Wanted to make a new (to me) recipe the other day and did some Mexican food research in a great cookbook — Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook.  Wanted something fairly unique versus the normal tacos, etc.  Found a recipe that sounded great — Pistachio Mole.  Had to give it a try.  I had to alter it a bit because of some of the dairy factors.

The quick mention:

Martha Chapa puts together the unusual and delicate combination of pistachios and avocado leaves in this new version of mole.

Ingredients:

8 chicken legs with thighs (I used chicken breasts)
3 cups white wine
3 cups water
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic
4 avocado leaves, fresh or dried**these are pretty much non-existent in the States — the best substitute I found based on research is a combination of bay leaves and cracked anise seed
salt
6 tablespoons butter (I used olive oil)
2 tablespoons oil (sort of brought this and the above together)
1 chile poblano, roasted, peeled and membranes removed
10 oz shelled pistachios, skins removed
freshly ground pepper

Garnish

1/2 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
fresh avocado leaves (optional)

Directions

First, the fun part was roasting the chile — I no longer have a gas stove so tested the ability of doing this on an electric (coil) one.  Quite interesting.  I turned on all fans and opened all windows.

-In a large covered saucepan over medium heat, simmer the chicken in the wine and water along with 1 onion and the garlic, avocado leaves and salt until tender, about 30 minutes.  Drain the chicken, reserving the stock, and return to the saucepan.

-While the chicken is cooking, heat the butter and oil in a skillet.  Add the chile, remaining onion and the pistachios and saute until lightly browned.

In a blender or food processor, grind this mixture with a little of the reserved stock, then simmer in a covered saucepan over very low heat for 30 minutes.  Pour over the chicken and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.  Before serving, add pepper and more salt if needed.

-In a small skillet, saute the onion in the butter for 5 minutes or until translucent. Garnish with the onions and, if you like, fresh avocado leaves.

The end results was quite unique.  I love pistachios so you can never go wrong.  It could have used a touch more salt and I would say maybe a hint of lemon.  I would definitely recommend trying this.