- Christopher Hirsheimer
- Rick Bayless’s mole de olla
Rick Bayless has published nine cookbooks since 1987’s Authentic Mexican. I’ve cooked out of all of them, and I’ve not once come across a bunk recipe. So naturally I’m going to include his latest, More Mexican Everyday (Norton), with the others in our ongoing roundup of local cookbooks. A follow-up to 2005’s Mexican Everyday, it adheres to the same MO, offering simple recipes with (mostly) easy-to-find ingredients. As with most of Bayless’s books, the recipes are ever adaptable. There are a ton for vegetables—four full chapters’ worth, with dishes including squash blossom soup, fettuccine with butternut squash and red poblano crema, and yellow mole with grilled fennel. And there are also chapters on breakfast (sample recipe: Xoco’s granola) and dessert (e.g., coconut bread pudding) as well as chapters devoted to rice cookers (chipotle rice with shrimp) and slow cookers. I chose a recipe out of the last—mole de olla, or red chile short rib soup—mainly because I’m always disappointed in the insipid version you find in most restaurants. You don’t need a slow cooker for this recipe if you’re willing to spend a good three hours keeping an eye on a slow braise in a Dutch oven. The short ribs render a ton of fat, so I strained a lot of it off. It’s still magnificently rich and deeply beefy.
There are two unusual ingredients that are classic in a traditional mole de olla. Folks will be wild about the soup even without them, but if you can find them in your grocery store, or search them out in a Mexican grocery, the experience you’ll offer will be truly memorable. Epazote is the jagged-leaf herb that adds its distinctive—I’d say iconic—complexity to the broth as it simmers. And xoconostle is the sour prickly-pear cactus fruit, which is peeled, seeded and chopped into tangy bits to stir into the finished soup.
Ladle into warm, deep bowls and carry to the table. Pass the lime wedges separately for everyone to add al gusto.
