Turkey In Mexican Peoples Sauce
Mole de Poblamo de Guajolote
The Turkey has been domesticated in Mexico since pre-Colombian days, and Turkey Guajolote or “Turkey in Sauce”, is a traditional Aztec Indian dish. I wanted to do this dish the old fashioned way…No short cuts, no surrender! That being said, it takes a while.
When I was in Pueblo, Mexico filming a few years ago you could see all of the different fresh Mole pastes being sold at the out door Market in town. There must have been over twenty different kinds! I still regret not buying a few to try out. This is a dish I’ve wanted to try for years. I finally gave it a shot why? Because this year I didn’t have to cook Turkey for Thanksgiving. I put my daughter to bed the night before Thanksgiving and stayed up until 3 AM preparing this.
Ingredients:
½ pd Pasilla Peppers
½ pd Broad Peppers
¼ pd Brown Peppers
4-10 Chillies
1 Tbl spoon Sesame seeds
½ cup Squash seeds
(What are Squash seeds and where do you find them? I have no idea…Short cut number 1, I used Pumpkin seeds instead)
½ cup Pumpkin seeds
½ cup Peanuts
2 Tbl spoons Pine Nuts
3-6 cloves Garlic, minced
½ cup Raisins
1 oz. Chocolate (semi sweet)
3 cups Olive Oil
1 large Turkey, jointed
1 stale piece of tortilla
½ slice of bread
3 Tomatoes, chopped
1 sprig, Majoram
1 sprig, Thyme
1 Bay leaf
2 cloves
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Ginger
1 Tbl spoon Aniseed
(Short cut number 2: Couldn’t find any aniseed…So I skipped this ingredient. Oops!)
½ cup Raisins
Salt to taste
I know…That’s a big ass turkey!
Remove seeds and vein peppers. Drop them in hot water to soften and let stand.
Brown Turkey in pepper flavored oil.
Arrange Turkey pieces in earthenware casserole.
Cover with salted boiling water and cook gently until tender.
Toast Sesame seeds over medium heat in a dry pan.
Toast Squash and Pumpkin seeds over medium heat, but do not brown.
Fry Tortilla, and bread slice until crisp, then crumble.
Finely grind Sesame, Pumpkin, Squash, Bread, Tortilla, and Pine nuts.
Grind Peppers and chilies together.
Saute Garlic without browning.
Add Tomatoes and sauté until it thickens.
Combine and work mixture until smooth.
Add a bit of the used oil, Majoram, Thyme, Cloves, Ginger, Cinnamon, Aniseed, Raisins, and Bay leaf to the mixture and finally salt to taste.
Add mixture to the Turkey and its broth.
(I removed the Turkey pieces and reduced the broth by about a third to richen it. I also removed the fat)
*The Mole should not be too thick, more like a very rich soup, or stew.
Finish cooking, and add the grated Chocolate at the last minute.
Serve when the Chocolate has melted and blended.
This dish was Mmmm, Mmmm, good! I boned and chilled the mole and had some the next day, even better. It was worth all of the work. HAPPY TURKEY DAAAAAAY !!!
