Mexican Molé Marvels -Chicken Molé and Refried Beans

I'm so pleased with how this turned out!  The Instant Pot really makes it easy to have wonderful bean dishes starting from dried beans, and the Molé was simple to prepare with wonderful and complex flavours.  I used the disk of Mexican chocolate (photo), which created an amazingly rich sauce, but you can also use good quality cocoa.

 

 Pinto Refried Beans

• 2 - 4 cups cooked pinto beans (rinsed and cooked from dry in an Instant Pot gives great flavour)
• 1 cup bean cooking water reserved 
• 2 - 3 tsp reserved bacon fat, or olive oil (vegan)
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt, to taste
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried or fresh oregano
•  1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 lime, juiced with extra as needed.  I did use lemon juice as well.

Heat bacon fat or olive oil on medium heat, in a pot with enough room for using an immersion blender.  When hot enough, add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent.  

Add the spices to the onion and garlic mixture and sauté until cooked through.  Stir in the cooked pinto beans and salt.  Add the bean water and lime juice.

Using an immersion blender or a potato masher, purée the beans until mostly smooth.  Stir until fully cooked through.  Remove from heat and enjoy in many uses for refried beans.  Use as a dip and garnish with chopped cilantro, green onions, etc.

Enjoy!

 

Halal Chicken Molé  (for this recipe, I used Halal Chicken Legs, back on)

Set oven to 350ºF.

• 1 head roasted garlic
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 diced yellow onion
• 1/2 tsp or more chili flakes
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce 
• 1 disk Mexican chocolate or 2 + tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp Turkish Baharat (same spices are used, such as cinnamon, cumin, coriander, dried mint, pepper, nutmeg)
• 2 tbs Maple syrup (or honey or agave) 
• juice of a lime 
• 2-3 chopped tomatoes or 1/2 cup tomato passata
• salt and pepper, to taste 
•  8 chicken legs, back on, skinned 

In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, heat up the olive oil and sauté the diced onion and cook until translucent.  Add dried spices and incorporate.  

Stir in the chipotle in adobo sauce, tomatoes, maple syrup, chocolate, lime, and roasted garlic and cook until incorporated well and all of the chocolate has melted into the sauce.  

Remove from heat and put contents into a blender.  Blend until smooth.

Using a hotel pan or a baking sheet, place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom, for easy clean up and place the chicken down. 

Pour the molé sauce over the chicken in the 350ºF oven for an hour, or until the chicken easily comes off of the bone.

Serve with rice, tortillas, garnishes of pickled red onions, sour cream, refried beans, etc.

Enjoy!