Last November I went to Florida for two weeks, to get away from the cold of another European Winter. I had a wonderful time swimming in the lovely warm Gulf of Mexico, trying my first Cuban food and admiring the Art Deco buildings of Miami.
The other thing I did was to lug back bottles of Hot Sauce and other Mexican fixings. Tabasco is fine but who can resist a bottle of Texas Pete Garlic Hot Sauce at Walmart for 99c? One of the items I bought was jar of Dona Maria Mole Sauce. I have been wanting to make a Mole for years and thought this might be a good way to test the waters. It takes many ingredients, time and love to make a great Mole so I decided that if I liked the general taste, then I would make the commitment to doing it right in future. I knew I was onto a winner when I saw the exact same jar at Pennisi Cuisine at Woolloongabba for $8.
Well I had the jar, but what to do with it? The instructions on the jar were scant but a quick ‘jar of dona maria mole’ search on Google turned up a wealth of information, particularly on Chowhound (a site I highly recommend). So, I followed the tips, adding stock, tomato paste and some dark chocolate to make a thick mole sauce. We had it over poached shredded chicken, sprinkled with sesame seeds and accompanied by a corn and avocado salad dressed with orange juice; cumin and chilli powder; and fresh coriander. Soft tortillas would have been nice but we were all out so I added a few plain corn chips to the plate for crunch. It was delicious! I am determined now to make the real deal but I’ll need to use the rest of the jar first. I saw a tip for using leftover sauce smeared on warm tortillas filled with scrambled eggs so there is obviously plenty of scope.
God Bless America!
