Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Mancha Manteles Mole- Vegetarian Casserole

Mancha Manteles- Means 'table cloth stainer'...is only one version of an Oaxaca mole that contains turkey, chorizo, pork, pineapple, apple, banana, chile peppers, almonds, cinnamon, lard, and tomatoes. Here is the recipe I decided to make my own...


Traditional Mancha Manteles recipes call for:

Turkey or chicken, lard, ancho chilies, pasilla chiles, seerano chiles, slivered almonds, white sesame seeds, cinnamon powder, sugar, cider vinegar, salt, pineapple, apples, and bananas.

I personally do not like fruit cooked directly in my food...hubby loves it! I will do a sauce that has been infused and reduced, but no chunks for me please. Also reading that some recipes call for squash I decided to roast a Delicata Squash, scoop it out with a melon baller and add it to my own version of mole with additions of the one above...confused...here...

Mancha Manteles Vegetarian Casserole Mole

Take chopped onion and seasonings; saute in 3 T oil on low medium low to meld seasonings and onions are translucent for about 10 minutes; mix in 2 T chili powder and 3 T paparika for 3 minutes until well blended;

Now comes the addition of mole's main ingredient cocoa powder; add 2 oz (I did this but personally thought it was way to chocolaty) and stir well; whisk in 3 1/2 cups stock; add 3 cups frozen or fresh vegetable (I used roasted delicata squash, cauliflower, beans, corn, carrots)and 1 cup soy-rizo or crumbled chorizo; continue simmering for about 35 minutes on medium low- covered; I found it to be too watery from the release of liquid from the vegetables, so I turned up the heat for 10 minutes and reduced it a bit longer...

In small bowl whisk in some of the hot broth with the cocoa powder and make a thin paste, and stir into pot with vegetables along with salt and pepper. Once this was done I added it to a casserole dish, but strained off a bit more liquid for saucing the chicken. Top it off with your favorite corn or wheat free muffin mix, and bake for 25 minutes on 350 degrees. I baked four chicken breast lightly seasoned along side the casserole to serve the non-vegetarians at the table.

My Soy-rizo recipe is already made with cider vinegar and chilies, so I felt if I added too much it would be overwhelmed with spice, but after taste showed me...the hotter the better...note to myself...add more chilies!

NOTE: I would like to give credit to Miss V for her contribution in the name of this vegetarian version of Chorizo, she also used it recently in a recipe with black eyed peas and I was happy that it worked for her, and it sounded wonderful...