Chicken Mole Enchiladas (Enmoladas)

Now that you've made a big batch of Mole Poblano, here's what to do with the leftovers... (assuming you have any).


Chicken Mole Enchiladas (Enmoladas)
(printable recipe)

2 large chicken breasts
handful diced onion
corn tortillas
mole sauce
shredded queso quesadilla or other Mexican melting cheese, (mild flavor is preferable, Monterrey jack works nicely too)

To make the filling: Cook the chicken in a bit of oil until cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside to cool. Sautee the onion in the grease. Once the chicken has cooled shred it very finely with two forks (or your fingers). Return this to the pan with the onion on low heat. Add enough mole sauce to moisten the filling, about a half cup. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

To Assemble the Enchiladas: Fry the corn tortillas one at a time in about 1/2” of hot oil. You want to pass them through the oil briefly, until they are just soft and you begin to see bubbles form, about 15 seconds per side. Stack these on a plate and allow them to cool before you handle them. Meanwhile set up your assembly station. I like to use a pie plate to dip the tortillas in the sauce. A good size baking dish is great for rolling and holding the finished enchiladas.

Here’s the procedure:
Dip each tortilla in the mole sauce, coating both sides*. Place the chicken filling (about 3 tablespoons) a bit off center (closer to you than perfectly centered), form into a log. Sprinkle a little cheese over the chicken. Bring up the edge closest to you and roll like a cigar, keep the finish end at the bottom to prevent it from coming undone. Repeat until you have a pan full, or roll as many as you need. (these taste great reheated, but they can start to fall apart the next day) I actually prefer to roll the enchiladas and keep them in a pan un-sauced, they plate up nicer this way. Just remove a few and plate them, top with a generous amount of warm mole sauce and shredded cheese. Alternately you can pour sauce and cheese over the pan-full and pop it in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
*I skipped this step while making the enchiladas pictured, I was in a hurry but I poured enough sauce over the top to make up for it!


How do you use leftover Mole Poblano? Here are a few more ideas:
Spoon over fried eggs and top with cheese.
Use the leftover chicken enchilada filling to make tacos or burritos
Mix in a few spoonfuls of mole into spanish rice for a different flavor
Dip flautas in mole sauce

Tequila Sunrise

Ahh..tequila. I've been meaning to share this simple recipe with you for a while. The Tequila Sunrise is one of my favorite tequila drinks after a long day or even a not so long day. Try these with brunch (there's orange juice in there!) or just as a nice change from your usual margarita.

Tequila Sunrise
(printable recipe)

for each glass:
1 shot tequila
1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c pineapple juice
1-2 tbsp. grenadine
maraschino cherry garnish

Fill a rocks glass* with ice. Add tequila, then orange juice, and finally pineapple juice. Pour the grenadine down the side or along a cocktail stirrer. It should sink to the bottom and create a nice sunrise effect. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

*Tequila Sunrises are typically served in a larger highball glass. I'm a bit of a sipper so I prefer the smaller rocks glass so the ice doesn't water down the drink. Also the pineapple juice is my own addition, if you don't have it use all orange juice. Lastly, use a good quality tequila, I had a nice mezcal, Lajita brand I believe. The quality of the tequila makes all the difference in this drink.

Mole Poblano

This month I'm going to focus on a few recipes and crafts that are traditionally made to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. Towards the end of the month I'll bring it all together with an altar in honor of my little dog Jack. First up, Mole Poblano!


Mole is a traditional Mexican sauce made from a blend of chili peppers, nuts, seeds, and spices. The flavor is warm, nutty and complex. Its delicious spooned over chicken, tamales, and eggs or rolled up into enchiladas (called enmoladas).

I often wondered where this combination of ingredients originated. And after doing some research I found that like any good traditional dish, its origins were shrouded in legend.

The most common version of the legend takes place at the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla sometime early in the colonial period. Upon hearing that the archbishop was going to visit, the convent nuns went into a panic because they were poor and had almost nothing to prepare. The nuns prayed and brought together the little bits of what they did have, chili peppers, spices, day-old bread, nuts, and a little chocolate and more. They killed an old turkey they had, cooked it and put the sauce on top. And the archbishop loved it.
(via Wikipedia)


Mole Poblano
(printable recipe)

6 dried ancho peppers
6 dried mulato peppers
4 dried pasilla peppers

3 medium tomatoes (squeeze out seeds and chop)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 corn tortillas, chopped
2 cloves
1/2 c almonds
1/2 c pumpkin seeds
1/2 c unsalted peanuts
1/2 c raisins
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp. comino
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. anise seeds
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c vegetable oil
2 c chicken stock
1 tbsp. peanut butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 tbsp brown sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Don't let the long list of ingredients fool you, mole is fairly simple to make... if you have a food processor. Otherwise the grinding and pureeing could take all day if done by hand, which is the traditional method. Because of this, Mole Poblano is considered a very special dish in Mexico, often served at celebrations and used as an offering on Dia de los Muertos.

Here's the process for putting it all together,

Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles, cover with 2 cups of boiling water. Soak for 30 minutes. While you are waiting on the chiles prepare and measure the remaining ingredients. Transfer the peppers with the soaking liquid to a food processor, add the tomatoes thru cinnamon. Pulse until pureed.

Heat the oil over medium heat (preferably in a cast iron skillet). When hot but not smoking add the chile mixture. Add remaining ingredients and stir constantly, about 15 minutes. Add more chicken stock if it seems too thick. Mole Poblano may be refrigerated up to 2 weeks or frozen up to 6 months.

