Chicken in Pumpkin-Ancho Mole Sauce

I try to post and talk about a lot of main dishes that are easy, quick, and flavorful. I'm all about things being simple; after all, the time I get to spend in the kitchen without a child clinging to my leg is precious little! But, I have to say that every now and again, I really, really enjoy being able to prepare a meal that took a long time to make. There's just something about all that time invested in the dish that makes it taste so much better. The flavors get to develop so much more fully, and the meat (if you're using meat, that is) just becomes so much more tender and tasty.

I saw Sunny Anderson making this Chicken in Pumpkin-Ancho Mole Sauce on TV one afternoon, and right away I knew that this meal was going to be the very next lazy-day meal that I was going to make. It just seemed so perfect for us: chicken brined in warm spices, then bathed in a thick, hearty sauce made from pumpkin seeds, reconstituted dried peppers, roasted veggies, and fresh herbs. The whole shebang is then baked in a Dutch oven for about an hour, and when it's all said and done the meat just falls right off the bone. The meat is then shredded and placed back in the sauce for another little bath. The mixture is folded into a corn tortilla, along with some fresh veggies, and then it's ready to be devoured. Oh, bliss.

This was the first time I had ever brined anything. I have always wanted to try it, so I was excited about the whole experience. It's definitely easy; it just takes some planning ahead. I had to boil the brining liquid and then allow it to completely cool (so as not to cook the chicken prematurely) before putting the chicken in there for a swim. I actually did all this the day before I was going to cook it, since Sunny says you can do this up to 24 hours ahead of time. I'm not quite sure what it would have tasted like had I not done this, but I can tell you that the meat was unbelievably moist and delicious this way. I highly, highly recommend brining for the whole 24 hours. The spices are present in the final product; you can taste the cinnamon and the cloves there along with the flavors in the sauce. They are a perfect marriage.

The sauce, dubbed a "mole" by Sunny even though one traditionally associates the word mole with the inclusion of chocolate in a sauce, is completely free of the ingredient. Sunny points out in the episode that mole simply means "sauce," so that doesn't necessarily mean you have to add chocolate. She prefers it this way. The sauce is plenty rich without the chocolate, but I would like to know what this would taste like if I were to add just a bit next time..



As is, the sauce is thick and full-bodied, thanks to the heft of the pumpkin seeds and the meaty reconstituted peppers. Sunny only used ancho chilies; I used a combination of ancho and guajillo. Guajillo is twice as spicy as ancho, but is still considered to be more smoky then hot. I also used 2 jalapenos in there, as directed, and found the sauce to be pretty darn spicy. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but I just thought I'd throw that disclaimer on there! It's not for the faint of heart. The cilantro adds brightness, and the roasted veggies make the sauce taste fresh. I was absolutely in love with the sauce. It was so complex, and it just worked so well as a condiment on this twist on a taco. I am quickly becoming obsessed with this idea of a seed- or nut-based sauce (pesto, anyone?) that you can slow-roast your meat in and then shred it back into. The possibilities....oh, they boggle my mind. But for now, I have this exquisite mole.

Chicken in Pumpkin-Ancho Mole Sauce
adapted from Sunny Anderson
serves 6-8

Ingredients
8 cups water, divided
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 bay leaf
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1 tsp. whole cloves
6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (Sunny used breasts)
3 ancho chiles (dried poblano peppers)
2 guajillo chiles
2 large jalapenos, halved
1 large onion, quartered
3 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded
4 whole garlic cloves
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds (Sunny used 1 cup)
1 large bunch cilantro leaves
16 corn tortillas, kept warm
2 limes, cut into 8 wedges
2-3 cups fresh spinach leaves, shredded
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine 6 cups water with kosher salt, sugar, bay leaf, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and cloves. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently. Once the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large bowl, add the chicken, and refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours or overnight.

2. Bring the remaining 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. In a medium heatproof bowl, add the ancho and guajillo chiles and cover with the boiling water. Weigh down with a plate so the peppers remain underwater and let them soak for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the stems when the peppers have softened.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a sheet tray toss the jalapenos, onion, Roma tomatoes, cloves of garlic, and cumin seeds with 2 Tbsp. oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Roast until nicely caramelized with good color, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the pumpkin seeds to a dry, hot skillet on high heat. Stir often, until the pumpkin seeds are golden and begin to pop. Transfer to a food processor along with the roasted vegetables. Add the soaked chiles, about 2 Tbsp. of chili soaking liquid, the cilantro leaves, and the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil to the processor. Puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.

4. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, blot dry with paper towels, and place in a large Dutch oven. Pour the mole sauce over top of the chicken, cover Dutch oven with a lid, and place in the 400 degree oven until the chicken is cooked through, 55 to 60 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and transfer chicken to a cutting board to cool. When it is cool to the touch, shred the chicken and add it back to the sauce. Spoon the mole into corn tortillas and serve with lime wedges, shredded spinach, red onion, and radishes.

