Simplified Red Mole with Chicken Thighs

April after the spring game is the longest stretch of football-free time I get, which lasts approximately two weeks before summer 7-on-7 and weight training start. I use these two weeks to cook. Not that I stop cooking during the season or the offseason, but during these two weeks I cook the way I cook when I have no schedule — slowly, experimentally, without purpose beyond the food itself.

I spent all day Sunday on a batch of mole. Not a full traditional mole negro, which takes twenty-plus ingredients and most of a day and requires a kind of meditative focus that I have on a Sunday in April but not on a Tuesday in September. A simplified red mole: dried ancho and mulato chiles, toasted sesame seeds, raisins, plantain, tomatoes, garlic, spices, a real percentage of dark chocolate — more than I put in the red chile sauce, enough to taste — and chicken stock reduced until the whole thing is thick and complex and smells like something old and important. I poured it over chicken thighs and served it over rice with pickled jalapeños on the side. The table was quiet while people ate, which is the sign that the food is working, which is the only sign I need.

Sofia ran a 10K this week. Her first one. She's eight years old. She ran it in fifty-eight minutes and twelve seconds and then asked me when she could run a half marathon. I said not yet. She said why not. I said because you have to build up. She said she'd been building up. I said you've been building for four months. She said, "That's long enough to know I can do it." She might be right. I told her let's run together more often and see. She accepted this. She's the most patient eight-year-old I've ever met.

Life is good right now. I say that carefully, as someone who knows what it costs to have it not be. Life is good right now.

That Sunday mole is the recipe I’m sharing here. It’s not the twenty-plus ingredient version—it’s the one you make when you have an entire April afternoon, no practice schedule, and nowhere to be except at the stove. The kind of cooking that rewards patience without demanding perfection. If you’ve got a couple hours and a quiet kitchen, this is a good way to spend them.

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

4 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 dried mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1 ripe plantain, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
2 medium tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 ounces Mexican dark chocolate (or bittersweet chocolate, 70% cacao), chopped
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
Cooked white rice, for serving
Pickled jalapeños, for serving

Instructions

Toast the chiles. Heat a large dry skillet over medium heat. Press the ancho and mulato chiles flat against the pan and toast for about 30 seconds per side, until fragrant and slightly darkened. Transfer to a bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid.
Toast the sesame seeds. In the same dry skillet, toast the sesame seeds over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden, about 3 minutes. Set aside 1 tablespoon for garnish.
Char the vegetables. Place the tomato halves cut-side down and the unpeeled garlic cloves in the skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until charred, about 5 minutes for the garlic and 8 minutes for the tomatoes. Peel the garlic when cool enough to handle.
Fry the plantain. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet over medium heat. Fry the plantain slices until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
Blend the sauce. Combine the drained chiles, reserved soaking liquid, toasted sesame seeds, raisins, fried plantain, charred tomatoes, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, black pepper, and 1 cup of the chicken stock in a blender. Blend until very smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.
Cook the mole. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Pour in the blended sauce—it will sputter—and stir constantly for 5 minutes as it darkens and thickens. Add the remaining 2 cups chicken stock and the salt. Stir in the chopped chocolate until melted and fully incorporated. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon.
Prepare the chicken. While the sauce simmers, season the chicken thighs with salt. Heat a separate skillet over medium-high heat and sear the thighs skin-side down until the skin is golden and crisp, about 6 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.
Braise the chicken. Nestle the seared chicken thighs into the mole sauce, skin-side up. Cover and cook over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken registers 175°F and is tender.
Serve. Spoon the mole and chicken thighs over cooked white rice. Sprinkle with the reserved sesame seeds and serve with pickled jalapeños on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Simplified Red Mole with Chicken Thighs — The Kind of Cooking That Only Happens in April