GeoRock
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Registered: 3-7-2003
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Mood: Always have one
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Mole
Discovered a jared red mole sauce at Trader Joe's that is pretty tasty. It's their own brand and they did a nice job on the flavor.
I spent a month in Oaxaca and ate as many moles as I could, even attended two cooking schools. At one we made a black mole from scratch. I think
that qualifies me to give an opinion on this mole!
OLE!
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Packoderm
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Registered: 11-7-2002
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We don't have a Trader Joe's nearby and there are not any moles available here in No. California. Are there any good substitutes for the recipe? Would
it be considered cheating to use something domestic such as a gerbil or hamster?
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Paula
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I saw that mole when we were in Long Beach a few weeks ago-- wish I'd bought some!
A few years ago a friend called about a spur of the moment potluck supper and asked for a main dish. I had several mole recipes and had wanted for
some time to try one out. So on impulse I ran to the store and bought 2 chickens, tomatoes, tomatillos, assorted dried chile, almonds, sesame
seeds,Mexican chocolate, a banana and more. I had almost all day left to cook, it was only noon, and the party wasn't until 5pm, and only a half hour
drive away-- easy! With a few more ingredients already in the kitchen I set to work. Boiled the chicken, cleaned and toasted the chiles, roasted the
nuts and seeds, grilled the veggies, boned the chickens, strained the broth, chopped, measured, mixed, combined, simmered this, that and more, and
finally pureed the beautiful rich, red, aromatic sauce. My metate was out of order, so I had to use the blender. Boiled rice, heaped it in the
center of a huge deep platter, surrounded it with the chicken and sauce, and arrived only half an hour late. It was a hit, our friends couldn't
believe I had done this from scratch!!! The next day I washed every kitchen utensil I owned, most of the skillets and pans, a number of bowls, and
put amazing amounts of packaging and peeling in the trash, scrubbed the counter, put stain remover all over the clothes I wore while cooking, and did
a load of wash consisting of those clothes, and every kitchen towel and rag I owned. We went out to dinner that night.
I've done it twice again since then, and I'm thinking of doing it for Easter. Practice helps, and I'm learning to organize the project, and can do
the cooking and cleaning all in one day now But I ask myself WHY do I
feel a desire to make the stuff from scratch when T. Joe will do it for me, or I can buy Dona Maria at Pescador, add a few spices and a little extra
chocolate, and it would be just as good
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Fred
Senior Nomad
Posts: 500
Registered: 3-15-2007
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GeoRock:
Have you tried the choc. mole from Trader Joe's?
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GeoRock
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Posts: 329
Registered: 3-7-2003
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
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No, I haven't. I didn't spot a chocolate mole.
Although, to my understanding, all mole sauces have chocolate in them. But I could easily be wrong on that point.
I had a lot of fun making black mole from scratch, but boy, oh, boy it is really a job! Worth every scrumptious bite!
I've been putting Trader Joe's red mole sauce on tamales I purchased in my post office parking lot. YUMMY!
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Fred
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I just saw it the other day. It is a smaller jar. Great to drizzle over chichen when you have that ice cold beer.
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Baja Bernie
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Pack
Got a huge laugh out of me.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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BajaBruno
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Jeez Paula, you are the woman! That sounds like quite a project.
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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Paula
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BajaBruno, it was an interesting way to spend a day, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves to be in the kitchen, has the faith of a nun and the
patience of a saint
Does the above describe me?
Well, no.....
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elizabeth
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Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Loreto, BCS
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The reason you make a mole the way Paula did is because the flavor is so far superior to TJ or Doņa Maria or the other brands. Oaxaca is famous for
seven kinds of mole, and then there is also the famous mole poblano from Puebla. Not all moles contain chocolate. The word mole is a corruption of
the Nahuatl "molli" or mixture.
For some great mole recipes see Zarela Martinez, "The food and life of Oaxaca".
It is immensely satisfying to make a mole from scratch. There is an easy way...in Mexico City there is a street that we have always called little
Oaxaca...can't remember the name, but I can walk there from the zocalo! The stores sell all varieties of mole pastes from Oaxaca. They'll let you
taste a sample. Of course, you can always get them in Oaxaca as well. The fresh pastes are a world away from the bottled kinds.
If you like cooking...you'll love making your own moles...and, of course, everyone you know will think you are some kind of culinary genius...bask in
the limelight!!!!
[Edited on 4-3-2007 by elizabeth]
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DanO
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Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
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The fresh moles in the deli section of Calimax are pretty good.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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