Chicken-Black Bean Mole on Corn Tostadas for a Housewarming Party.

It's been a while since I've posted anything but with our move finally complete I finally feel ready to cook and blog again. Moving to a new house is exciting but challenging and we found ourselves faced with new tasks almost every day. My fondest moments have been spent designing and decorating the house and planting my own garden. I've been busy planting herbs like Thyme Lemon, Rosemary, Lavender and Ginger root to name a few.  However, the most effective catalyst to speed up settling in a new house for me was to set a date for a housewarming (we've ended up planning several for different groups of people). 

I decided on planning a Mexican Fiesta for our first housewarming party. With everything being busy and crazy, I wanted the food to be fun but easy and quick in preparation. These Chicken Mole served on Tostadas (baked corn tortillas) turned out to be the most popular of the dishes I served.  Most Mole sauces are cooked for hours but this recipe requires a minimum of 45 minutes to be cooked.

4 lean chopped chicken breasts

2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 tablespoon Cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 red onion chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic minced

0.5 teaspoon ground cloves

0.5 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon peanut butter (smooth and creamy variety)

1 fire roasted poblano pepper - chopped

1 can black beans - drained and rinsed

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 cups water

Corn tortillas

Low-Fat Sour cream

In a thick bottomed stock pot, heat up the olive oil and then toss in the chicken and let it brown on each side. In the mean time, in a blender combine the cocoa, garlic, poblano pepper, peanut butter, cumin, cloves and garlic to make a thick paste. Add the paste to the chicken breast and add the three cups of water. Add the black beans, onion and the garlic to the chicken and stir on a low flame. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken in the sauce till it thickens for about 45 minutes to an hour. 

In the mean time bake the corn tortillas at 345F in the oven to make the crispy tostadas (this should take about 10 minutes or less). To set the tostadas up, spoon a generous serving of the warm chicken mole mixture on to the tostada and then add a dollop of sour cream and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve warm with fresh limes.