Rick Bayless' Smoky Peanut Mole Recipe w/Pork Tenderloin | Cookin' Canuck (2024)

Yesterday was my husband's 40th birthday. He had been telling me all week that it was my last chance to kiss a 30-something-year old. When we woke up yesterday, we checked for additional hair loss (negative), a beer belly (negative - virtually impossible when one runs 60 miles per week), and hair growing in odd places (negative). He seems to have come through the decade shift relatively unscathed and I am more than happy to kiss a 40-year old.

My husband has always loved Mexican food and moles, and was unfortunate enough to marry a woman who grew up in a city that was completely devoid of good Mexican restaurants. The only thing I remember about Vancouver Mexican restaurants was that they had very large plates of nachos and seemingly endless supplies of Margarita mix (great for college parties). When I met my husband, we started to frequent some very good Mexican restaurants in our new home city. I trepidatiously tried a mole sauce (what do you mean it has chocolate in it?) and was immediately hooked. It was everything Mexican food should be - complex, flavorful, and a little spicy.

If you watched Top Chef Masters this season, you have undoubtedly grown to love Rick Bayless, stellar chef of all things Mexican. This Smoky Peanut Mole recipe came from his book, Mexican Kitchen. It is rich, it is flavorful, and it is slightly spicy. It is everything you could ask of a mole. My husband was thrilled to have this for his birthday meal. He couldn't stop raving about it.

My local grocery store did not have dried ancho chiles, but they did have dried California chiles. Not knowing if the flavors and heat were equivalent, I sent out a plea for help on Twitter. Well, Rick Bayless himself stepped up to the plate to respond (thank you!) His verbatim response was this: "Dif body, lighter flvr, sub weight no pc." For those not familiar with Twitter's necessary abbreviated lingo, Chef Bayless was telling me that California chiles have a different body and lighter flavor than anchos and I should go by weight, rather than by the number of chiles provided in the recipe. Unfortunately, I did not receive this tweet until I was well on my way to making the recipe. I substituted per piece, rather than weight, but was still very pleased with the results.

Rick Bayless' Smoky Peanut Mole:

Tear 2 medium dried ancho chiles (about 1 ounce total), stemmed and seeded, into flat pieces.

Heat an ungreased skillet over medium heat and add the chile pieces. Briefly press the chiles down with a metal spatula. Listen for a crackling noise and watch for the color to change. Do not allow the chiles to start smoking. A burnt taste will significantly change the flavor of the mole.

Place the toasted chiles in a small bowl, cover with hot water, and let soak for 30 minutes. Pour off the water.

While waiting for the chiles to rehydrate, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add ½ sliced white onion and 2 peeled (not chopped) garlic cloves. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions and garlic are browned, about 10 minutes. Scoop the onions and garlic into a blender.

Preheat the broiler with a rack on the highest level. Remove the core from one 8-ounce medium-large (or 3-4 plum) ripe tomato and place it on a baking sheet lined with foil. Place under the broiler for 5 minutes, turn the tomato, and broil for an additional 5 minutes, or until the skin of the tomato is blackened.

When the tomato is cool enough to handle, peel the skin off and place the entire tomato, juices included, into the blender.

To the blender, add 1 cup dry roasted peanuts,

2 slices firm white bread, torn into pieces (the bread I used wasn't firm enough, so I toasted it for a couple of minutes),

2 seeded, canned chipotle chiles en adobo, the drained ancho chiles,

½ teaspoon cinnamon (Chef Bayless prefers freshly ground Mexican canela),

and ⅛ teaspoon allspice, freshly ground. Grind it with a mortar and pestle, or put the berries in a ziploc bag and give them a good walk with a rolling pin or meat mallet.

Add 1 ½ cup chicken broth and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add a little more chicken broth if the blades of your blender aren't running smoothly.

At this point, Chef Bayless recommends that the mixture is put through a medium-mesh strainer into a bowl. I completely forgot this step, but I had pureed the heck out of my mole, so it didn't seem to make a difference.

In the same large saucepan used to cook the onion mixture, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the peanut puree.

Stir continuously for about 5 minutes as the mixture thickens and darkens. Stir in 2 cups chicken broth, ½ cup fruity red wine, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, and 2 bay leaves.

Turn the heat down to medium-low, partially cover the pot, and let the mixture simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring regularly.

Taste the mole and season with salt (½ - 1 ½ teaspoons) and 1 tablespoon sugar. Remove the bay leaves. Keep the mole warm.

Cooking the pork tenderloin:

Preheat the grill to high heat.

Rub 2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins with olive oil and season generously with kosher salt and pepper. Place them on the grill and sear each side, about 2 minutes per side.

Turn the heat down to medium-high and cook for an additional 7-12 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 145-150 degrees F. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes before slicing.Serve several pieces of the pork on a bed of the mole sauce and garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro. If you wish, serve with rice, black beans, and warmed flour tortillas.

For more Rick Bayless recipes, check out the Frontera Grill recipes.

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