Every Sunday, I plan out our meals for the week and go grocery shopping to get what I need to make these meals. As a person who really loves to cook and also grew up not eating out a lot, we do a good job of sticking to the planned, home-cooked meals most weeks. Of course, there are days I am traveling for work, feel exhausted, uninspired, or want to go check out some new restaurant on a whim but otherwise, I quite enjoy this ritual of planning, grocery shopping, and prepping for the week.

This week, I decided make my mole poblano sauce on a Sunday, freeze two-thirds of it, and use the last third to make chicken mole poblano for a rather luxurious weeknight meal on a random weeknight. If you’ve never had mole, it is a perfectly balanced and super complex sauce with chiles, chocolate, nut butter, tomatoes, sesame seeds, raisins, and more. That list of ingredients sounds really strange, I know, but in the right proportions, it all comes together like the ensemble cast of a great TV show - everyone has an important role to play and together, they make magic. It’s typically a party meal and can take a long time to prepare but my recipe, adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, can really be prepared in about an hour and a half (at most). The sauce itself takes about 20 minutes to make. Then you braise the chicken in an oven in the sauce for 45-60 minutes. The oven does most of the work, which is what I like on a weeknight because even a girl who loves to cook needs a break once in a while.

Since the sauce is prepared quickly on the stove top, the cooking process in the oven is necessary to deepen the flavor. When using my frozen stash of mole, I add a little water to loosen the thawed sauce and then pour it over the my protein to roast in the oven. Alternatively, this is also spectacular over roasted cauliflower. In that case, I simply stick the sauce alone in the oven for 30 mins, roast the cauliflower in the same oven until it’s crispy, about 30 mins as well, and then drizzle the sauce over the vegetables; this means the vegetables aren’t mushy and are much more texturaly interesting. Once ready, I love mole with some cilantro-lime rice or with corn tortillas in taco-form.

Makes enough sauce for 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 dried ancho chiles, seeds and stems removed, torn into 1/2 in pieces

• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, 1 tbsp adobo sauce

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced

• 1 oz bittersweet chocolate or Mexican chocolate, roughly chopped

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 can (14.5oz) crushed tomatoes

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1/4 cup almond or peanut butter

• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds or pepitas

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds, plus some for the garnish

• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth

• salt and pepper to taste

• 3-4 lbs bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed

• Cilantro and lime to serve

Method

Heat a 4-6 quart dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Once heated through, add the the ancho chiles and dry roast for 2-4 mins, or until fragrant. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Add the oil to the dutch oven and once shimmering, add the onions, a sprinkle of salt and soften for 5-7 mins.Then stir in the chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, and toasted chiles. Cook until the chocolate has melted and started bubbling, about 2 mins. Now stir in the minced garlic and cook for another 30 secs-1 min.

Next, add the tomatoes, raisins, almond or peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds. Stir through for 1-2 mins. Lastly, add the chicken broth. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 mins, or until the sauce has thickened.

While the sauce cooks, preheat the oven to 400 F.

Now, blend the cooked sauce in batched in a blender. Taste for salt and season if needed.

Prepare the chicken. Par the pieces of chicken dry with paper towel and arrange in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the blended mole sauce over the chicken and turn each piece to coat all sides. Place the dish in the middle rack in the oven and cook for 45-50 mins.

Remove from the oven and rest for 10 mins. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cilantro. Serve with rice or corn tortillas and a squeeze of lime!