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Pumpkin-Molé Chicken
My partner Osirus has this propensity for cooking weird dishes that sometimes work quite well using what he calls "The Transitive Property of Food." (This is how he came up with Pineapple-Coconut-Crab ice cream. Note that I said "sometimes".)
So we had half a can of pumpkin left over from making pumpkin pancakes, and we were planning chicken molé, and wackiness ensued.
Ingredients:
1/2 jar of molé paste
2 medium onions
2 lbs boneless chicken (I use thighs but it's up to you)
up to 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth or stock
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) (squash would probably also work)
various spices such as cumin, which are optional
pepitas or roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish
Method:
1)Dig the molé paste out of the jar into a small bowl or large mug and thin with chicken stock until it's no longer lumpy. Use a fork and a spoon. This is probably the most difficult part of the recipe. You do not want lumps in your sauce - they are bitter and dark, like my heart. (You can also make your own molé paste from scratch. There are recipes on the 'net, but I cannot get some of the ingredients where I live, so. Jar.)
2)Slice onions in a way that makes you happy - for this recipe I tend to cut them in half from root to stem and then slice in the same direction (root to stem). I am sure there's a word for this. Throw them into a non-stick or cast-iron Dutch oven or similar vessel with some olive oil and optional cumin (I just love the smell of that) and start to cook slowly over med-low heat. (I have added sliced mushrooms to this dish and been happy with the result, and if you love mushrooms you could add them now. They are non-traditional and entirely optional. Use criminis for best flavor, IMHO.)
3)Cut chicken into chunks and add to onions in pan. Brown slightly.
4)Add molé sauce, pumpkin, and a bit of stock and stir well. You want this to be slightly soupy, as it will cook down. Unless you added mushrooms, in which case go easier on the stock.
5)Bring to a simmer and keep it there for 30 - 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Stir and check liquid level occasionally - you want a thick-ish stew, not soup.
6)Foood! Garnish with pepitas or pumpkin seeds. Can be served over rice or maybe with steamed tortillas, maybe with salad on the side if you're into that sort of thing.
So we had half a can of pumpkin left over from making pumpkin pancakes, and we were planning chicken molé, and wackiness ensued.
Ingredients:
1/2 jar of molé paste
2 medium onions
2 lbs boneless chicken (I use thighs but it's up to you)
up to 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth or stock
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) (squash would probably also work)
various spices such as cumin, which are optional
pepitas or roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish
Method:
1)Dig the molé paste out of the jar into a small bowl or large mug and thin with chicken stock until it's no longer lumpy. Use a fork and a spoon. This is probably the most difficult part of the recipe. You do not want lumps in your sauce - they are bitter and dark, like my heart. (You can also make your own molé paste from scratch. There are recipes on the 'net, but I cannot get some of the ingredients where I live, so. Jar.)
2)Slice onions in a way that makes you happy - for this recipe I tend to cut them in half from root to stem and then slice in the same direction (root to stem). I am sure there's a word for this. Throw them into a non-stick or cast-iron Dutch oven or similar vessel with some olive oil and optional cumin (I just love the smell of that) and start to cook slowly over med-low heat. (I have added sliced mushrooms to this dish and been happy with the result, and if you love mushrooms you could add them now. They are non-traditional and entirely optional. Use criminis for best flavor, IMHO.)
3)Cut chicken into chunks and add to onions in pan. Brown slightly.
4)Add molé sauce, pumpkin, and a bit of stock and stir well. You want this to be slightly soupy, as it will cook down. Unless you added mushrooms, in which case go easier on the stock.
5)Bring to a simmer and keep it there for 30 - 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Stir and check liquid level occasionally - you want a thick-ish stew, not soup.
6)Foood! Garnish with pepitas or pumpkin seeds. Can be served over rice or maybe with steamed tortillas, maybe with salad on the side if you're into that sort of thing.