Pan Fried Beans with Smoky Mole By Chef Kristy Sadler

Ingredients:

• Mole Sauce
• 4 cups vegetable stock divided
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp olive oil and more throughout the cooking process
• 6 each dried red chilis seeds removed
• 1 tbsp dried aleppo chilis
• 1 tbsp chipotle powder
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 corn tortilla torn into pieces
• 2 slice bread (we used brown sourdough) torn into pieces
• 1 small onion sliced
• 5 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree most people use plantains...we love it with pumpkin
• 1 star anise
• 5 whole cloves
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 ounces dark chocolate we used 70%
• sea salt to taste
• Pan Fried Kidney Beans
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion sliced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 cups cooked kidney beans we used a mix of red and white
• 2 spring onions cut on the bias

Method:

1. You'll have a frying pan and a saucepan going at the same time for this recipe.

2. Heat 2 cups of the the vegetable stock in a large pot, add the oregano and cinnamon. Keep at medium heat while you cook and add the rest of the mole ingredients.

3. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Cook each of the mole ingredients in the pan as outlined next and then add them to the pot with the vegetable stock. You will need to add more olive oil to your pan throughout the process. Be very careful not to let anything burn. If your pan gets too hot, take it off of the burner for a moment, turn down the heat and then continue.

4. Add the dried chilis, aleppo chilis (or flakes), and chipotle powder to the pan, cook for about 30-60 seconds, then transfer to the pot with the vegetable stock.

5. Add more oil to the pan if needed. Add sesame seeds, cashews and peanuts to the pan and toast. Stir to ensure the sesame seeds don't burn, once they've started to toast, add them to the vegetable stock pot.

6. Add more oil to the pan if needed. Add raisins to the pan, cook for 45-60 seconds and transfer to the vegetable stock pot.

7. Add more oil to the pan if needed. Add the torn corn tortilla and bread to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, transfer to the vegetable stock pot. Stir everything in the vegetable stock pot.

8. Add more oil to the pan if needed. Add the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they start to soften, add garlic and pumpkin and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Transfer to the vegetable stock pot.

9. Add the star anise, cloves, peppercorn, cumin and coriander to the pan, and saute until very fragrant, about 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn them. Add toasted spices to the vegetable stock pot.

10. Transfer the contents of the pot to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Add more stock if you need to in order for the mixture to blend.

11. Transfer the smooth mole back to the pot, add in the remaining 2 cups of stock and 2 oz of chocolate. Cook the mole for 2 hours on the stovetop partially covered. Seasoning with salt to your taste.

12. Pan Fried Beans

    Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onions and sea salt and cook for 3-4 minutes allowing the onions to soften. Add the beans and continue frying until the beans are heated through.

13. Assembly
    Place a portion of the beans and onion mixture in the center of each bowl (try to get some height by keeping it in a small area).

    Spoon the mole around the bean mixture. To make a nice mole circle, give the bowls a gentle shake. Top with spring onions.