MOLE & GUACAMOLE ENCHILADAS
Enchiladas are a dish that always gets big praise in my house. We make several different varieties from spinach and cheese, to chorizo and bean, to spicy beef enchiladas. So when KitchenAid challenged me to “Go Crazy for Guac ‘n Mole” with my enchiladas, I knew I was up for the task.
Making a Mexican mole recipe can be intimidating to take on after looking at a traditional ingredients list. It’s a slow-cooked sauce that often calls for more than 20 ingredients including various chiles, spices, nuts, seeds, chocolate, and corn tortillas.
The flavour is dark, deep and smoky, and certainly worth the time and effort. Yet when I’m making mole as part of a larger recipe, I like to use a quickie version. A recipe I call my cheaters mole, focusing on a few ingredients that have the biggest impact in a mole recipe.
I start by soaking ancho chiles and pasilla chiles in boiling water so they soften and also release some of their flavour into the water. (Reserving the water for later.)
Then I sauté onions and garlic, adding the softened chiles to the mixture, along with masa, peanut butter, oregano, honey, and chicken stock.
The sauce simmers for several minutes to thicken and release the flavours of the chiles. I then puree the mole base with my KitchenAid® 5-Speed Hand Blender and add Mexican chocolate to the mole, stirring until smooth.
The mole is thick, dark and rich, similar to a slow cooked 20+ ingredient mole, yet quick enough to make for mole enchiladas!
I mix some of the cheaters mole with shredded chicken, cheese, and sriracha for the enchilada filling. Then I soak corn tortillas in the reserved chile water to soften them, before filling and rolling the enchiladas.
More mole and cheese cover the tops of the enchiladas to bake and bubble in the oven.
But what about the guac? Oh, I wouldn’t forget.
When serving a decadent dish like mole enchiladas, you need something fresh and bright to offer contrast in taste, texture, and even temperature.
My classic guacamole recipe starts with 3 ripe green avocados, smashed to smithereens with fresh lime juice. The lime juice keeps the avocado bright and green, and helps to bring out its flavour.
I add garlic, cilantro, fresh jalapeño, green onions, and diced tomatoes to bring life to the creamy avocados.
The cool, yet spicy combination is bold and zesty, perfect for scooping up in tortilla chips, or topping for rich Mexican dishes. The clash of hot and cold, fresh and rich, bright and dark in the “Go Crazy for Guac ‘n Mole” Enchilada recipe, offers a bit of zesty brilliance in every bite.
Best of all, even though my dishes are covered with dark baked-on mole and guacamole, at the end of the meal I can throw them in my KitchenAid® Architect Series® II Dishwasher knowing that dozens of perfectly placed jets will be working hard to wash my dishes, so that I don’t have to!
MOLE & GUACAMOLE ENCHILADAS
INGREDIENTSFor the mole
2 dried Ancho chiles
4 dried Pasilla chiles (New Mexican, California, Anaheim)
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablesppon masa
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 ounces chopped Mexican chocolate (or bitter chocolate + a pinch of cinnamon)
For the enchiladas
Reserved pepper water
4 cups cooked chopped/shredded chicken (use leftover grilled chicken or a whole rotisserie chicken)
10 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
12-16 corn tortillas
1-3 teaspoons sriracha (or your favorite hot sauce)
For the guacamole
3 large ripe haas avocados
1 lime, juiced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 plum tomatoes, diced
Salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
For the mole
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Pour 4 cups of boiling water in a large bowl with 2 teaspoons salt. Add the dried chiles to the water and submerge by placing a small dish over the peppers. Allow the chiles to soak in the hot water for at least 15 minutes. Then remove the chiles and discard the stems and seeds, but reserve the pepper water for later. Tear the chiles into small pieces.
Meanwhile, add the butter and onion to a pot over medium heat. Sauté for 2-3 minutes then add the garlic. Sauté another minute and add oregano, stock, masa, peanut butter, honey and seeded chiles. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Carefully puree the mole base using a KitchenAid® Hand Blender. Then stir in the chopped chocolate. Salt and pepper to taste. (I usually add 1/2-1 teaspoon salt.)
For the enchiladas
Now place the chopped chicken in a large bowl and add 1 cup of the mole, 1/2 cup reserved pepper water, half of the cheese, and 1-3 teaspoons sriracha sauce to the mix. Stir and taste to adjust spice level.
One at a time, dip the corn tortillas into the reserved pepper water to soak and soften. Pull each tortilla out of the water and spoon approximately 3 tablespoons of chicken filling on the tortilla. Roll the tortillas into tubes and place in a rimmed baking dish.
Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
Pour the remaining mole over the tortillas in the baking dish. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes until warmed through.
For the guacamole
Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Place the avocado flesh in medium bowl and pour the lime juice over the top. Use a spoon and fork to mash the avocado until mostly smooth.
Smell your jalapeño to test the heat–you can usually tell if it’s very spicy by the aroma. Stir in the garlic, jalapeño (half or all), green onions, and cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste. Then stir in the diced tomato at the very end.
Once the enchiladas are out of the oven, scoop them onto plates and top with fresh guacamole! Ole!
