Mexican Mole Poblano Sauce

Most people have seen the jars of mole sauce in the Mexican section at your local grocery store. If you've ever tried it, you know that it is a delicious treat. But do you know what is actually in mole sauce? 

It is quite interesting and borders on the unappetizing when you start throwing everything together into the pot. Chocolate? Peanut butter? Peppers? Tomatoes? Together!?!? I often wonder who decided to throw all these things together to make a sauce, I mean how does one decide to combine all these unique ingredients together? It almost seems as if a child just started throwing their favorite foods together into a pot. 

Wikipedia says that the most common legend surrounding the creation of this sauce comes from nuns who were too poor to afford a proper meal for the archbishop, prayed and brought together the few ingredients that they did have to create this sauce. However it was developed, Mole Poblano Sauce is delicious. 

Mole Sauce

makes 2 cups

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ onion, chopped

2 tomatoes, peeled and quartered

1 ancho chile, stemmed and seeded

1 guajillo or pasilla chile, stemmed and seeded

1 ounce semisweet chocolate

1 tsp. peanut butter

½ tsp. sugar

2 saltine crackers

1 cup chicken broth

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion, sauté until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chiles, chocolate, peanut butter, sugar, crackers, and chicken broth. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Salt to taste. If the mole has an grittiness, return it to the blender and puree again. Serve warm or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for 2 months.