CEIMB Rewind: Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I decided to do a Craving Ellie in My Belly rewind recipe this week. As most of you already know, I'm an annoyingly picky eater, and this week's pick of Banana Splits with Pineapple Brown Sugar Topping lands firmly on top of the list of foods I don't like. I'm really not much of a fruit eater, and I have a strong aversion to bananas in particular. And since I have been on an Ellie kick lately, I happened to have these pictures all set and ready to go for the blog. Turns out, I made these biscotti a couple weeks ago and never posted about them.

The group made this recipe all the way back on January 1st, 2009. Wow, that was way before I was lucky enough to be a member! I love making biscotti, and have shared other recipes before on my blog. I was eager to make Ellie's take on biscotti, since it would be combining two things I love: her recipes, and biscotti! As with most of her recipes, this one is easy to make. It's a basic biscotti dough, and I mixed in chocolate chips, chopped almonds, and dried cranberries. Ellie used dried cherries, but I didn't have any. She also uses orange zest, but I only had lemons, so I used lemon zest. I think it was fine with my subs, although I would like to try it her way sometime.

After you shape your dough into a log, and bake it for 25 minutes, you allow it to cool for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Then, you can slice your biscotti cookies and put them back into the oven for an addtional 10 minutes per side. Flipping the cookies and baking them on the other side ensures that great, characteristic crunch that makes biscotti so delicious, and they make great dunkers!

I don't know why I waited so long to make these, but I can tell you I'll be making them again and again. I have wrapped each biscotti individually and then I placed them in a freezer bag. They'll keep in the freezer for at least a couple months, and they thaw in less than an hour so they can be taken out sometime before you plan on eating one. I like to eat them in the afternoons with a cup of coffee; the nuts and dried fruit are just enough to give me some energy without feeling like I ate a whole meal in the middle of the day.

My apologies to Shandy of Pastry Heaven; she's this week's CEIMB host. I'm sorry I didn't make your pick, Shandy, but I didn't have anybody to make the banana splits for! Be sure to check out how the other members like them, though, over at the blogroll, here. And if you'd like the biscotti recipe, you can find it on Food Network's website, here.

Portobello Panini

I made this little "sandwich" for my husband last week as a special treat just for him. It's true, I have really embraced the mushroom lately, but I still am not quite sure if I'm ready for this Portobello Panini. Why? Because it is a sandwich where you use two halves of a portobello mushroom in place of the bread. This blew my husband's mind, in the best possible way! I tend to like my bread, so I think I could probably do this one if I sandwiched the portobello in bread, but in the meantime let me tell you about this one.

So this is an Ellie Krieger recipe, as so many of the things that I've been making lately have been. I love the fact that her cookbooks are so easy to revisit again and again and again. As my tastes change, I'm amazed at how looking through her cookbooks just makes me want to try so many more new things! It's like the gift that keeps on giving, kinda.

But back to this panini. It's so simple, and it just takes mere minutes. Simply split a large portobello mushroom cap in half lengthwise, then assemble the innards of your "sandwich." I deviated from Ellie's version a bit here, making it with prosciutto, jalapeno cheddar, and the recommended sun-dried tomatoes which have been reconstituted with some hot water. I wanted to do this as a Meatless Mondays entry, but then I remembered that I had thrown the prosciutto in there! Whoops. This would be very easy to transform into vegetarian, though. That's the way Ellie did it!

Once you have your sandwich, you can grill it up as you would a regular panini. Just brush some oil on there, throw it on a grill pan or griddle, and cook until dark brown and the cheese is melty. That's it. And when my hubby's eyes lit up at the sight of this panini, I felt so good knowing that I can whip this one up again and again with next to no time or effort taken up by it.

Portobello Panini
adapted from Ellie Krieger
makes 1 "sandwich"

Ingredients
1 large portobello mushroom cap
Vegetable cooking spray
1 or 2 large sundried tomatoes, reconstituted in hot water and sliced thinly
1 oz. jalapeno cheddar cheese (or any cheese of your choice)
1 oz. prosciutto, sliced into thin strips
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. olive oil

Directions
1. Slice the stem off the mushroom so it can lie completely flat. Slice it in half lengthwise and lay open (I turned the bottom, "gilly" part over so that it was hidden on the inside of the sandwich).

2. Spray a large nonstick skillet or grill pan with cooking spray and preheat over medium-high heat. Top the bottom half of the mushroom with the sundried tomatoes, cheese, and prosciutto. Cap with the other mushroom round. Brush one side of the sandwich with half the olive oil, then lay it oil-side down in the hot skillet. Brush the other side with the remaining oil.

