Jeßus wrote:
> Wouldn't mind seeing your recipe if you have the time Jen - and yes,

Sure I didn't write it down properly, but I think I remember
everything, so here goes:

about 15 dried chiles - I used ones with a heat scale of about 2-4,
mostly. Like New Mexicos, Guajillos, Anchos, Mulatos, and Cascabels,
but I also had one chipotle and a habanero. Most were New Mexico and Ancho.

Leave the chiles intact and toast them in a hot, dry frying pan for
about 10 seconds per side - be careful not to scorch them or they turn
bitter. Once toasted, put them in a glass bowl with just boiled water
to cover - leave for about 45 minutes or until all of the next steps
are complete. I leave the stems and seeds intact for this, too.

10 - 15 blanched almonds
1 tbls sesame seeds
1/2 large onion, chopped
10 - 15 raisins
2 large tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped, and drained
or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, drained of juice and rinsed,
and drained until needed
3 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp cinnamon
a little lard

Toast the almonds and seeds in a dry skillet until the almonds start to
turn golden and the sesame seeds start to pop. Remove and set aside.

Put a little lard in the skillet (enough to just coat the bottom) and
fry the onions on high heat until they start to go black at the edges.
Set aside. In the same pan, fry the garlic and raisins until they start
to turn brown and puff up a bit and the garlic goes golden. Remove and
set aside (in the same place you put the almonds and seeds is fine -
they all get mixed together, anyway!).

Put the herbs and spices in the frying pan and toast for a few seconds;
until you can start to smell them. Add the tomatoes and cook until
they're nearly dry and paste-like. Takes a while - about 20 minutes.
It's ok if they start to go black around the edges, too.

Mix the last set of ingredients together and pop it into a food
processor or blender and blend to a paste. That said, in doing it
again, I think I'd grind the sesame seeds in a mortar before I add them
to the tomato/onion mixture. That way you don't get left with any whole
seeds. Remove the paste and set it aside. Time to play with the chiles!

For this step, you need 2-3 corn tortillas.

The chiles should now be well soaked. Take them out of the water and
split them to get rid of the seeds and pith. Add the corn tortillas to
the chile water and leave them for a few minutes until they're almost
ready to fall apart. Pop them into the food precessor and whizz them up
for a few seconds with the cleaned chiles. Press this mixture through a
fine sieve with a big spoon. This will also get rid of any remaining
seeds and membranes.

Lastly, you need about 100g good, dark chocolate (needs to be at least
70% cocoa solids)

Add the chile paste and the tomato/onion paste to the frying pan along
with a little lard. Fry this mixture until it starts to go dry and
pasty. Basically, you want to cook a lot of the liquid out. Add the
chocolate at the very last minute and stir until it's thoroughly melted
and mixed through. Leave to meld the flavours overnight.

To make up, add 1 cup of chicken stock per 1 1/2 - 2 heaping tablespoons
of paste - or so... it depends on what you want to do with it and how
thick you want it to be - and cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt to
taste. I've used it for enchiladas and as a sauce for arroz con pollo,
so far. Mostly enchiladas, because that's a relatively unknown Mexican
food item in my area of the UK and I was sharing with friends. heh

Anyway, hope it's useful!

-Jen