Bajío Mole de Olla with Chilcuague

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart olla or deep clay cazuela
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and tomatoes
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Volcanic stone molcajete or spice grinder for chilcuague

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the broth

   Place the beef shank, short ribs, cold water, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt in a heavy olla. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam during the first 15 minutes. Do this carefully. A clean broth is not decoration, it is discipline. Lower the heat, cover partially, and simmer for about 1 hour 30 minutes, until the beef is tender but not falling apart.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho and chile guajillo separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until the skins puff and the kitchen smells like a chile stall at Mercado Hidalgo. Do not blacken them. Burned chile makes bitter broth and no amount of beef can hide that mistake.

   Ancho gives sweetness and body. Guajillo gives a clean red color. You need both. This is not one anonymous dried chile doing all the work.
3. 3

   Soak and char

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling water. Let them soften for 20 minutes. While they soak, char the tomatoes on the comal until the skins blister and blacken in patches. The tomato rounds the chile without turning the pot into tomato soup. There is a difference.

4. 4

   Blend the base

   Drain the chiles. Pull 1 cup of broth from the beef pot and blend it with the softened chiles, charred tomatoes, and three softened garlic cloves squeezed from the broth. Blend until very smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids. The skins stay behind. The flavor goes into the pot.

5. 5

   Fry with manteca

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide skillet or clay cazuela over medium heat. Add the strained chile puree carefully. It will sputter. Cook 7 to 9 minutes, stirring often, until the color deepens and the fat begins to separate at the edges. Stir in 1 teaspoon ground chilcuague during the last minute. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil leaves this broth thin and polite, and this pot is not trying to be polite.

   Chilcuague should make the lips tingle and the broth feel alive. It should not numb the whole mouth. Start with 1 teaspoon. You can add a pinch later, but you cannot take it back.
6. 6

   Join the pot

   Remove the onion, garlic head, and bay leaves from the beef broth. Stir the fried chile base into the pot. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes so the beef, chile, and chilcuague learn each other. Taste for salt now. The broth should be red, savory, lightly acidic, and deep enough to coat the back of a spoon.

7. 7

   Add firm vegetables

   Add the xoconostle, cacahuazintle corn rounds, carrots, and chayote. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the corn is tender and the chayote gives when pressed with a spoon. If you are using cooked cacahuazintle nixtamal instead of fresh corn, wait and add it with the calabacita so it does not break down.

8. 8

   Finish the vegetables

   Add the ejotes, calabacitas, epazote, oregano, and cooked cacahuazintle nixtamal if using. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes more. The calabacita should stay intact, not collapse into the broth. Taste again. If the pot needs more Sierra Gorda bite, add one small pinch of chilcuague and wait two minutes before deciding it needs more. Patience is cheaper than ruining dinner.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Let the mole de olla rest off the heat for 10 minutes. Ladle beef, vegetables, xoconostle, corn, and red broth into deep clay bowls. Serve with warm corn tortillas, diced white onion, cilantro, and lime halves on the table. The xoconostle already brings acid, so the lime is for the diner who wants it. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for chilcuague by name, or for raíz de oro, at serious herb stalls in Mercado Hidalgo in Guanajuato, Mercado Aldama in León, Mercado de la Cruz in Querétaro, or Mercado República in San Luis Potosí. If the vendor does not know it, do not let them sell you some anonymous root and smile at you.
• •Xoconostle is not sweet tuna. Xoconostle is acidic, firm, and usually paler, with seeds clustered in the center. Sweet prickly pear will make the broth wrong. If you cannot find xoconostle, a spoon of good vinegar at the end is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •This pot is not about setting your mouth on fire. The ancho is sweet, the guajillo is red and clean, the xoconostle is sour, and the chilcuague tingles. Not all Mexican food is hot. Some of it is precise.
• •Do not bring me the idea that mole only means Puebla or Oaxaca. The Bajío has pepita, garambullo, xoconostle, dairy from the haciendas, and chilcuague from the sierra. This is a 32-state cuisine.
• •For a weeknight version, cook the beef, water, onion, garlic, bay, and salt in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes at high pressure, then let it release naturally for 15 minutes. Make the chile base separately and continue from the frying step. The pressure cooker is useful. Skipping the chile toasting is laziness.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef broth can be made 2 days ahead. Chill it, lift off excess fat if you want, but leave enough to carry the chile. A completely lean broth tastes tired.
• •The chile puree can be toasted, blended, strained, and fried 3 days ahead. Add the chilcuague when you reheat and combine it with the broth so its bite stays clear.
• •Add calabacita, ejotes, and epazote on the day you serve. Make-ahead stews are practical, but overcooked squash is not a virtue.
• •Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated. Reheat gently and add a splash of water if the broth has tightened overnight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 680g)