Holy Gaga Mole, is that my wedding ring in a tampon box?

Yes, don’t scoff it was true. I had lost my engagement ring for four and half months and where do I discover it? In a tampon box! Funny enough, during these four months I had my insurance agent offer me her platinum band along with a platinum diamond ring, my folks think I am a lunatic for not taking it , had a dream about my ring and low and behold. Two days later, New Year’s Eve morning at 4ish found it! AMAZING!
I must admit I am excited about the new year. Coming off finding my wedding ring and moving. I think it will be a year of new beginnings. What better way to begin than with a meal that you have never cooked before. Hence the title of the article.
Right now, as I write this article I can smell the chicken mole simmering…knowing that in about and hour and a half I can start on the cilantro lime rice and Mexican Caesar salad. Did I mention the Spanish antipasto to start? I am pretty siked. I have never made a mole and holy mole it is tough. It took me about five hours to make the sauce.
I am not used to making authentic Mexican food. My natural leaning is more rustic cuisine i.e. French or Italian. That is, in my mind those are the most common. Maybe, because us Americans don’t branch out and spaghetti with meat sauce seems to be the closest to the common restaurant menu.
Not anymore. I am going for it and am gonna bring y’all along. So my first CRAZY dish is chicken mole. I am not going to serve this in its authentic fashion over white rice with bread. I have to doctor it up a touch. Thought it through and came up with Chicken Mole Enchilada’s served alongside Cilantro lime rice with a Mexican Caesar Salad. I think our friends that are coming over will be life long…wink…wink!
I am going to blow you away with this one. Who am I going to dedicate this meal to? I can already hear the gasps. I will give you a couple of hints, she is massive right now and most of her songs stay in your head from sun up to sun down. That darn Poker Face will drive you so insane you will want to take a bat to your ipod. Yes, she is it! Precious kind of odd but strangely endearing…Lady Gaga. I am dedicating this meal to her because some would say she is an effin lun and when I embarked on a mole sauce I felt like one myself. Let me give you a little more background she comes from an Italian background and I just saw her on Oprah. Well, really..Perez Hilton’s link to Oprah. Yes, every once in a while I go to his whimsically pink celebrity basting blog. So that is why this meal is for her. She is a genius at what she does and her outfits are INSANE! Oh and a little secret. Her birthday is four days from mine and she loves to cook. Just like me!
If she was at my table I am sure we would talk about Freddie Mercury, David Bowie…and how could I forget, my dear friend Norman. Who himself, grew up in New York City in the clubs and bars. His career eventually involved theater. I am sure they could exchange similar stories. She would love him, he is one of the greatest silver-haired gems I know. He thinks she is one of the best entertainers of all time next to Bette Midler and Streisand, of course.
Back to the mole sauce, don’t be intimidated. The sauce itself is not tough..just time consuming. Some of the ingredients I had never seen in my life.

Mole
Makes 18 cups.
18 mulato chiles*
14 pasilla chiles*
12 ancho chiles*
1 cup plus 9 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 or 5 tomatillos husked and cooked until soft (must rinse, sticky)
10 whole cloves
1 handful of black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
8 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
4 garlic cloves, roasted
3 tablespoons golden raisins
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
3 stale French rolls, cut into 1-inch slices
6 to 7 cups reserved chicken broth as needed
1 1/2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped (abuelita)

*Mulato, pasilla, and ancho chiles are three varieties of dried chiles often used in Mexican cooking. The ancho chile (a poblano that has ripened to a dark red color and dried) is rust-colored, broad at the stem and narrowing to a triangular tip. The mulato, a relative to the poblano, is dark brown and triangular. The shiny black pasilla chile, a dried chilaca chile, is narrow and five to six inches long. Good quality chiles should be fragrant and pliable. Wipe them carefully with a damp cloth or a paper towel to remove any dust.
**Tomatillos are often referred to as "green tomatoes," but are members of the gooseberry family. To prepare tomatillos for the salsa, remove their papery husks and rinse away their sticky outer coating. Or, canned whole tomatillos are available under the San Marcos brand.
****Also known as pepitas, the pumpkin seeds used in Mexican cooking are hulled. When frying or toasting pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet, keep a cover handy, as they will pop like popcorn.

*After the sauce was made I separated into mason jars and refrigerated it.

Today I thawed four chicken breasts and put the chicken and the mole in a crock-pot. Since the mole is very thick I diluted it with one pint of water. That way the chicken can cook all day and be pulled apart so it will be a nice texture inside of the enchiladas. I have cooked the chicken all day from roughly 11:35 to about 530. I will then take corn tortillas and stuff them with the chicken, grate some jack cheese and cover the top of the enchiladas until everything is cooked through.

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 Tbsp. of vegetable rice
3 cups of white rice
2 cloves of garlic
¼ of a red onion
Salt and Pep to taste
Zest of one lime
3 tbsp of fresh lime juice
1 cup of chopped cilantro

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet and add the garlic along with the red onion. Saute until translucent and add the rice. Brown the rice for about a minute (this brings out the nuttiness of the rice) Add 6 cups of liquid. You can use stock of chicken or vegetable. In my case I will be using vegetable boullion cubes because that is what I have on hand.

Mexican Caesar Salad
Romaine lettuce
Toasted salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Cojita cheese cubed or grated to desired amount
Cilantro dressing- It’s shameful I know but I bought mine from Trader Joe’s. It will knock their socks off. Ok maybe, if Gaga was here I would make it from scratch. Actually (scratching my head) I wouldn’t.

I will be starting the meal off with a Spanish Antipasti plate. With Manzanilla olives, Guindilla peppers, Manchego cheese, crackers and of course a crusty bread.

I am serving a new wine I have discovered from Chile Veramonte. I has a nice bite with some roundness to the overall flavor.

Invite some folks you wouldn’t normally and have a riot! Bless em! Happy New Year!

Pics coming soon. Just moved and can't find my effing cable. AAah!