Chicken Mole Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie chicken (roughly 2 cups shredded)

Mole Sauce:

• 5 dried pasilla or anocho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 2 (6-inch) corn tortillas, or handful regular tortilla chips
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
• Kosher salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
• One 3.1-ounce disk Mexican chocolate, chopped, (60% bittersweet chocolate will do)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Enchiladas:

• Olive oil, as needed
• Twelve 6-inch corn tortillas, warmed
• 2 cups Queso de Oaxaca (or any shredded Mexican melting cheese)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup queso fresco
• Cilantro

Directions:

• Shred the chicken to get roughly 2 cups of chicken.
• For the mole:
  • Reconstitute the dried chiles by soaking them in 1 1/2 cups hot water for 15 minutes. Then drain and set aside.
  • Toast the corn tortillas in a dry skillet until dry, crisp and golden. Tear into pieces and set aside.
  • In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, season with a little salt and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
  • Add the chili pepper pieces to the blender and run to get them broken down as much as possible. Add the onion and garlic mixture to a blender with the tortillas, peanut butter and oregano. Pour the chicken stock over and blend until very smooth.
  • Run the sauce through a strainer to remove the little pieces of pepper that did not get completely broken up.
  • Transfer the sauce to a medium saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
  • Stir in the chocolate. Season the mole with salt and pepper. Reserve 1 cup of mole for garnishing the enchiladas, the rest will be used for dipping the tortillas.
• To assemble the enchiladas:
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Fill a medium saute pan half way with oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, dip 1 tortilla at a time and fry just until soft and heated through, a few seconds.
  • Lift out, let the excess oil drip off and then dip the fried tortilla directly into the warm mole (which should be right next to the pan for easy dipping) and transfer to a plate.
  • Working quickly, put 1/3 cup of the shredded chicken in the center, being careful not to over fill. Add a little of the melting cheese on top. Roll the tortilla like a cigar to enclose the filling and place in a serving dish seam- side down.
  • Continue to fill all of the tortillas and place them side-by- side. Pour the reserved mole over the top. Spread more of the melting cheese on top.
  • Bake until sauce is bubbly and enchiladas are heated through, about 20 to 25 minutes.)
  • To serve, drizzle with a little sour cream and sprinkle with queso & cilantro.

Notes:

• Original recipe from Marcela Valladolid - https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/easiest-ever-chicken-mole-enchiladas-recipe-2118390