3. Cook the panini for 2 minutes per side, until the mushroom is nice and dark-brown and the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Devil's Food Cake with Angel Frosting

It's time for another Baked Sunday Morning! And what better way to end the weekend than by talking about cake? Chocolate cake, in fact. Moist, dark, delightfully sweet chocolate cake. Oh, and did I mention the perfectly fluffy Italian meringue icing? No? Well, feast your eyes on the picture below!

I could go gushing on and on about this frosting forever, possibly. I just love everything about it. I love the fact that I've become pretty proficient at making it, and know how it's supposed to look when it's ready. I love the voluminous, marshmallowy, luxurious yet light texture. I love the fact that it's actually fat-free, which is so hard to believe when you taste it! The only bummer about the frosting is the fact that you need to serve it pretty much right away. That makes for a challenge when you don't really have a need or occasion for a chocolate cake with this lovely frosting on top. I made this cake in two parts. The cake layers were made late one afternoon, and then the meringue frosting was made in the morning, right before my husband was to take this cake in to work.

I am hardly a master cake decorator. In fact, my skills still kind of embarrass me, but I've been working on it! Cakes like this give me opportunities to practice, and I love that. This one was pretty easy to frost; again, to praise that meringue frosting, it was a dream to work with! It was so simple to make the frosting smooth, and then it was fun to give little frosting "peaks" to the top of the cake. I grated some milk chocolate down over top, too, just to give it a little something extra. The cake was hugely well-received at work; my husband came home with just some crumbs left on the plate! In fact, it made me pretty sad, as I had wanted to try a slice. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed making this cake, and my hubby and I are already trying to come up with an occasion for me to make it again!

The full recipe is posted over at Baked Sunday Mornings. Make sure to stop over there and check it out if you're interested!

CEIMB: L.O.V.E. Wrap Sandwich

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly was a very simple, yet totally delicious, wrap sandwich. Ellie calls it the L.O.V.E. Wrap because it contains lettuce (L), onion (O), veggies (V), and egg (E). Plus, it makes quite a "love"-able sandwich, so the name does fit. This week's selection was made by Joanne of Apple Crumbles.



I assembled the ingredients for this wrap gradually, leisurely. I hard-boiled the eggs the day before we were to eat then, and chopped the bell peppers and onions early as well. I set aside just enough egg for my husband's wrap, and I mashed his together with the mayo and mustard. Since I normally cannot stomach mustard, unless it is totally mixed into something, and mayo makes me kinda sick, I just opted to eat my egg sandwich sans dressing. I didn't mind this at all; in fact, I sort of appreciated the simplicity. However, my husband raved about his mayo/mustard/egg mixture! So forgive me for not being able to speak from personal experience, but I do trust his opinion. So it was really good!

Thanks to Joanne for the quick, easy pick this week! I will definitely be keeping this one in mind when Easter rolls around, and I have more hard-boiled eggs than I know what to do with. If you'd like the recipe, it's on Food Network's site, here. For the CEIMB blogroll, click here.

Asian Chicken Burgers on Pretzel Rolls

This post is going to be a two-fer. Not only will you get a recipe for a juicy, flavorful, unique chicken burger, you will also get a recipe for the bun you serve the burger in! I recently saw both of these recipes in Food Network Magazine, and I immediately got the urge to try them together.



First, let me talk about these pretzel rolls. They come from Food Network personalty Guy Fieri, who incidentally has been making soft pretzels since he was just a kid. You learn something new every day! Anyway, I skipped right over the recipes in the article for stuffed pretzels, and went straight for these Pretzel Rolls. We've bought pretzel rolls and eaten them here at home, and we've always thought they were so good. There's just something about the combination of yummy burger and soft, slightly salty pretzel roll that I find hard to resist. A match made in heaven!

Though making these pretzel rolls is a guaranteed time commitment, I firmly believe that they are worth it. The dough is very simple and very easy to work with. I had a blast forming the rolls; the hard part was just waiting through the two rise times. Once they have risen, you throw them in a huge pot of boiling water and baking soda, just for a couple minutes each, and that gives them their unique, pretzel-y crust. You take them from the water, drain them, and then transfer them to a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with some salt, and they're ready to be baked!

I was so excited when I peeked into the oven and saw that they were forming a crusty top, and I could already tell that they smelled like pretzels! I probably could have baked them even longer than I did; they're a bit lighter than pretzels tend to be. Inside, though, they were unbelievably soft and tender, yet they held together quite well and were the perfect vessel for a burger.

