LAST EDITED ON 03-16-10 AT 03:30 PM (EST)

I never knew there was cocoa in mole sauce. I'm all over that!

This recipe will have me stepping out of my comfort zone but that's what OTCC is all about isn't it?!

eta: Just saw what Boo said. It will be an adventure!

And since 2 tsp of cocoa provide 7% of your recommended daily allowance of iron, this is super healthy for you.

I've heard there's a big difference in a lot of mole sauces. I've only ever had it at various small restaurants run by Mexicans, and I haven't liked it anywhere I've tried it, so I gave up. I don't care for chocolate in my chili or mole. I just don't enjoy the flavor combinations. Chocolate and wasabi, though, I like. Go figure.

-A Tribetastic Creation

Freak.

This will be a big venture out of my comfort zone. I wish Weltek were here for this one. I askeered.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

LAST EDITED ON 03-16-10 AT 03:14 PM (EST)

Boo, if I, the queen of Hamburger Helper, can make this, anyone can. My only issues were that I'm really slow at prep, so should have had everything chopped up before I ever put anything in a pan, and that I'm not good at multi-tasking when it comes to cooking. Multiple pans on the stove increases my stress level muchly.

Well, I did just buy these really cute little prep bowls, which were very helpful with Querty's chicken salad. I am slow at prep as well.

At our old house, our stove only had one big burner. In fact, I don't think I had ever seen a stove with two big burners until we moved into our current house. I don't think I could go back to the old stove. And I know I could never go to gas.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

It took me a minute to figure out that your stove had more than just the one big burner - *snort. I was picturing a stove with one humongous burner and that's it. What? I was up most of the night, I'm slow today. Yes, just today.

Tell me more about what you'd do ahead of time. Could you make the sauces ahead of time? How did they reheat?

-A Tribetastic Creation

Yes, the sauces could definitely be made ahead of time. The walnutpecan sauce is not heated, so I would probably set it out a few minutes before serving to let it get back to room temperature. The mole tasted fine, after being nuked about 3 times for the leftovers.

I'm not sure how well the stuffing would hold up if made too far ahead of time and refrigerated - the apples weren't as crisp in the leftovers after a couple of days. I do plan on trying to freeze some next time I make it, to see how it holds up.

Another thing I want to try is perhaps subsituting other dried fruits for the raisins. I'm leaning towards apricots.

The author of the recipe for the corn included a note that he/she makes up a large batch at a time, freezes it, and just heats what is needed each time.

Thank you.

-A Tribetastic Creation

How spicy are poblano peppers? I am not sure if I can find them (it is always hit and miss what our store carries). Any idea on substitutions if I can't find them?

Not very spicy at all if you seed it really well. I usually use Anaheim peppers for chili rellenos so I'm thinking you could probably use those, but it's usually easier to find poblanos than any of the others.

I'll second the Anaheim substitution. I did some googling, and the other suggestion I came across was to use bell peppers instead.

I was going to ask the same question. I am trying to think if my regular store carries them. I know they carry chili peppers, but I think those are in a different area than the regular red, yellow and green ones. I can always try Kroger. For as much as I don't like Kroger, I do love their produce section. I treat myself to orange bell peppers there because my store doesn't have those.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

Most of the larger green chili peppers tend to be pretty mild and I think would work. I can usually find them pretty easily around here, but we do have enough Hispanics around here most of the groceries (even the cheap ones) carry a pretty good variety of that kind of produce.

Looking forward to making this, but off to do some corned beef, first.

Just do a bell pepper if you can't find poblanos, although you'll need to adjust cooking time (longer, most likely, as poblanos are thin walled). Poblanos aren't spicy at all, particuarly if you seed them well. However, poblanos aren't as sweet as bell peppers. There are few other peppers that will give you the size you'll want, though, for ease of stuffing.

So, I'd recommend really trying the poblanos to stay true to the flavor of the recipe, but in a pinch, just do bell peppers.

