Reddit mentions of Cafe Pasqual's Cookbook: Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe

Makes 4 quarts of sauce.

Preheat an oven to 350° F.

Clean any dust and dirt from the dried chiles with a damp towel and dry them off thoroughly. If the chiles are moist during the dry sautéing, they will char and be bitter. Stem all the chiles but do not seed. Set aside.

Roast the red bell pepper, then stem and peel but do not seed. Set aside.

Place the sesame seeds in a dry 10-inch sauté pan over low heat. Stir the seeds or shake the pan constantly until the seeds are slightly brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Be careful not to burn them. Remove from the heat and empty into a good-sized bowl to cool. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the browed seeds for garnish.

In a large, dry sauté pan over low heat, place the chipotle, ancho or mulato, and pasilla negro chiles. Shake the pan constantly or stir the chiles until they are evenly toasted, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not char the dried chiles when toasting them or they will be bitter. Remove the toasted chiles from the pan and set aside.

Pour the peanut oil into the same pan and place over medium heat until hot. Carefully drop in the toasted chiles, a few at a time, and leave each batch in the oil for a few seconds. The chiles should soften, swell, and smell fragrant. Using a slotted utensil, remove the chiles and add them to the toasted sesame seeds. When all of the chiles have been fried, add the bell peppers to the bowl. Reserve the oil, keeping it in the sauté pan.

Place the bread and walnuts on a baking sheet in a single layer. Place in the oven until the bread is dry and the walnuts are lightly toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir the walnuts occasionally so they do not burn.

Meanwhile, break the chocolate tablet and the cinnamon stick into 3 or 4 large pieces and place in the bottom of a large bowl. When the toasted walnuts and warm bread are ready, slide them atop the chocolate, to melt it. Set aside.

Reheat the reserved peanut oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the whole tomatoes, garlic cloves, tomatillos, banana chunks, ginger, and onion. Cook until the onion is translucent, the tomatoes begin to char and burst, and the tomatillos have turned a darker green, 7 to 10 minutes. Empty the contents into a colander to drain. Discard the oil.

Add the drained vegetable mixture to the large bowl containing the chocolate-bread mixture and stir well. Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a blender, and blend, adding enough water to make the resulting sauce smooth but still thick. The sauce should have the consistency of a milkshake, but not be as thick as tomato paste. A blender is easier to use than a food processor for this work. Continue to blend in batches until all of the water and vegetable mixture have been combined. Strain through a large-mesh strainer or china cup, using the back of a wooden spoon to push the purée through.

In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil until it just begins to smoke. Add the purée. Be careful! Protect yourself from hot splashes by wearing long sleeves and turning off the flame while adding the purée. Whisk the oil and purée together with a wire balloon whisk until well blended. Turn the heat back on to low and cook, stirring frequently so that the mole does not burn, for 20 minutes.

Taste the mole. If it is too piquant, slowly add brown sugar until a balance is achieved between piquant and sweet. If the chiles are quite hot, you may find yourself adding quite a lot of sugar! You may also want to add a bit more Mexican chocolate to deepen the flavor. Remove from the heat, but cover to keep hot.

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