Store Cupboard Food

[shyvas]

I decided to use up all my store cupboard ingredients and make a savvy meal ; mole style bean and sweet potato chilli in my slow cooker for dinner.

I had tinned beans, tomatoes, peppers. An onion, garlic flakes, a sweet potato and added lots of spices including a stick of cinnamon, chocolate, coffee, almonds, bay leaves, cumin, nutmeg, smoked chills, lime and liquid smoke.

 

[shyvas]

After a few hours in the slow cooker.



… after 12 hours of cooking in the slow cooker.

 

[Second Summer]

Chocolate and coffee?! Those sound like unusual, but interesting, ingredients in a chilli.

 

[ledboots]

Chocolate and coffee?! Those sound like unusual, but interesting, ingredients in a chilli.

Yes exactly! I've had delicious Mexican food with mole sauce, and it has coffee and chocolate, strangely. And hot peppers!

 

[ledboots]

View attachment 6434

View attachment 6435

I decided to use up all my store cupboard ingredients and make a savvy meal ; mole style bean and sweet potato chilli in my slow cooker for dinner.

I had tinned beans, tomatoes, peppers. An onion, garlic flakes, a sweet potato and added lots of spices including a stick of cinnamon, chocolate, coffee, almonds, bay leaves, cumin, nutmeg, smoked chills, lime and liquid smoke.

Even the limes! Girl can cook! That looks ridiculous!

 

[shyvas]

Chocolate and coffee?! Those sound like unusual, but interesting, ingredients in a chilli.

Coffee is often used to enhance the flavour of chocolate especially when making brownies.

Mole is a dish that is considered as one of the finest recipes of Mexican cuisine. There are many cook books where you have various kinds of mole using different ingredients.The famous chef
Rick Bayless made a very complex mole which was served at the White House.

PHOTOS: Rick Bayless' White House-Mexico State Dinner MENU, RECIPES

Rick Bayless | Susana’s Black Mole

Yes exactly! I've had delicious Mexican food with mole sauce, and it has coffee and chocolate, strangely. And hot peppers!

Using coffee to make mole is a trick that I learned from JO's Road Trip in The US programme. He certainly knows how to cook and his
ideas are usually very creative.

I always like to use a few drops of lime of lemon to spicy sauces as it is a flavour enhancer.

A bit of history about Mole :


Mole Poblano: The History Of Mexico's Most Famous Culinary Preparation:

A Winning Kick - The Soup Guy's Ole Mole Vegan Chili Recipe | What's the Soup

Chilli con Jamie | Jamie Oliver | Food | Jamie Oliver (UK)

 

[Moll Flanders]

I often put a little bit of cocoa into chilli.

 

[shyvas]

I often put a little bit of cocoa into chilli.

It adds so much depth and smoothness to a rich sauce.


"Mexican cultures still embrace cacao in one of their noted sauces, mole, which has many variations. It started off as mole poblano de pollo, possibly created by nuns from a blend of over a 100 spices—as well as chocolate, chiles and nuts, among other ingredients—to create this rich savory sauce. Mole is often served over poultry, like chicken or turkey, most notably in mole de guajolote for the latter. These days, mole isn’t always quite as complex, but still often has a laundry list of ingredients. Many types of mole may be known for their use of chocolate, but it does not dominate the sauce. Staying under the point of saturation is instrumental when using chocolate as a flavor building block.

These days, savory chocolate dishes have found a new home in fine-dining restaurants. We’ve also seen an upswing in the use of chocolate and cocoa as the special finishing touch to savory dishes like chili and stew. Chocolate enhances slow-cooked foods, bridging flavors with sweetness and bitterness paired with acidity. The challenge is to balance the sweet and bitter notes and adjust the salt and acidic taste to create the intended flavor. The chocolate properties also smooth out spicy notes."


When Chocolate Meets Savory