!!  

Since we make cookies all year round, I figured I'd just go ahead and post this recipe! PLUS--Valentine's Day is coming!! How about some heart shaped sugar cookies with red sprinkles for your Valentine this year!!  

p.s.  You don't have to roll these out and cut them with cutters.  You can simply scoop them with your cookie scoop and top with sprinkles before baking OR bake them plain then dip into a glaze and sprinkle with decorative sugar!  


GLUTEN FREE SUGAR COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tbsp. milk or water
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
2 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I used Cup4Cup) +extra for surface if rolling out.
1/2 tsp. xantham gum (only if it’s not in the flour!  Cup4Cup has it already in the flour)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl at medium speed.

Add egg, milk (or water), vanilla, salt and cinnamon (if using).  Blend until combined.

Add xantham gum (if necessary) and flour.  Mix until combined.

Cut dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll dough about 1/4” thick on a heavily floured surface with a floured rolling pin.

Cut with cutters and place 2” apart on baking sheet.  

Decorate cookies now (before baking) with colored sugars/sprinkles OR decorate with frosting after cookies are completely cooled.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned.

Cool on sheet a few minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!