I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
is supposed to be this hard?
Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?

On Feb 7, 2:58*pm, Pringles CheezUms > wrote:
> I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
> At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
> had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
> with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
> still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
> is supposed to be this hard?
> Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
> mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?

The stuff in the jar was mole paste. I googled "how to use mole
paste"
(since I don't have a lot of experience with it), and came up with
some links on how to dilute the paste into a sauce. Which technique
you use probably depends on what you're going to use it for.

Cindy Hamilton

"Pringles CheezUms" > wrote in message
...
>I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
> At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
> had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
> with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
> still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
> is supposed to be this hard?
> Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
> mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?

That's the stuff. You'll need to heat it up to soften it. You can stand it
in a pot of boiling water or possibly nuke it for a few seconds. But the
good stuff is pretty thick.

Paul

Paul M. Cook > wrote:

>"Pringles CheezUms" > wrote in message

>>I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
>> At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
>> had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
>> with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
>> still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
>> is supposed to be this hard?
>> Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
>> mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?

>That's the stuff. You'll need to heat it up to soften it. You can stand it
>in a pot of boiling water or possibly nuke it for a few seconds. But the
>good stuff is pretty thick.

I have never been impressed with the jarred mole products. I find it
relatively simple to make a good mole sauce from scratch.

Steve
>Paul
>
>

"Steve Pope" > wrote in message
...
> Paul M. Cook > wrote:
>
>>"Pringles CheezUms" > wrote in message
>
>>>I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
>>> At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
>>> had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
>>> with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
>>> still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
>>> is supposed to be this hard?
>>> Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
>>> mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?
>
>>That's the stuff. You'll need to heat it up to soften it. You can stand
>>it
>>in a pot of boiling water or possibly nuke it for a few seconds. But the
>>good stuff is pretty thick.
>
> I have never been impressed with the jarred mole products. I find it
> relatively simple to make a good mole sauce from scratch.
>

I find it really time consuming. Good mole can take a whole day to make and
it can be quite labor intensive. And I was taught to make mole by my former
Latin-American girlfriend's mom.

Paul

Paul M. Cook > wrote:

>"Steve Pope" > wrote in message

>> I have never been impressed with the jarred mole products. I find it
>> relatively simple to make a good mole sauce from scratch.

>I find it really time consuming. Good mole can take a whole day to make and
>it can be quite labor intensive. And I was taught to make mole by my former
>Latin-American girlfriend's mom.

There are some very labor-intensive procedures for making mole, but I
have found that (for me) the super-long procedures are not completely
essential to a good result.

It somewhat depends upon what you're looking for.


Steve

On Mon, 7 Feb 2011 23:40:25 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> I find it relatively simple to make a good mole sauce from scratch.

I tried making mole once, it was anything but simple and I failed. I
don't like the jarred stuff either.


--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 03:26:14 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> There are some very labor-intensive procedures for making mole, but I
> have found that (for me) the super-long procedures are not completely
> essential to a good result.

Where's your recipe? I'm interested.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

sf > wrote:

>On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 03:26:14 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>> There are some very labor-intensive procedures for making mole, but I
>> have found that (for me) the super-long procedures are not completely
>> essential to a good result.

>Where's your recipe? I'm interested.

Generally I start by making an enchilada sauce, and then
add (bar) chocolate and spices. I do not fry or sautee anything.
I do not include some ingredients that are commonly included,
such as torn-up tortillas, but I do include all or nearly all
the spices stated in commonly-found recipes. It is ready in about two
hours.

The most recent batch, I used some Mexican chocolate (which is very sweet)
and some 85% dark chocolate. The ratio of these then determines how sweet
the sauce will be.

You do have to start with good chiles. Most typically I will use dried
NM and guajillo chiles, and powdered pasilla chile.

Steve

On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 04:58:42 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> The most recent batch, I used some Mexican chocolate (which is very sweet)
> and some 85% dark chocolate. The ratio of these then determines how sweet
> the sauce will be.
>
> You do have to start with good chiles. Most typically I will use dried
> NM and guajillo chiles, and powdered pasilla chile.

Oh, good! That sounds a lot easier than what I tried to do. I have
Mexican chocolate, all of the chiles in powder form and no mocahete so
I won't be pounding anything. How much (about) chocolate do you add
to what size enchilada sauce? I'll assume you don't bother with nuts.
TIA

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

sf > wrote:

>On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 04:58:42 +0000 (UTC), (Steve

>> You do have to start with good chiles. Most typically I will use dried
>> NM and guajillo chiles, and powdered pasilla chile.

>Oh, good! That sounds a lot easier than what I tried to do. I have
>Mexican chocolate, all of the chiles in powder form and no mocahete so
>I won't be pounding anything. How much (about) chocolate do you add
>to what size enchilada sauce? I'll assume you don't bother with nuts.
>TIA

It does not take much chocolate. I used I would say about an ounce
each of Mexican and dark chocolate, in a batch that was about a
pint and a half. What you are describing will work, if the particular
chile powders you are using are good enough to create a good sauce.

Steve

On Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:58:43 -0600 in rec.food.cooking, Pringles
CheezUms > wrote,
>I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
>At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
>had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
>with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
>still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
>is supposed to be this hard?

I think that means you got the good stuff.

