I love having a few pounds of turkey in the fridge. I make sure to make enough during the holiday season for all the leftover meals. There is so much you can do with leftover turkey, but one of my favorites is turkey in mole or turkey mole enchiladas. If I have big pieces then I simmer them in mole, but if I have little scraps here and there I shred them up and make a batch of enchiladas. I know you’re thinking “Who in their right mind has time to be making mole?” Well making mole from scratch is a daunting task, but lucky for all of us mole can be bought in a jar, and with a few added ingredients made into a divine sauce. It’s the best mole shortcut, and only takes a few minutes. What I love best is my local Walmart sells the mole in a jar and all the other key ingredients. This is a great meal to make with leftover turkey, and it veers away from the typical cranberry spread turkey sandwich. I like to invite friends over that I may not have been able to see over Thanksgiving, and let them think I slaved away in the kitchen to make them this dazzling meal. Even though I’m sure I just gave myself away with this post. Hee-Hee, now you know. I am going to include step by step photos of the entire process to show you exactly how to do it. Enjoy your leftovers!

Ingredients for turkey mole enchiladas:

Turkey filling:

• 2 – tablespoon olive oil
• 2 – cup onion (chopped)
• 2 – teaspoon garlic (chopped)
• 6 – cups shredded leftover turkey
• 1/2 – teaspoon oregano
• 1 – teaspoon Lawry’s
• 8 – tablespoons chicken broth
• 2 – cups grated queso quesadilla, or grated jack cheese, or crumbled queso fresco

Mole:

• 1 – jar Dona Maria mole
• 4 – cups chicken broth (boiling)
• 1/2 – cup salted peanuts
• 1/2 – cup raisins

Other Ingredients:

• 1 – cup vegetable oil
• 24 – king size corn tortillas
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan over a medium flame add in olive oil and allow to get hot.
2. Add in onions and saute until translucent for about 7 minutes.
3. Add in garlic and continue to stir for about 2 minutes.
4. Add in turkey, oregano, and Lawry’s stir to combine and continue cooking for 10 minutes. 
5. Add in chicken broth, mix, and set to the side.
6. Mole: In a blender add in mole, chicken broth (boiling hot), peanuts and raisins.   
7. Blend on high until smooth. Set to the side. 
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
9. In a small frying pan over a medium low flame add in vegetable oil and allow to heat.
10. Dip one tortilla at a time into the hot oil and fry on each side for 1 to 2 minutes or until hard but still bendable. 
11. Place fried tortillas in a baking dish. Then a few at a time add 2  tablespoons of turkey mixture to the center of the tortilla. 
12. Top the turkey mixture with 1 tablespoon of grated cheese, then roll the tortilla up to create a tube shape. 
13. Place all the enchiladas in a the baking dish, then pour the mole over the top.   
14. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
15. Remove from oven and pour additional mole over the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 
16. Enjoy!

Mole.  What a delectable dish.  Certainly not the easiest thing to make.  One of the many gifts of living in Los Angeles is all the different styles and tastes of prepared mole that one can buy.  Whether it be from a vendor or restaurant.  Recently I was invited to a private mole tasting at Dona Socorro’s (founding member of ‘La Feria de los Moles’) home.  It was the perfect demonstration of two of the most traditional mole styles, Puebla and Oaxaca.  I had both.  I can’t say there was a winner amongst the two moles…. the lucky winner was me the taster who got to enjoy two plates of sublime mole.  I was shocked to discover how many laborious hours go into making mole.  Making mole for a small amount of people will easily run you 5 hours.  Try a crowd of 25…. your looking at 10 hours.  Want enough mole to feed a big party…. it’ll take about 3 days! DAYS!  Wow, no wonder I’ve never made homemade mole.  I’m positive it’s something I’ll try doing in the near future since Dona Socorro inspired me.  In the meantime if you would like to get your hands on some delicious mole…. Then make it your business to attend the            “4th Annual La Feria de los Moles: Puebla vs. Oaxaca!”  Yes, Dona Socorro will be at the event making her famous mole! Enjoy! 

Date: October 9th, 2011

Time: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Place: Olvera Street

This family friendly event will have FREE admittance and food will be available for purchase.

Here’s a few pictures from the pre-tasting: 

All photos taken by: Mando Lopez

Don’t miss out on the fun!

It’s almost impossible to find delicious chilaquiles in this town, unless you are making them at home.  I am a chilaquiles lover and I’m always ready with fork in hand to eat a good batch.  Sometimes I don’t feel like cooking but still want to satisfy my Mexican breakfast craving with chilaquiles, well my prayers have been answered in spades. La Casita Mexicana makes the most delicious chilaquiles I have ever tasted in my life.   They offer a variety of different preparations/sauces to choose from.  Everything from a spicy red chile to roasted green chile to a smokey mole sauce.  I settled on ordering the “divorciados” half green chile and half red chile.  Perfectly crunchy corn tortilla pieces emerged in a bath of two chiles then covered in crumbled queso fresco, red onion, and cilantro.  A wall of sour cream divorces the two.  These heavenly chilaquiles are accompanied by a homemade corn tortilla quesadilla, and a mound of creamy refried pinto beans topped with a roasted chile de arbol.  The deliciousness didn’t stop there.  I enjoyed the finest cup of cafe de olla spiced with cinnamon sweetened with piloncillo and swirled with cream.  We finished our breakfast perfection with a cactus tuna (prickly pear) flan topped with a gorgeous pomegranate sauce.  It was exactly like flan should be dense and similar to custard with a sweetness unlike anything I have ever tried.

I’m thrilled when I say La Casita Mexicana makes the BEST Mexican breakfast in Los Angeles.  Not to mention they have a million write ups from respected publications hailing them for their dinner menu, but we’re talking breakfast right now. 🙂  Plain and simple: I advise you to visit as soon as possible.  Here are a few photos from an unforgettable breakfast.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

La Casita Mexicana

4030 East Gage Ave.

Bell, CA 90201

323. 773.1898