Win?-dies and Misbah ul-Haq's Mole Poblano for Batting Awesomeness

Whoa!  That was some ODI earlier on today! 'Twas a little bit of an low-scoring match but it had plenty of thrills for the drama queens inside each and every one of us.  So, Pakistan have won 3 of the ODI's so far, and the West Indians might want to change their nick-name of "Windies" to "Losedies".  As in..."we have so much talent on this team, but why do we "losedies" ODI's"?  A good question to ponder indeed.

So in today's ODI, there really was some thrilling stuff.  Rampaul mauled Pakistan's top order batsmen: "Manly" Mohammed Hafeez who usually belts 'em out was caught for a wimpy 5 while Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq both quacked out for ducks.  Ducks!!!  It was carnage!  It was pandemonium, it was crazier than h*ll!!! 

However, my favourite, Misbah ul-Haq steadied the ship and anchored the innings.  With 62 runs not out and forming some decent partnerships with Umar Akmal and Hammad Azam, he set the stage for Wahab Riaz to spectacularily belt out a couple of big 6's to take the team home to victory.

The Haq, in a previous episode of Awesomeness

Wahab Riaz is so much more than just a pretty face.

Yes!  Right on Pakistan!  And I will say to the Windies team: good on you guys today.  You fought hard and Rampaul and cute lil' Bishoo (even his name is cute) bowled wonderfully.  I'm looking forward to the next ODI and I'm itching to see a good fight!

Cute Bishoo, but deadly spin.  Deadly.

Now for today's cooking, I want to dedicate my bestest recipe of all time to Misbah ul-Haq.  That's right.  He's got his batting mojo back and he deserves this more than anyone else.  This one is for kitchen masters; if you're inexperienced, don't attempt this.  Try some of the easier dishes in the blog and work on your "sazon" or seasoning and spice balance first. 

Misbah ul-Haq's Mole Poblano of Batting Awesomeness

Mole (rhymes with Sholay)  poblano is a traditional mexican salan originally from the city of Puebla, in central Mexico.  In cooking circles, making a good mole poblano is considered the Holy Grail of the culinary arts.  The old fashioned recipe had more than 128 ingredients, but nowadays, because we can buy decent, ready-made spiced chocolate, the ingredient list is greatly reduced.

If you live in Pakistan, I'll try to get the name of the market in Islamabad that sells mexican chilies and chocolate.   In Canada, you can get the chiles and chocolate on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, or at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.  Make sure you budget plenty of time to make this; you will be in the kitchen for several hours.  You can buy ready-made mole sauce at the store, but don't use it because it tastes unbalanced and is rubbish, I tell you.  Rubbish!  Make your own, and wow your dinner guests.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 chickens, cut in 8 (you can remove the skin if you wish)
8 ancho chilies
15 mulato chilies
2 pasilla chilies
1 chipotle chili
3 red tomatoes
50 grams of almonds
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
50 grams of raisins (sultanas)
1/2 a toasted or fried bun
4 or 5 cloves
pinch of cinnamon
parsley
4 or 5 black peppercorns
1 onion
3 cloves roasted garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 round to 1/2 round of IBARRA or ABUELITA mexican chocolate (european style chocolate will not work well, use the mexican chocolate)
1 fried corn tortilla
1 cup of manteca (lard) or butter if you want halal
salt to taste

The day before, roast and seed the chilies, and soak overnight in salted water.  If you are using dried chilies, simply soak them in salted water for 8+ hours.

Drain the chilies, and grind all of them except the chipotle chilli in a blender with cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, sesame seeds, the fried bun, the fried corn tortilla, the onion and two cloves of garlic.

Roast the tomatoes and remove the skin.
Grind the tomatoes and chipotle pepper in the blender.

Make broth with the chicken necks, water, 1 clove of garlic, onion and parsley.  This step can be skipped if you have pre-made chicken broth.

Fry the chicken in manteca or butter, brown and remove.
Add the tomato and chipotle mix to the pan, and reduce until paste consistency.
Add about 2 cups of chicken broth, and again reduce until paste consistency.
Add the chilies puree.
Add more broth and salt.
Add the chicken, cook until soft and add more broth whenever necessary.
Add in the chocolate and sugar, cook another couple of minutes, then garnish with almonds, raisins, and sesame seeds.

Serve with tomato rice, which is what I'll show you how to do tomorrow.

And there's Misbah ul-Haq's Mole Poblano for batting awesomeness featuring reverse sweeps.  Love the Haq!  Love the Mole Poblano!  Yes!  Yes!! Yes!!!

Happy Cricket, Happy Haq, and Happy Mole!