Shredded Chicken Enchiladas with Red Mole Sauce and Refried Beans

Tonight's dinner inspired by our good foodie friend's request for something Mexican, (thanks for the inspiration!!!) and taken from and "remodeled" from my early Mother's Day gift from my husband, Rick Bayless's cookbook, "Mexican Kitchen."  He is the god of Mexican cuisine, foodie style...  Yes, yes, I must put my own flare into even celebrity chef's recipes to make my own.  I just love to enhance and know that any recipe you do can be better than what's written.  What an amazing foodie Mexican meal!  My hubby was so tortured by the aromas floating through the house while this was being prepared. "Is it done yet?" he would say...  Little did he know that Mole sauce (mow-lay) takes 45 minutes to "cure" on the stove top.  The flavors of Mexico just melded together so elegantly and effortlessly on my part in this wonderful dinner.  There were so many steps and things to do, but for me, it was wonderful to spend time in the kitchen with my Jazz and wine which inspired me even more. Isn't it so crazy that I can get so excited over receiving things like a cookbook and be on top of the world???  I actually screamed when I opened my gift!! =) (thanks Hubby!!!)  I am so easy to please with ANYthing kitchen related.  It's better to me then jewelry!!!!!! I never knew Mexican food could taste soooooo good and so NOT Tex-mex like those greasy restaurants like On The Border.  This recipe takes a lot of time AND ingredients, but is well worth the efforts put forth for a truly amazing foodie Mexican meal.  You can find the original recipe in Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen on page 178.  I did make a few changes, but, that's me... =)


What you need for 1 Cup Seasoning Paste:
~10 Garlic cloves unpeeled
~10 fresh hot peppers such as chili peppers stems removed and seeded.  Bayless likes to use dried Ancho chili's for this and I have to use fresh because here in Switzerland you cannot find special peppers let alone dried peppers other than pepper flakes.  It's very frustrating, but I work around it.  However a word of caution when working with fresh hot peppers, wear food prepping gloves when seeding.  If you happen to get any of the oil on your fingers and touch your eyes or lips, forget it.... it will burn like a fire. =)
~1 1/2 Tsp dried Oregano
~1/8 Tsp Cumin
~1/2 Tsp Black pepper
~1/4 Tsp fresh ground cloves (use your mortar and pestle for this job.
~6 Cups chicken broth (Use the broth from the poached chicken, recipe below)


Let's get to work:
1) Take the Garlic and place in a hot pan turning every so often until black spots appear. About 15 minutes  This method is fantastic for 'roasting' garlic and much quicker. Set aside to cool.  Once cooled, peel and set aside.
2) In the same pan, take the hot peppers and take a spatula and flatten them down until they crackle and skin changes color.  Be very careful here because as they begin to heat up, they emit a 'vapor' of hot pepper and it really can get into your throat and make you cough!  I usually just hold a paper towel around my nose and mouth when doing this step.  What a sight that must be as if I'm working with something caustic. :) Set the peppers aside.
3)In a food processor, place the peppers, peeled garlic, Oregano, Pepper, Cumin and Cloves and 2/3 Cup of the chicken broth and blend until it looks like a smooth puree. Press through a mesh strainer and set the paste aside.


What you need for the mole:
~3 Tbsp bacon grease (more flavorful than oil)
~1/2 Cup almond slivers
~1 Medium sized onion sliced
~1 Medium tomato broiled in a pan turning after dark spots appear to broil the other side.  Remove skin and set aside.
~1/2 Tsp Cinnamon 
~1/4 Cup Dark chocolate cut roughly
~2 Slices white bread, crusts removed
~About 2 1/2 Tsp of salt.  Use your judgement here as  it all depends on how salty your broth is.
~1 Tbsp sugar
~1/4 Raisins
~Package of large Corn tortillas or regular.  
~3 Cups shredded chicken (recipe to follow)


Let's get to work making the mole:
1)In a dutch oven, heat bacon lard and add almond slivers and stir around until golden.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place in food processor.
2)Next add onion slices and more bacon grease if needed and caramelize the onions.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place in the food processor along with your roasted and peeled tomato.
3)Next add the raisins to the same pan and stir around until puffed up.  Add to the food processor.
4)Add 1 cup of broth to the food processor along with the chocolate, cinnamon and bread slices.  Process until you get a nice smooth puree.  Pour into the Dutch oven and heat.  Once hot, add the chili paste that was set aside.  Then stir in juice of half a lemon and the rest of the broth (about 4 1/3 cups).  Simmer on medium/low heat for 45 minutes, then add sugar and salt.  Mole is supposed to be on the sweet side.


What you need for the poached chicken:
~3 pounds of chicken pieces.  I like to use the thighs and legs (Can't find chicken breasts here that have the skin on and bone in UNLESS you get a full chicken and cut it up, which to me is not worth the efforts when you can already buy pieces.
~1 Medium onion sliced
~1 carrot peeled and sliced thin
~1 Chili pepper stemmed and seeded 
~1 1/2 Tsp salt
~4 Garlic cloves peeled and chopped
~3 Bay leaves
~1/4 Tsp Dried Thyme.


Let's get to work:
1) In a large pot, place the chicken pieces in and fill with water until chicken is covered.  Add the rest of the ingredients and over medium heat and slightly boiling, cook chicken for about 45 minutes.  Strain and reserve the broth.  Remove the skin from the chicken and with your hands remove the meat from the bones shredding it coarsely. Set aside in a bowl.


Assembly:
Pour half of the Mole sauce in with the chicken and toss until coated.  Heat tortillas in the micro for about 10 seconds to warm and place on plate.  Scoop about a half cup of the chicken mixture in the center and fold sides over, then roll.  I like to also put a smear of refried beans on the tortilla as well and the chicken on top of that, but you don't have to. Place on a plate and continue with process until all rolled.  Pour the rest of the mole sauce over the rolled tortillas and top with fresh chopped onions and fresh roughly chopped cilantro.  Serve with refried beans (Recipe below)


What you need for the refried beans:
~2 Cans with liquid of any beans you would like to use.  I used red kidney beans because that's pretty much all they have here other than garbanzo's and white beans.  I like a reddish color to my refried beans.  You can make it with white beans as well if you want.
~8 garlic cloves roughly chopped
~1 Onion chopped
~Salt to taste
~Black pepper to taste
~2 Tbsp Bacon grease


Let's get to work:
Heat the bacon grease and add the onion and stir frequently until browned nicely.  Then add garlic stirring until nicely browned, but not burned.  Add the beans and their liquids and stir until beans are warmed through (warm beans mash much easier than cold ones).  Then with a handheld immersion blender, blend together in the pan over low heat and blend all over until a nice smooth paste forms.  If you like your beans soupier, you can add some chicken broth to it until desired consistency.  We like them thick.  After blended stir to evenly heat and serve with fresh chopped onion and chopped fresh Cilantro.  YUMMY!!