Chocolate Mole Sauce

Our summer was a little busy.  My wife’s quick-trip to LA for a cousins wedding turned into a three week stay as a number of birthday celebrations and milestones fell into place.  While home-alone, I enjoyed a Friday night dinner with friends of ours, and although this friend doesn’t write about food, I think she should!  Every bite of this Mexican themed meal was  delicious.  The burritos were served with an authentic chocolate mole sauce that blew my mind. 

I was inspired to cook with chocolate.

Quality is everything when it comes to cooking with chocolate – and chocolate mole is not a sweet sauce.  It’s a savory, pulling on the delicious bitter notes of real cacao which is why I used the same  chocolate I used when I made my stuffed jalapenos with chocolate breadcrumbs recently.

This chocolate mole recipe is not the one from that dinner, rather a quick and simple approach to mole that I made with the same chocolate I used for my stuffed jalapeno peppers.  It’s not a sweet chocolate, making this the perfect chocolate mole sauce for a main course. 

Quick Chocolate Mole

Ingredients 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 chipotle peppers, roughly chopped
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Heat your oil in the bottom of a dutch oven over a medium heat.  Dice the onion and sautee.  Add garlic and spices and let the spices toast to develop flavor.

Next add the diced tomatoes, peppers, chipotles, broth, peanut butter, and chocolate. Simmer for 10 minutes.  

Pour the mole into a food processor or vitamix and blend until smooth.