Mole Poblano con Pavo (Turkey with Mole Poblano Sauce)

Place all chiles and tomatoes in a saucepan, and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain water,  peel the tomatoes and remove seeds. Remove the stems from the chiles, and remove the seeds. Rinse if necessary.  Place the chiles and tomatoes in a very large bowl, and set aside.

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil to a large skillet. Fry onions and garlic until translucent. Remove garlic and onions from the oil, and add to the large bowl with chiles.

In the same oil and skillet, fry the slices of

plantain until golden on both sides. Remove slices to the large bowl.

Add the2-3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil to the skillet. Add the peanuts, almonds, and sesame seeds, and gently fry over low heat until slightly browned. Pour entire content of skillet into the large bowl with the chiles and tomatoes.

In a molcajete, mortar or spice grinder, grind the whole cloves, peppercorns, anise, coriander seeds and salt into a fine powder. In a small, clean skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Add the ground spices, and fry lightly for 10 seconds. Pour spices and vegetable oil into the large bowl.

Crumble the toasted tortillas and add to the large bowl, along with the raisins, prunes, and sugar. In a large stock pot, the remaining vegetable oil and heat.

The sauce now needs to be blended until smooth: Fill a blender container half full of the mixture in the large bowl. Add enough of the chicken stock to facilitate blending, and blend until you have a smooth sauce, with no visible particles. Pour the sauce into the stock pot with the heated vegetable oil. Continue processing the contents of the bowl with the chicken broth in this fashion until the entire contents of the bowl have been utilized and turned into the mole sauce. Add the chocolate and cinnamon stick to the stock pot. Simmer the sauce over very low heat for 30 minutes, stirring every five minutes to make sure it does not scorch. Remove the mole from the heat and allow to cool completely.

At this stage, the mole is in concentrated form, and can be stored in the refrigerator for a week, or frozen until you are ready to use. If you opt to freeze the mole, do not freeze for more than 30 days, and thaw completely before preparing to combine it with the cooked turkey meat.

When you are ready to serve your mole, you will first need to cook the turkey by boiling it whole. * Place a peeled, quartered onion in the stock pot, and one peeled clove of garlic.  Boil the turkey until it is cooked, about 1 hour. Salt to taste. Once it is fully cooked, allow the turkey and broth to cool. Remove turkey meat from bones, cutting the meat in large chunks. You can opt to leave the wings and drumsticks on the bones.

When ready to combine the mole and the cooked turkey, place the concentrated mole in a large Dutch oven or extra-large skillet (Use a mole pot if you have one.) Add approximately 2 cups (480ml) to dilute the concentrated mole. You can add more or less broth, according to your taste.  Add the turkey pieces, and cover the mole. Stir a few times to turn the meat in the sauce. Heat well over low flame, being careful that the sauce does not scorch. Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.