On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 12:12:03 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

> sf > wrote:
>
> >On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 04:58:42 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
>
> >> You do have to start with good chiles. Most typically I will use dried
> >> NM and guajillo chiles, and powdered pasilla chile.
>
> >Oh, good! That sounds a lot easier than what I tried to do. I have
> >Mexican chocolate, all of the chiles in powder form and no mocahete so
> >I won't be pounding anything. How much (about) chocolate do you add
> >to what size enchilada sauce? I'll assume you don't bother with nuts.
> >TIA
>
> It does not take much chocolate. I used I would say about an ounce
> each of Mexican and dark chocolate, in a batch that was about a
> pint and a half. What you are describing will work, if the particular
> chile powders you are using are good enough to create a good sauce.
>
Thanks, I'll give it a try - couldn't turn out any worse than the last
time and has every chance of being better.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On 2/7/2011 9:42 PM, Paul M. Cook wrote:
> "Steve > wrote in message
> ...
>> Paul M. > wrote:
>>
>>> "Pringles > wrote in message
>>
>>>> I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
>>>> At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
>>>> had the consistency of very very tough& dry homemade peanut butter,
>>>> with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
>>>> still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
>>>> is supposed to be this hard?
>>>> Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
>>>> mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?
>>
>>> That's the stuff. You'll need to heat it up to soften it. You can stand
>>> it
>>> in a pot of boiling water or possibly nuke it for a few seconds. But the
>>> good stuff is pretty thick.
>>
>> I have never been impressed with the jarred mole products. I find it
>> relatively simple to make a good mole sauce from scratch.
>>
>
> I find it really time consuming. Good mole can take a whole day to make and
> it can be quite labor intensive. And I was taught to make mole by my former
> Latin-American girlfriend's mom.
>
> Paul

Yeah, I made some once - totally from scratch. Took 3 days and it had
35 ingredients, each of which had to have something complicated and
time-consuming before it was put in the mole. Sheesh! And then it
turned out I didn't even like it! I'm up for buying it.

Kate


--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Kate Connally > wrote:

>Yeah, I made some once - totally from scratch. Took 3 days and it had
>35 ingredients, each of which had to have something complicated and
>time-consuming before it was put in the mole. Sheesh! And then it
>turned out I didn't even like it!

I suspect some of these ultra-complex recipes are intended to discourage
people from even trying to make it and preserve the myth that only a
select few know how to make the stuff.

S.

In article >,
Pringles CheezUms > wrote:

> I have a recipe for tacos that uses mole sauce.
> At the grocery store, all they had was a jar of mole, that when opened
> had the consistency of very very tough & dry homemade peanut butter,
> with the oil on top. Even when I stirred the liquid back in, it was
> still very hard to stir. I mean, it smelled pretty good and all, but is
> is supposed to be this hard?
> Is this mole that I got the mole sauce the recipe wanted, or is there
> mole 'sauce' like i think of it that is pourable?

The stuff in the jar is a concentrate. You only use a spoonful of it,
stirred into some broth. I like to use Doña Maria brand mole, and thin
it with chicken broth, heating and stirring in a fry pan. I usually add
enough liquid to get a light syrupy consistency, and maybe tweaking it
by adding a bit of garlic, sugar, or other spices as the mood inspires
me. Then I toss in some previously browned chicken thighs, or pork,
covering and simmering until done. This is served with rice, garnished
with toasted sesame seeds and/or chopped green onions.

Not as good as the best Oaxacan moles I have enjoyed, but better than a
poke in the eye by a sharp stick.

You can make your own mole concentrate. Look for small mounds of dirt
on your lawn. Listen for rustling in the holes, then quickly dig out
the moles. Hang them up to dry out on your porch for a few weeks, then
grind them into a thick paste using an authentic molcajete y tejolote.

--
Julian Vrieslander

Julian Vrieslander > wrote:

>I like to use Doña Maria brand mole, and thin
>it with chicken broth, heating and stirring in a fry pan.

I've tried that product and I recall the sodium content is stunningly
high.

By the time you've diluted it with enough other ingredients to
bring it back into balance, you may as well have started from scratch.



S.

In article >,
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> Julian Vrieslander > wrote:
>
> >I like to use Doña Maria brand mole, and thin
> >it with chicken broth, heating and stirring in a fry pan.
>
> I've tried that product and I recall the sodium content is stunningly
> high.
>
> By the time you've diluted it with enough other ingredients to
> bring it back into balance, you may as well have started from scratch.

I just looked at the nutrition data on the bottle. They report 400mg of
sodium in a single 2 tablespoon serving. I probably use less than that
amount in a dinner prep for Cindy and me. And we often have leftovers.
I also use low sodium broth with it.

If either of us ingested the entire 400mg of sodium, that would be 17%
of the government rated daily value. Much lower than many other menus,
and certainly not "stunningly high". Maybe you are thinking of another
brand.

I made mole from scratch, once. No, I did not use burrowing mammals
from our backyard. But I made the mistake of skillet frying a batch of
dried chiles in our kitchen. Very bad idea. It filled the entire house
with capsaicin-loaded smoke, Mexican nerve gas. We had to evacuate. If
I ever make that stuff again, I'll do the chiles outdoors, on the grill.

--
Julian Vrieslander

In article >,
Julian Vrieslander > wrote:

> You can make your own mole concentrate. Look for small mounds of dirt
> on your lawn. Listen for rustling in the holes, then quickly dig out
> the moles. Hang them up to dry out on your porch for a few weeks, then
> grind them into a thick paste using an authentic molcajete y tejolote.

Aw, jeez, Julian! The visual in my mind's eye is cracking me up. Do
you hang them by their ears or by their tails? Do moles have tails?

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Julian Vrieslander wrote:
>
>> You can make your own mole concentrate. Look for small mounds of dirt
>> on your lawn. Listen for rustling in the holes, then quickly dig out
>> the moles. Hang them up to dry out on your porch for a few weeks, then
>> grind them into a thick paste using an authentic molcajete y tejolote.
>
>Aw, jeez, Julian! The visual in my mind's eye is cracking me up. Do
>you hang them by their ears or by their tails? Do moles have tails?

And if you don't like moles get your *tail* to Lowes... you need
this... works great:
http://www.wrsweeney.com/mole_gopher...t=solar_spikes