What to do with Leftover Turkey: 2 Recipes for Turkey Molé

If you have Turkey Leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, make Turkey Mole! According to common legend molé was originally created for turkey. At the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla, the nuns had to rush to prepare a meal for a visiting archbishop so they killed an old turkey, cooked it, and mixed everything else they had in a sauce to top it. That sauce was the original mole.

So if you have leftover turkey -- or fresh turkey you've just made, you will love these two Quick Turkey Mole recipes. I make the first recipe with Taza Chocolate Mexicano or their Chipotle Chili Chocolate Mexicano, but any good chocolate will work!

The first Quick Molé recipe is adapted from Paula Deen's Quick Chicken Mole. Perfect with Turkey. The second recipe is from Grand Velas Riviera Maya in Mexico, a Five Diamond resort.

Quick Turkey Molé

Ingredients
2 Tbsp good quality olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 chipotle peppers, roughly chopped
1 (10-ounce) can chicken broth
2 Tbsp peanut butter
4 ounces Taza Chocolate Mexicano, chopped
Leftover Turkey
Toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), for garnish

Directions
Heat oil in heavy saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic and spices and continue to saute to toast and develop flavor. Add diced tomatoes, peppers, chipotles, broth, peanut butter, and chocolate. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and puree until smooth.

Take left over Turkey and either add to oven friendly sauté pan or put in another pot and then cover with the Molé sauce. Braise in 350 oven for 45 minutes. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds.

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This second recipe is from the Grand Velas Riviera Maya Hotel. I haven't made this one yet, so let me know if you do!

Turkey con Mole Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/4 lbs Turkey Breast
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 1/4 cup Mole Paste
3/4 cup Chicken Broth
1/4 cup Nopal, peeled and cubed  (cactus!)
1/4 cup Tomato, seeded and cut
1/4 cup Onion, diced
2 Tbsp Coriander leaves, finely diced
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1 large Avocado
2 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper

Directions 
(If using fresh turkey): Cut turkey breast into 4 pieces and season with salt and pepper.
In frying pan, add oil over medium-high heat and brown both sides. Remove from pan and finish cooking on  baking sheet at 350 ° F for about 8 minutes. Set aside.  (or use turkey from Thanksgiving's meal)
In pan over medium heat add mole paste. Add chicken broth slowly, bringing to boil and then simmering until you’ve achieved hick consistency. Set aside.
Combine nopal, onion, tomato and coriander in bowl, add 1/4 cup lemon juice and season.
Blend pulp of avocado with remaining lemon juice and season.
Plate some sliced turkey over layer of mole and dress with some drops of mashed avocado and pico de gallo.

Cinco de Mayo Chocolate Menu: Entrees

Cinco de Mayo (The Fifth of May) is a Mexican holiday celebrating the victory of the Mexican army over the French at the Battle of Puebla, May 5, 1862. Puebla's signature dish is Mole Poblano--a Chocolate spicy stew.

Chocolate and chiles are a part of many Mexican dishes, so I’ve put together my own chocolate ‘menu’ for Cinco de Mayo. Some things you can buy, some you can make. Whatever you decide, you’ll get your fill of chocolate on Cinco de Mayo.

Today: Snacks and entrée and drinks. Tomorrow: Desserts, Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Bars

Chocolate Tortilla Chips: To purchase.
Food Should Taste Good makes a great Chocolate Tortilla Chip—good balance of the salt and sweet. They’re available in many markets and online. Another choice for Chocolate Tortilla Chips are the Vosges Red Fire Chocolate-Covered Tortilla Chips. They’re sweeter, but delicious. They are nicely salted chips drenched in milk chocolate and dusted with ancho and chipotle chilies.

Chicken Mole, my favorite Mexican chocolate main dish, can be very complicated to make. I always order it when it’s on the menu, and I was thrilled to find that Paula Deen has a quick Chicken Mole recipe. o.k. it's not all that quick, but faster than the traditional recipes.

Paula Deen’s Quick Chicken Mole

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 chipotle peppers, roughly chopped
1 (10-ounce) can chicken broth
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 (5-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), for garnish
White rice, for serving

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic and spices and continue to saute to toast and develop flavor. Add diced tomatoes, peppers, chipotles, broth, peanut butter, and chocolate. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and puree until smooth.

Sear the chicken in a heavy bottomed hot saute pan over medium-high heat until browned on both sides. Add to casserole dish, cover with sauce and braise the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Garnish with pepitas and serve with white rice.

You can also use this mole dish in Enchiladas!

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Here’s another “Main Dish”—I know it’s really a dessert, but they’re tamales, after all, so I’m counting them as a main dish.

This recipe for Chocolate Tamales for Cinco de Mayo is from Diana's Recipe Book. The tamales are easy to make and delicious.

1 cup milk
1 pound melted chocolate
1 pound butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 pounds corn flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
24 corn husks
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).

Boil the milk and add the chocolate. Stir constantly until chocolate is completely melted. Add the butter and the sugar. Mix until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Mix the corn flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Slowly add the chocolate mixture and mix by hand for 10 minutes. Grease 2 (12 cup) muffin pans and line with corn husks. Fill with chocolate tamale mixture and bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 24 Chocolate Tamales.

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And what is more traditional to drink than Tequila? This would be my drink of choice, and Tanteo has a 100% Weber blue agave blanco tequila infused with cocoa beans and jalapeno. Not too sweet and has a kick!

Tomorrow: Dessert--Mexican Chipotle Brownies, Spicy Hot Drinking Chocolate and great peppery Chocolate Bars.