-A Tribetastic Creation

Thanks! I actually found 2 anaheim peppers in a little downtown food store (which also had BEEF SHORT RIBS ), so I will use them with bell peppers.

LAST EDITED ON 03-20-10 AT 09:32 PM (EST)

I made this for myself last night. It was very good. I only made the stuffed chilis because I forgot to buy cream cheese for one sauce and tomatoes for the other. I did have some store-bought mole in the fridge, so I used that. I was a bit apprehensive about the apple-raisin-cinnamon combo, since that sounded more like pie than stuffing for peppers, but the flavours worked quite nicely together and I really liked it.

I'm going to try the calabacitas for lunch on Monday when everyone else is at work or school so I don't have to listen to "Ew! What's that? It looks gross." To be fair, DH actually said it would be good if I hadn't put the raisins in, but he wouldn't even touch a piece of cooked ground chicken since it had been tainted by the raisins.

Part of what I have been enjoying about OTCC is that I have added a number of new flavours to my kitchen. I have the Thai red pepper paste, which had fish sauce and tamarind in it (couldn't find the tamarind alone) and capers... And now I have the option of using cinnamon in savoury dishes. Kewl!

And not to put to fine a point on it, but I am still the only one in my house who has tried any of these things, except that DD tried Mole's Mud Cake.

Thanks arkie!

Wheel of tribe

I'm glad you liked it!

I have a question for you -- Since your family won't try any of these recipes, when you make the dishes, do you make the full recipe, or do you scale them down? One of the reasons I haven't tried many of the OTCC recipes is because it's just me and DS here, and he won't try anything. I know I could just freeze what's left, or have it for lunches, etc, the next week, but I also don't always feel like going to all that effort when no one else is going to eat it. (I just realized I'm basically saying I'm not worth any effort.)

I scale the recipes down. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years. *wry smile* It was easy enough with the Pad Thai. With MC's pork chops, I made both the chops, but only enough sauce for me. For the soups, I half or quarter the recipes. Buggy's meatball soup is really easy to make enough for one and it's quick, so it doesn't take any longer than any other meal. And I made a whole bunch of rice meatballs and froze them, so it's that much easier.

I hear what you're saying about just cooking for yourself and wondering if it's worth the effort - it is! Also, you're entitled to pick up ingredients at the store that only you will be eating. I just figured that one out in the last couple years. No more guilt about buying something just for me!

I have to go back and make a couple things that I didn't before, like the Azorean stew. I had asked DH if he would try it and he got all pissy, so I didn't bother. I think I could do a smaller version in a Corningware dish in the oven instead of using the slow-cooker.

But yeah, I feel a bit alone sometimes.

I usually scale things down so I make only 1-2 servings.

Sometimes if it is something that I think will freeze well I'll make a full batch and then freeze.

For some of the dishes with the browned/cooked meat I will freeze stuff just before the last step and then make just enough sauce for one serving. Then you can reheat/defrost the meat at the last minute and top it off. The Saltimbocca works well like this. I pull out the frozen breast all cooked with the stuff on it but not broiled with the cheese. I broil the bottom for about 6 minutes then flip it and put the cheese on top and broil that until it is done (4-6 minutes) and that gives the thin breast enough time to heat through but done in the broiler keeps it from getting soggy. I do the sauce in a small pan and the spinach and tomatoes in a skillet (just enough for the serving) and it is ready when the chicken is done.

Sometimes it is just playing around with what works, but I've done a lot of the things as a single serving or something like the pasta sauce that I know will freeze well I'll freeze it in single serving portions once it is done. I do that even with the store bought jar as I usually can't use it all up before it gets furry.

After awhile you get pretty good at cutting recipes down to size. It sometimes helps to have a cookbook for two so you can get some ideas of things you can do to make a recipe in a small amount, and I recommend doing all the math ahead of time.

If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity. - Bill Vaughan