@ fiedlermeister Mole Negro is a very complex and time consuming recipe. Keep in mind this is a somewhat simplified recipe, as a true mole negro can take days of undivided attention to make. This one is still pretty good though, but plan to spend a few hours of prep and 5-6 hours of cooking time in a slow cooker/crock pot. It seems like a lot of work, but it is well worth it. A note on the dried chiles, you can sub whatever kind you like, but for authenticity I recommend using the "Trinity" of chihuacle negro, anchos/mullatos, and pasillas. The tanned chipolte meco gives the sauce a nice smoky touch but is completely optional. Ingredients: 2 oz. chihuacle negro chiles (dried) 5 1/2 oz. mullato or ancho chiles (dried) 2 oz. pasilla chiles (dried) 1 chipotle meco (tan, dried, not canned in adobo) 2 tortillas, torn up 1/2 small onion, peeled and cut into thick slices 4 unpeeled garlic cloves oil or lard 1/2 c. sesame seeds 1/4 c. each: sunflower seeds, peanuts, almonds 3 quarts chicken stock 8 plum tomatoes, chopped 4 oz. tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and chopped 2 slices bread, toasted 2 cloves 1 stick canela (real cinnamon) 1 t. Mexican oregano 1/2 t. dried thyme 1 ripe plaintain or banana 3 oz. Mexican chocolate (very important) salt, sugar Directions First, stem the chiles, then tear them open and separate the seeds and reserve them. Heat a pan over high heat, and add the seeds and tortilla (turn on your exhuast fan and open a window, you'll see why ;-). When they're black, dump them in a strainer and shock them by rinsing under running water for a minute, until the water runs clear. Transfer to your blender and clean, rinse, and dry the pan. Add the toasted bread to the blender. Put the pan on high heat, and add the onion slices and garlic cloves. Roast until soft, and remove to a bowl. Squish the garlic out of the peels and discard the peels. Roast the nuts in a 350 degree oven until fragrant and remove. Heat the pan over high heat and add a half-inch of oil or lard. Fry the chiles a couple at a time. They will get fragrant, and when they begin to lighten, remove them -- it only takes a few seconds on each side. Be very careful not to burn the chiles, they will be extremely bitter if burned...and you still have the exhaust fan on and the window open, right? Remove them as they are done to a paper towel and drain. Put them in a large bowl, cover with boiling water, and let them soak for thirty minutes. Drain. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the toasted sesame seeds for garnish, and put the remaining seeds and nuts into the blender. Add about 2 c. of the stock, and puree until smooth. Remove to a bowl. (There is no need to rinse the blender until you're completely done with it.) Puree the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, garlic, and about 1/2 c. of the stock until smooth. Remove to a bowl. Grind the cloves and cinnamon. Add the spices to the blender with the onion and garlic, oregano, thyme, plantain/banana, and about 1/2 c. of the stock. Puree until smooth and remove to a bowl. Puree the chiles in two batches, each with 2 c. of the stock, and remove to a bowl. Now, you can wash the blender. In a large, heavy, preferably non-stick pot, heat 3 T. of oil or lard over high heat until very hot. Add the tomato-tomatillo puree, and cook, stirring constantly, until very dark and thick. Add the seed/nut mixture, and repeat, stirring until again, very thick. Add the plantain/banana mixture and repeat, again until very thick. Add the chile mixture, turn the heat down to low, and let it cook until very thick and dark, stirring every few minutes. Add the stock and chocolate, mix well, pour into a slow cooker or crock pot and simmer slowly on the low setting for five to six hours (you can do this on top of the stove, but be careful because the nuts fall to the bottom and tend to burn, and if that happens, you have to throw it all out). Add salt and sugar to taste (you may need to add some sugar to offset the bitter taste from the chiles, though most of it should have cooked away, but usie sparingly....you do NOT want sweet mole). The Mexicans strain everything at every opportunity. It would be considered mandatory there to strain the mole when done. Don't feel obligated. Really. It's amazingly good whether you strain it or not. Mole is a sauce. You can top a few chicken breasts in some of the mole (freeze the rest) and simmer them until done, then sprinkle them with sesame seeds. You can poach chicken breasts separately, shred the chicken, and moisten with mole as a taco or tamale filling. You can do anything you like, but chicken is the traditional meat of choice, though turkey and pork work as well. And remember...this is the simplified version!

