Mole Verde Zacatecano or Chicken Mole (for short)

This is seriously one of my all time favorites. My mom made it for me when she came to visit us in Kauai. Its A-mazing. I totally cheated on the chicken though (sorry mom)
Its adapted from Saveur magazine's May 2001 issue. Pretty much the coolest authentic cooking & travel mag out there. Also because Im lazy I am writing chx in place of chicken...not sure if that's a real abbreviation but according to my Dictionary its real!!

Serves 4-5
Total cost,  appox. $12.00

Ingredients needed

1 Whole Chicken, 3-4 lbs. (This is where I cheated and bought a roasted chx from Costco...)
1/2 Cilantro bunch for chopped stems
1/2 Cilnatro bunch for chopped tops
4 tbsp Salt
Pepper corns (I just used plain ol' black pepper)
4 cloves garlic
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
4 tomatillos, peeled and chopped
2 jalapenos
2 8" tortillas
3 tbsp of canola oil (I used olive)

Cooking Directions

1. Cooking the Chicken;
In a large pot (huge) combine
1 chopped yellow onion,
1/2 C cilantro stems,
2 cloves garlic, chopped.
1 bay leaf,
1 tsp whole black peppers
12 cups of water
and one whole chicken (defeathered of course)
Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered and stirring occasionally
until chicken is tender, about 30 minutes

-or-  Be lazy and....

Buy a roasted chicken from Costco
separate the chicken from the bone and get rid of the skin,
combine chunks of chx with ingredients above and simmer in the
crock pot or big pan until onions are cooked.

 2. Remove chx from saucepan and strain liquid through a fine strainer;
reserve 4 Cups and save remaining liquid for another use in the recipe.
Set Chx and liquid aside


3. Toast those tortillas. Either broil them in the oven or you can even toast them in a toaster. Use your imagination and just get them toasted.


 4. Heat tomatillos and jalapenos in a 4 qt pan over med heat and cook,
stirring occasionally, until darkened and thick about 10 mins.
Transfer to a blender with;
Cilantro tops
2 tbsp salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped
toasted tortillas
and 1 Cup of your reserved liquid
Blend it all together until a nice, beautiful sauce exist.

5.  Heat oil in a big saucepan over med-high
add tomatillo sauce and fry, stirring constantly until thick,
about 5 minutes, Whisk in remaining cooking liquid and bring to a boil
reduce heat to med-low and cook, stirring until reduced and thickened
about 20 minutes.


6. Add chx pieces and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes
Serve with or over Mexican rice and homemade tortillas

-or-

serve over white rice and side it up with some sliced avocado!