New Year's day I got some things out of the freezer - trying to get some "older things" out of there, and got some tortillas and 26 oz of ham. I also took out 12 oz of green beans, from last year's harvest - not old, but I wanted some vegetables in whatever I threw together. Not used often in Mexican cooking, as well as ham, but I put together a chili/mole dish, with some pinto beans - also old, but they still cooked up well.
I made up a mole sauce, with the usual seasonings - some toasted sesame, pumpkin seeds, Mexican cinnamon, allspice, black peppercorns, cumin, and coriander seed. I toasted some whole garlic cloves, and I also toasted some chiles - guajillos, mulato, cascabel, and a pasilla, and some dried tomatoes, and soaked those, before blending smooth in the Vitamix, with the seeds, garlic, and a half a tablet of Mexican chocolate. I scraped this into the wok, then washed the blender out with water, and used that for cooking the pintos. I cooked a large, chopped onion in the Instant Pot in some oil, before adding the beans and that "mole water", and cooked them on manual, 25 min, while doing the mole on the stove, releasing the pressure naturally.
While that was cooking, I cooked down the mole, starting on low, with that splatter screen, scraping more often, once it gets thicker, then I raised the heat, and scraped it constantly, until darker, and very thick.
When beans were done, I put the thawed beans in, along with the mole, and the diced ham, and some red lentils (needed a little more thickness, but I didn't want to do it with masa). Didn't add salt, though it definitely needed more, since the ham will add some. I simmered another 25 minutes, and then added a little salt. Served some, with the heated up tortillas. The tortillas were almost 2 years old, but still good, in the vacuum bag. And these are those really good ones - not made with the corn flour, but the nixtamal, before it is dried out.
Pan toasted dried tomatoes and Chiles, for the mole, before blending. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Mole, just getting ready to cook it down. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Wok cover, to prevent the splatter, in the beginning. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Finished mole, cooked very thick, and ready to go into the pintos.. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
The mole/chili dish, with some frozen green beans and ham added towards the end, cooking another 30 min. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Those frozen corn tortillas, getting ready to heat some up. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Heating a tortilla up over the gas flame. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
The finished chili/mole, with a couple heated tortillas, and some Tia Angelita Queso Fresco. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
I have a LOT of leftover, of whatever that is, and made some for a friend and me for lunch - layered with 3 tortillas and some cheese, and heated in the MW. Something I often do with leftovers.
WHAT?! Are you crazy?!
