Easy peasy mole for dinner

 Years ago, I wanted to learn how to make mole from scratch. It's a complicated thing, with a ridiculous number of ingredients - just the kind of thing I was interested in doing. My husband helpfully got a recipe from one of the Mexican women he worked with. I was pretty excited about it. He was grinning kind of playfully. A container of something was included ... so mysterious.

Instead of being a complicated family recipe, handed down for years, and requiring half of my spice cabinet, the recipe involved using Dona Maria mole paste that was readily available at the grocery store, and adding sugar, salt, and water or broth. Hey, if it was good enough for her (and she'd brought mole to work to share and my husband liked it), then it was good enough for me.

That's how I made mole for years until suddenly I couldn't find it at the grocery store about a year ago. So I did the smart thing and searched on Amazon to buy that mole - and it was unavailable. All was not lost though (and I was craving mole really bad) since I found something even more interesting - mole powder from Shawhan Farms.

It comes in a plastic jar, like a spice, and you simply add water. The brand had four different types of mole available, and of course I had to try them all - mild green, Oaxahan yellow, Oaxahan negro, and Manchamanteles. I hit the button for the 4-pack so fast, I practically sprained a tortilla.

Spoiler alert, I like the green mole best, or maybe it's tied with the Manchamanteles, but that's freakishly hard to spell.

It took me quite a while to get through all four moles. The cool thing is that since these are a powder, you can use as much as you like, then store the rest in the pantry or spice rack or wherever things like this end up. So you can mix just a little mole for a couple chicken mole tacos with leftover chicken, or make a whole batch of mole to feed a crowd.

The instructions on the jar makes it simple to mix as much as you like, too. It's one part mole mix to two parts water. So, one tablespoon of the mix to two tablespoons of water. Or one whole jar of mix with two jars of water. The thickness is perfect as a mole sauce at that ratio, but of course you could add more liquid for a thin sauce or maybe just add a pinch of powder to some shredded chicken to get the flavor.

Of course you can add other herbs, spices, and flavors, but I thought they were all perfect just the way they were. Besides being different colors, the flavors were distinct. Like I said, I had my favorites, but I wouldn't turn down any of them - and the four-pack offers a price discount, so it's a good deal.

Oh, and don't worry, the black doesn't turn your food black - it's more of a rich dark brown when it's cooked.

Since I found these, I haven't even looked for my past favorite. I keep at least one jar on hand so I can make mole on a whim.

Oh, and by the way, the company makes a whole bunch of other spices mixes and rubs. I haven't tried any of them, but based on the mole, I wouldn't be afraid to give them a try. If you're familiar with Shawhan Farms' spices, or you decide to give the mole a try, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Highly recommended.