Come back Monday to see what I made with this batch of mole.

I May Be MIA...

I normally don't like to get too personal on this blog, but since I may be MIA for a while I might as well post about what's going on. Early Monday morning my dog Jack passed away. It was so sudden and unexplained that I may still be in shock from the whole experience. I lost so much sleep and drank so much coffee and whiskey there was a time that I dozed off yesterday and woke up hoping it was only a nightmare. Some people may laugh or not understand but its amazing the impact that a little black dog can make on your day to day life. I can honestly say that right now I don't have passion for anything, cooking and eating are furthest from my mind, and my heart simply aches.

I know that time is the ultimate healer, and that with time I can learn to celebrate life but it seems like loss is always most painful in the beginning. I am so thankful for my husband Hank and the support of my family and friends, its comforting to hear a kind word, a thoughtful prayer, or a funny anecdote about Jack. Anyways, I don't want to drag this on, hopefully I will return to blog later this week, I appreciate your patience! Now get off the internet and hug your dog or call your family, you'll never regret even the small moments you spent with them.

Okra Pickles

My little brother Alex is a fried okra fiend, I've never seen him not order it when its available. I like okra too, but it doesn't always shout out at me from the menu. Although I'm always jealous when I see that he's ordered some and I missed out. The rest of my family (like most) don't really care for the slimy texture. For them I would recommend the Okra Pickle, it is crisp and tangy, with a mustard and garlic flavor.

Hank's sister Larue got me hooked on these at a family function. I was pretty curious about them, since there's not many pickles I don't like. I had to try one and they were an instant hit - I think we polished off all the okra pickles on the relish tray, they were so good.

Try these and see what you think.


Okra Pickles
adapted from Putting Up by Steven Palmer Dowdney

(printable recipe)

3 lbs. okra, rinsed & stems trimmed
8 cloves garlic
4 tsp. mustard seed
1 red bell pepper*
4 c white vinegar
2 c water
6 tbsp. salt
4 pint jars

Place 2 cloves garlic and 1 tsp. mustard seed in each jar. Fill each jar with okra pointing up, place a second layer of okra pointing down. Trim if necessary to keep okra from sticking above the jar line. Slice the bell pepper in thin strips and press into the sides of each jar.
Bring the vinegar, water, and salt to a boil. Pour over the okra, leaving 1/2" headspace. Secure lids and rings and process for 15 minutes in a hot water bath. (see Canning Basics)

*the original recipe called for hot peppers, somehow I didn't have any around so I used a bell pepper. Either one will do.

Blog Changes / Fall Update

Hi, Sylvia here. Just wanted to let ya'll know about some changes taking place over the next few days here at the Hungry Texan. I'm spreading my wings a bit and invested in a new domain, www.Hungry-Texan.com, so update your bookmarks! If you're following the blog via Google Reader, etc. the transition should be seamless, but please let me know if you encounter any issues. The old blogspot.com address is set up to automatically forward for now, so we should be all covered.

In other news, Fall is here and I'm gearing up for lots and lots of baking (finally!). I'm also working on pressure canning my chili and preparing for the upcoming chili cookoff. October is already a jam packed month, but I hope to bring you guys a few advance-prep recipes for the holidays (sweet potato butter! tamales!) and of course a few Halloween and Dia de los Muertos themed posts.

Speaking of Halloween, Hank and I are actually on the ball this year and have our house all decked out with spooky spiders, skeletons, and monster toys. The next step for us is carving the jack-o-lanterns, one of my favorite fall activities! I'll be sure to post a few templates on the Downloads page as I make them.

That's all for now, the canning recipe for Okra Pickles will be posted tonight!

Peanut Brittle

When I was a kid we would always stop at Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville on family trips to Houston. I can't say I remember the jerky (although I'm sure it was good), one thing I'll never forget is the candy. There were bags and bags of different types of nut brittles, some even drizzled with chocolate or loaded with coconut. We always loaded up on a few different varieties. It was a real treat.

Its been a while since I've made brittle, but I was craving some a week or so ago (it happened to be National Peanut Day, go figure) so I whipped up a batch.

Peanut Brittle
adapted from Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking
(printable recipe)

2c sugar
1c water
1/16 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c salted, shelled peanuts
2 tbsp. butter

Spread peanuts out on a piece of parchment paper that has been placed inside a 9x13 baking dish. Combine sugar, water, and salt in a large saucepan and stir until dissolved. Cover and boil for 3 minutes. Remove lid and cook until the syrup turns a rich caramel color (320 degrees F). Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter. Pour over peanuts.
Cool completely before breaking apart.
Makes about 1 lb. of candy.


This is a great basic recipe that you can adapt to suit your tastes. Another variation I really like is macadamia coconut brittle. Just substitute macadamias and lightly toasted coconut for the peanuts, and add a few drops of coconut extract in with the butter.

As I munched on this brittle I was reminded of our family trips and all the neat brittle varieties that Woody's carried, and for some reason I had a sudden craving for another favorite road trip snack - Fritos...


So I combined the two, substituting 2 cups of Fritos for the peanuts that way I was sure to have some of the salty chips in each bite. This was a really tasty variation, maybe a new favorite. The crunchy, salty chips are a great complement to the sweet candy, definitely a good alternative if you are all out of peanuts or just want to try something a little different.