Red Mole Sauce

This was my first time and either it was beginners luck, or I tapped into my Mexican ancestors. 

A hint of spicy, smoky, nutty; made with chilies, tomatoes, tomatillos, nuts and chocolate.

5 Cups stock
2 guajillo dried chili peppers, stemmed and seeds removed
2 ancho dried chili peppers, stemmed and seed removed
3 chipotle dried chili peppers, stemmed and seeds removed
( peppers should have a variety of smoky and spicy flavours)
1 piece of dried bread (size of one roll)
2 corn tortillas or 3 Tbl masa flour
2 - 5 tomatoes
5 -8 tomatillos
1 Tbl butter
1 onion
5 garlic cloves
1/3 C assorted nuts
(pine, peanuts, almond, pecan or pumpkin)
1/4 C raisins
2 Tbl cumin powder
1 Tbl dried thyme or fresh sprigs
1 tsp all berry spice
3 cinnamon stick
1 tsp cinnamon
5 ounces of chocolate ( milk and dark combined)


Heat half of the stock in a pan till it simmers (around 5 minutes) and remove.

Prepare chilies by cutting them into flat strips and removing the seeds.  Roast the chilies in a dry skillet over medium heat stirring constantly for around 3 minutes, until warm and aromatic.

Add the stock to a blender and the chilies.

Add the corn tortillas and bread to the skillet and toast.  Add bread and tortillas to the stock in the blender. Let this soak for around ten minutes. Blend together.  Add more stock as needed.

Cut the tomatoes and tomatillos into quarters pieces.  Roast the tomatoes and tomatillos till they are soft and blackened about 4 minutes per side. Add to the blender.

Melt butter in a large frying pan, add chopped onion, garlic, nuts, raisins, cumin, cinnamon stick, all spice, thyme, and cinnamon. Cook stirring constantly till the spices emulsify and the onions are soft.  Remove cinnamon stick and thyme sprigs; add to the blender. Blend till fully mixed and then add to large frying pan.

I used fresh thyme sprigs and removed them after.  

The blender got pretty full in the end. It took a few hours of roasting but well worth it and fun to make.  

I froze a few containers for future meals.










Add the mixture from the blender to the frying pan and add the chocolate. Melt the chocolate and simmer for about ten minutes.







Smoother either your chicken or enchiladas with this decadent authentic traditional Mexican sauce and bake.

I served chicken with mole with plantain, salad with cactus, mexican cheese and tomatoes, beans and orzo.  

Homemade Chinese Dinner

Making Chinese food at home is easier than you think! and much better than ordering it! 

No MSG!  Fresh veges.  We deep fried all the food but you can try baking! 

Don't be intimidated, it is easier than you may think! You can also start with one item.

Lemon Chicken 
Ingredients 
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast
oil for frying (canola)
crispy lettuce

Batter 
1/2 Cup flour
1/4 C cornflour
2 eggs
1 C cold water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Sauce
2 C broth
3-4 tsp white sugar or honey
juice of two lemons
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp cornstarch




Directions
Beat together batter ingredients till the batter is the consistency of a loose pancake.
Cut chicken into strips and dip chicken strips into batter; add to heated oil in saucepan.
Using medium to high heat brown chicken pieces for 7 to 10 minutes per side till golden brown. Remove and pat excess oil off.
Make the sauce by adding all ingredients and heat over medium heat.  Adjust ingredients to taste. Serve chicken on a bed of lettuce and pour over sauce.



Spring Rolls
Ingredients
1 package of large wonton wraps       cornstarch
oil for frying
1 bundle of vermicelli noodles
8 medium chopped shrimp
4-5 minced cloves of garlic
2 C shredded chinese cabbage  2 C bean sprouts
3 chopped green onions            1 grated carrot
3 Tlb chopped cilantro             1 Tlb grated ginger
3 Tlb soya sauce                   2 tsp sesame seed oil
8 mushrooms chopped
2 Tlb hoisin sauce and 2 Tlb fish sauce (optional)

Directions
Prepare noodles to get them soft by boiling them as per directions.
Mix all ingredients ( noodles, shrimp, garlic, cabbage, sprouts, onions, cilantro, ginger, carrots, mushrooms, sesame oil and sauces) together.

Add cornstarch and water mixture to the edges of the wonton wrapper to seal.


Lay wrapper in a diamond shape. Place 2 Tlb of mixture in the middle of wrapper.

Fold one point half way up  and the fold the sides over.

Roll to make a tight spring roll.





Fry in heated oil.

We served with homemade plum sauce but that is another story!



Another great dipping sauce for spring rolls is a combination of white vinegar, white sugar with added chopped peanuts, chilli peppers and chopped cucumber.  We LOVE this recipe.



Szechuan Ginger Beef

Ingredients
1-2 Lbs sirloin beef
oil for frying
1 green pepper, 1 red pepper and 2 carrots both cut julienne style
4-5 minced garlic  cloves                                   2 Tbl grated ginger
4 whole small chili red peppers (remove after)


1 Tbl honey or white sugar
1/4 C of each soya, hoisin, and oyster sauce
1.5 C water
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch and 1/3 C water (cornstarch mixture)
sesame seeds, peanuts and chopped green onions for topping

Directions

Saute veges in a bit of canola oil. Add water, sweetener and sauces.   Bring to gentle boil and then cornstarch mixture.

While you are making the sauce, fried beef in a couple of inches of        heated canola oil.

Add the beef to the sauce.

Add sesame oil at the end.  Garnish with sesame seeds, peanuts and green onions.

We love Szechuan style Chinese cooking!  It is flavourful, hot and spicy with lots of ginger and garlic .....two of our favs!!!

Here are the three dishes together for an amazing homemade Chinese dinner!  

We served with brown rice but jasmine would be nice.  

Greek Chicken Delight

I got the recipe from my sis but of course I altered it a bit!

Ingredients
6 chicken thighs- ideally boneless and skinless
salt and pepper
olive oil



1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup olives -calabria is the best
1/2 to 1 tsp oregano
minced garlic
mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers and onion flakes (optional)
2 lemons






Heat olive oil in pan.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and add to heated oil.  If chicken has skin, put skin down.  Once chicken releases turn to brown both sides.

Make a sauce using chicken broth, oregano, olives, juice of one lemon and minced garlic.  We used 6 cloves.  Add vegetables of your choice.

We added one tomato chopped, a small piece of green pepper, one cooking onion, shiitake mushrooms, and onion flakes.   

The choice is yours.

Pour the sauce over the chicken.

And add the lemon slices on top. 

 Cover and cook.  You can cook this either in the oven for about 1 hour at 350 degrees or a crop pot 

all day on low 5-6 hours.  

Yummy!

 We served with spanish rice and greek salad and the flavour went really well together.  

We will post the rice and salad recipes soon!