I’ve been digging through my pantry, cabinets, freezer, fridge- everywhere, looking to see what’s there, what needs to be used and what can be made with whatever spoils I managed to find. I found chilis. I made mole. Namely, this mole pork with crispy rice and beans.
I’m pretty sure these chilis have been around from the first time I made mole. Which was….a while ago. And here’s another secret for you: I don’t much like mole sauce.
I know. I feel like should since I do love almost every other Mexican flavor or concoction out there but this one, I’ve had a hard time getting on board with loving. This batch was no different, and so I did what I did last time and added a bit of BBQ sauce and all was right and delicious again. So, not so much mole pork tenderloin but mole-q. Trust me, it’s good.
I kept the hodgepodge-ness of this going by combining my Mexi-cue pork situation with my mom’s very Cuban recipe for black beans and rice. It’s a good one, in case you haven’t yet tried it, and I took a page out of Joy the Baker’s book and used the broiler to crisp it all up nice, adding a bit of pineapple to the mix to complement the mole-q and bring it all together.
It was fab! And relatively quick to throw together. The often forgot pork tenderloin (at least in my house) brought itself back into the mix when I remembered that they cook so damn fast. Like, 30 minutes. Less than, really. A quick broil, 10 minutes per side with a few minutes to rest is all it takes.
In another stroke of genius from me, I preheated my baking sheet under the broiler to give the pork a nice sear when I added it to the oven. We do love a nice sear.
The whole sheet pan shebang was a nice surprise for a meal, using flavors and ingredients I don’t often use and despite all the steps in the recipe below, it really didn’t take more than an hour to throw together. I guess we can say kitchen discoveries (or, re-discoveries) are becoming a hallmark of this quarantine.
What are some of yours?
Mole Pork with Crispy Beans and Rice
April 22, 2020
: 35 min
: 1 hr
: Easy
Mole pork with crispy beans and rice is a twist on traditional with a hint of barbecue covering this broiled pork tenderloin.
Ingredients
- For the mole-q sauce (makes about 3 cups)
- 4 mulato chiles
- 3 pasilla chiles
- 3 ancho chiles
- 2 TB tomato paste
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (preferably Canela)
- 1/8 tsp ground coriander
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coarse-ground black pepper
- ½ TB seeds from the chiles, toasted
- ¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
- ½ head roasted garlic (can be done the day before)**
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- 2 TB pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
- 4 cups chicken or turkey stock, warmed
- 3 TB olive oil
- 1/2 cup prepared red barbecue sauce
- For the pork tenderloin:
- 1 pork tenderloin
- 2 TB favorite grill seasoning (I love this Cajun spiced Cajun King)
- 2 TB vegetable oil
- For the beans and rice:
- 1 TB olive oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped,
- 1 stalks celery, chopped
- 1TB cumin powder
- 1 TB Mexican oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 14-ounce can black beans, rinsed
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 14-ounce can chicken stock (low sodium is fine)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Directions
- Step 1 Make the mole sauce: Clean and seed the chiles (reserving ½ TB), and dry toast them until fragrant. In a separate bowl , place the toasted chiles and cover with warm stock. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Step 2 In a separate saucepan, add 1 TB oil and quickly fry the sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and almonds. Set aside. Once the chiles are done, add them, the tomato paste, garlic, spices, seeds and nuts to a blender and puree until smooth. Add this puree to a large saucepan with the remaining stock over medium heat and let reduce to desired thickness. At that point, add the chocolate and barbecue sauce and stir until the sauce is nice and smooth.
- Step 3 Make the rice: In a large stock pot, or the bowl of a rice cooker, add the olive oil and saute the onion, pepper, celery and garlic until translucent. Add the spices and cook another minute. Add the rice, then the liquids. Cover and cook until the rice is done. Finally stir in the beans and pineapple and let heat through.
- Step 4 Preheat the broiler to high, and place the sheet pan in the oven while it preheats with the vegetable oil. Season the pork with the grill seasoning on all sides. Once the oven has preheated, place the pork on the hot pan. Let broil for 10 minutes. Flip the tenderloin, and add the cooked rice and pineapple to the pan. Let cook another 10 minutes.
- Step 5 Remove the cooked pork from the oven and set aside to rest. Set the broiler for an additional 15 minutes to crisp up the rice, stirring every 5 minutes. Squeeze 1 lime over the rice and add the parsley. Serve with mole sauce
