Mole, Ratty and Badger ?

No, not the small furry, near-blind, subterranean rodent. The exquisite, dark, rich brown Mexican sauce.
Mexico isn't my milieu, even though I live in New Mexico, Mexican food lies just outside my cultural references. I get it, I just never really made any. My spices always travel in the direction of India.
Mole' has always been something of an enigma until it was recently deconstructed for me. Once I understood
the basics ( thanks B and J), well, its a cooks privilege to improvise...

So here goes. What you will need is:

Handful of dried chillies
2 pasilla
3 Ancho
1 cascabel

1 very ripe plantain or banana
About a cupful of nuts and seed ( I used pumpkin, almond and cashew)
About a cup  of dried fruit ( I used figs, dates and a few raisins)
2 cups of chicken stock/ vegetable stock

1 Medium red onion chopped  fine.

2 cloves of garlic chopped fine.

2 Heaped spoonfuls of cacao powder or chocolate
1 tsp of powdered cinnamon
1 tsp of allspice
salt to taste

Take all your nuts and seeds and put them in a food processor till coarsely ground. and set aside.

Drop a little oil in a frying pan, heat and add the crushed and broken
chillies. toast for 5- 10 mins- don't burn them though
Remove the chillies and set aside

Add some more oil and then add the onions in one side of the pan
and the sliced plantain or banana on the other ,cook the onions and the plantain till really soft
then add the garlic and the chopped dried fruit.
Fry some more and then put the chillies back in the pan.
Put in the spices and the chocolate.
Add chicken stock or whatever stock you have to get enough liquid so the sauce will simmer for a few mins.
Finally add the nuts, mix it all together and put the entire contents of the pan into the food processor .
After blending pour the mole back into the pan, add stock and salt as needed to get the consistency and flavor you want.

You can do anything with this sauce, grilled chicken, shellfish, vegetables.
I made a large pasta salad with grilled scallops and shrimp and dressed it with the mole rather than go in the direction of rice beans or enchiladas.
Pretty fusion/weird but it was Excellent.
(If you happen to be a sorry vegan then pour it over your granola.)

xxxxx until we eat again