Man, that burger! I haven't even told you about it yet! It's an Asian Chicken Burger, and it tastes pretty much just as it sounds. There's a variety of Asian flavors included in the patty, such as soy sauce, sambal oelek, and hoisin sauce. You grate down a bunch of onion, carrot, and ginger and add it to the rest of the ingredients. I couldn't get over just how moist the grated veggies made the burgers! You totally couldn't tell I used such lean meat in the patties; there was so much flavor and good burger texture. You top off the burgers with a marinated mushroom and red onion mixture, and that just makes the whole thing. Oh, it was yummy! Some may say that an Asian burger with a pretzel roll is an odd pairing, and I may be inclined to agree. But I've tasted it, and I'm here to tell you that it worked! Plus, it was just super cool to be able to say, "Hey, honey, I made burgers for dinner, from scratch! Including the buns!"

Guy's Pretzel Rolls

from Food Network Magazine

makes 4-6 rolls

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling (I used fleur de sel for sprinkling)

Vegetable oil, for the bowl

Cooking spray

1/3 cup baking soda

Directions

1. Put 1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F) in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside to bloom, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

2. Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and mix with the dough hook on the lowest setting until the dough comes together. Increase the speed to medium and continue to mix until the dough is elastic and smooth, about 8 minutes.

3. Form the dough into a ball, place in a large, oiled bowl, and turn the dough to coat it with oil. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place until doubled in size, 30 to 35 minutes. Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat, coat generously with cooking spray, and set aside.

4. Punch down the dough, then turn out onto a floured surface. Knead just until the dough is smooth and springs back when poked, about 1 minute. Divide into 4 pieces and form into 5-by-5-inch oblong rolls. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheet and cut four 2-inch diagonal slashes across the top of each. Cover with a damp towel or cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.

5. Stir the baking soda into the boiling water (it will foam up slightly). Add 2 rolls and poach 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the rolls, drain, and place on the baking sheet, cut-side up. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with the reamining rolls.

6. Bake the rolls until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet before enjoying.

Asian Chicken Burgers

from Food Network Magazine

makes 4 to 6 burgers

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1 small carrot

1 small red onion, halved

1 lb. ground chicken (I used a combination of 99% lean ground chicken and lean turkey)

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp. grated, peeled ginger

4 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce

3 tsp. hot Asian chili sauce, such as sambal oelek

8 oz. white mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Juice of 1 lime

4-6 burger buns

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. Grate the carrot and 1/2 onion into a large bowl. Add the chicken, panko, 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce, the ginger, 3 tsp. soy sauce, and 1 tsp. sambal oelek and mix until combined. Shape the chicken mixture into 4 patties and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, thinly slice the remaining 1/2 onion. Toss with the mushrooms, sesame oil, lime juice, and the remaining 1 tsp. soy sauce in a bowl. Mix the remaining 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce and 2 tsp. sambal oelek with 1 Tbsp. water in another bowl.

3. Warm the burger buns in the oven (or use pretzel rolls warm!). Serve the burgers on the buns with a drizzle of the hoisin-sambal sauce and some of the mushroom mixture.

Black Bean Dip

If you happened to be looking for a quick, easy dip to snack on this weekend, look no further. I tried Ellie Krieger's Black Bean Dip out on Superbowl weekend, and it was a big winner. If you've been reading my blog somewhat regularly, you may know that I've been gradually overcoming my aversion to beans. I am slowly coming out of my hatred of them, I'm happy to say. I do like hummus; that was a good baby step. I have been known to puree a can of rinsed, drained beans and use it as a thickener in soup and chili. I love that trick; it's like hidden healthiness in your broth! But the biggest surprise lately has been that I have embraced black beans. I never thought it would happen, but here I am! I'm throwing them into my egg sandwich wraps, my salads, and thoroughly enjoying them in the process. Go figure!

Given this recent affinity for black beans, I knew that it was finally time for me to test out Black Bean Dip. Before, I never would have even tried it just based on looks alone. I mean, let's be honest just for a second: it's not the prettiest dip. However, once you get past that blah, brownish exterior, you're in for a real treat.

It's got a nice kick from a fresh jalapeno pepper, some zip from fresh lime juice, and a nice little extra something from onion, garlic, and cilantro leaves. Ellie originally used it as a base for a Mexican pizza, but we just dipped raw veggies and crackers and that kind of stuff into it and ate it that way. It's really delicious. In fact, I got kinda upset two days later when I went into the fridge to have some, only to learn that my husband had already polished it off the night before! Oh, well. That's okay. I see lots more black bean dip in our future...




Black Bean Dip
adapted from Ellie Krieger, via foodnetwork.com
makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. minced jalapeno pepper (I used 1 whole pepper, seeded and ribs removed)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp. water (or more if you need to loosen up the dip some)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped scallion (green tops only)

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until they soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and jalapeno and cook for 1 minute more.

2. Put the beans into a food processor. Add the onion mixture and the rest of the ingredients (not including scallions), and puree until smooth. Garnish with scallion tops and serve.