Photo by Sonia Mendez Garcia In Mexico, the word mole refers to a variety of sauces used in Mexican cooking. One of our most popular dishes is chicken mole, but today I am sharing with you a recipe for mole amarillo de res, a beef mole in a yellow sauce. The sauce is made with chile guajillo, fire-roasted tomatoes and masa harina corn flour. This combination of ingredients, when blended, gives the sauce its slightly yellow color. Added to this mole amarillo are chayote squash, potatoes and green beans, which make this a hearty stew-style dish.
Masa harina is a great product to have in your pantry. In a pinch it can replace all-purpose flour as a thickener for your soups and stews. It's not only great for preparing homemade tortillas and tamales, but also delicious in atoles and champurrado. In this recipe it works as a thickener, but also adds a subtle corn flavor to the beef mole.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chuck roast or steak, cubed
- 1 large white onion sliced in half (reserve one half)
- 4 cloves garlic (reserve 2 cloves)
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 black peppercorns
- salt to taste
- 8 cups water
- 8 chile guajillo stems and seeds removed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/3 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes (15 ounces)
- 1/2 cup Masa harina corn flour
- handful cilantro
- 1 pound potatoes white or yellow, sliced into 1-inch chunks
- 1 cup green beans freshly sliced
Directions
- To a large pot, add the chuck roast, ½ the onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 bay leaves and peppercorns. Cover with 8 cups of water. Season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour or until beef is tender. Skim the top off of any foam as needed.
- While the beef cooks, prepare the chile sauce. To a sauce pan, add the chile guajillo, reserved onion, reserved garlic and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit until beef is finished cooking.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer chiles, onion and garlic to the blender. Add 1 1/2 cups broth from cooking the beef. Also add, oregano, cumin, ground clove, pepper, fire roasted tomatoes, masa harina and cilantro. Blend on high until smooth. If it's too thick, add a little more broth. Taste for salt. Set aside.
- Remove the beef from pot and keep covered so it does not dry out. Strain the broth into a large bowl. Discard the solids. In that same pot you cooked the beef, add 1 ½ tablespoons of oil and preheat for 2 minutes.
- Add the reserved chile sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Add 4 cups of reserved broth, chayote, potatoes and green beans. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Add the beef back in. Stir well to combine and cook for another 20 minutes or until chayote and potatoes are cooked through. Serve with warm corn tortillas.
Chef Notes
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