I once watched several small carrot plants get pulled under the ground one after another in a short period of time.Just like in the cartoons. I stomped the tunnel on either side of where the carrots were and trapped the gopher in the middle. It stuck it's head up out of a hole where a carrot used to be and a shovel was the last thing that critter ever saw.He made good fertilizer-at least the plants grew pretty good that year once he was gone. Putting the water hose in the hole doesn't work.they dig tunnels to drain rain water etc.so they know how to get away from water when they have to. A friend put a bunch of gopher gassers (poison smoke bombs) in several gopher holes then covered them with wood-as the instructions say-Halfway down the block people came running out of their house with smoke pouring out from under the house.They thaught they were on fire... He flooded his next door kniebors back yard where the gophers drain hole was too on another day.He had left the hose on all afternoon and the water was washing mud into the guys pool. Nothing like kicking back with a homebrewed beer watching someone at war with the gophers. Almost as good as watching the launch ramp follies at the lake every summer. Me,I feed the bugs and birds hot peppers and hot pepper plants... :) All my plants are in containers. Check out the link below.Watch the video. Blow them up.Pretty funny. Here is a link that might be useful: watch videos

Turkey in mole is perhaps the national dish of Mexico. I happened to be traveling in Mexico one time on Thanksgiving Day. Turkey in mole was on the menu, so I had my Thanksgiving turkey in a different style. That was fun! Mole has a long history full of interesting stories. Apparently it was invented by nuns in the city of Puebla who were preparing a special feast for a visitor. I don't recall the details. Mole Poblano has the longest and most unusual list of ingredients of any sauce I know of. Chocolate is the ingredient which most people find strange. However, chocolate is only one of the many ingredients and it is not sweet chocolate. Turkey in mole in no way resembles a hot fudge sundae. I am sure the commercial product sold in jars is a short-cut version. But, if that's what you have, give it a try. Sauce some poultry with it. Adjust the consistency with chicken stock if necessary to make it flow nicely. For some reason, I have an image in my mind of chicken under a blanket of mole sprinkled with sesame seeds. Jim

Robin, I use mole in many ways. We love the stuff. I keep it around both as a paste and mixed with chix broth. Here's a few uses... Enchilladas, burritos, BBQ sauce especially for chix & ribs (for this I mix a bit of the paste with a bit of broth - about a 1:4 ratio), salsa for chips (add cilantro, lime juice, green onion, & you can also add diced tomatoes), eggs (we like mole over an omelet). Generally, I like a salsa verde for tamales because I use a pork filling but once in a while I use mole instead & it's very good. Mole is a generic word for "sauce" although there are some specific dishes it can refer to. My recipe is generally known as a mole poblano. There are many different types of moles. Another one we like very much is mole de cacahuate (peanut mole). Moles are more labor intensive than other Mexican sauces & used to be reserved for special occassions. They're in more general use today from what I've encountered. There's a fun folk story around mole involving its origination. Something about a young Mexican woman called upon to cook for an important guest. Not knowing what to cook & being low on supplies...she started tossing things onto her comal (frying pan) to toast. At the end, she added chocolate & presto! Mole! The combination of ingredients is a bit odd but every one of them add to the finished multi-dimensional flavors. Omitting even one really alters the taste. I was out of cloves once & figured 1/4 teaspoon wouldn't make a difference...wrong. Very complex flavor & very yummy stuff. We're sorta addicted to it. /tricia