Chocpotle Chicken

I have been waiting to make this recipe for a long time. Someone came up with a Chocolate Balsamic and Chipotle Olive Oil combination a long time ago and I immediately thought: mole sauce.

Of course, when you look up a few recipes and realize how many ingredients and how long it takes to make a really authentic mole sauce.....

Torturous. 

So how did I get that list of ingredients down to something manageable for the home cook? Easy. I cheated. I found a jar of Dona Maria mole sauce in my market's international food aisle and it turned out to be the best base I could have gotten. I still ended up adding quite a bit of stuff and blending it all together, but it was certainly less intensive than an authentic recipe! I decided to make a red mole, mostly because I love tomatoes.

Chocpotle Chicken

Sauce:
1/2 jar Dona Maria mole sauce
1 onion, diced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 can coconut cream
3 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil
3 tbsp Chocolate Balsamic
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Chicken:
1 large package boneless chicken, diced or shredded
3-4 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Salt
Pepper

Make the sauce first!

In a medium saucepan, heat the Olive Oil to medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the chilies and coconut cream(shake before using). Simmer 5 minutes. Add the mole sauce and the Chocolate Balsamic. Simmer until the mole sauce is liquid and mixed through. Remove from heat and cool.

Add the tomatoes and the cooled sauce to the blender and process until smooth. There will be a lot of sauce. If there is too much for your dish, it will keep up to a week in the fridge, or it can be frozen for later use. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, oven safe pan. Add the spices and garlic. Let simmer 3-5 minutes or until very fragrant, stirring occasionally.

Add the chicken and cook until done. If using diced, cook 7-9 minutes. If shredding after, cook 7minutes per side. Cool slightly until manageable and shred using two forks. Return to pan.

Heat oven to 350degrees.

Top chicken with the sauce and stir until well mixed. Place in the oven and bake 15 minutes. The sauce should be bubbling.

Serve with rice and warm tortillas and butter.

Makes great leftover tacos!