Huasteca-Style Chicken in Mole

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, quartered, backbone and wings set aside for another use
• 4 sprigs mint
• 2 small white onions, one left unpeeled, second one chopped
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 6 cups water
• 4 large tomatoes, about 2 pounds total
• 5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 teaspoons black peppercorns
• One 1-inch piece canela
• 10 cloves
• 5 large ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• Chopped cilantro
• White rice and/or corn tortillas
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. Put the chicken pieces in a large pot with the mint, the unpeeled onion, 2 teaspoons of salt, and the water. Set it over high heat until it boils, then turn the heat to low. As foam rises, spoon it away. Check with a meat thermometer and pull the breasts when they reach 140 degrees and the legs when they reach 150 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Lift the chicken out of the broth and let it rest off to the side. Once it is cool enough to handle, discard the skin, pull the meat from the bones, and shred it with your fingers.
2. While that is happening, line a cast iron skillet with a sheet of aluminum foil and warm it over medium heat. Add the tomatoes once the pan is hot. Turn them now and then with tongs, letting the skins blister and char on all sides, about 10 minutes. Move them aside until they have cooled for a few minutes, then slip off the skins and put the tomatoes in a blender.
3. Lower the heat to medium-low and put the garlic cloves in the skillet. Cook them, stirring from time to time, until they feel soft inside, about 8 minutes. Let the garlic cool, peel it, and add it to the blender.
4. As the garlic roasts, combine the peppercorns, canela, and cloves in a small heavy skillet over medium heat. Keep the skillet moving so the spices toast evenly, stopping when their aroma blooms, 1 to 2 minutes. Tip the spices into the blender.
5. After the chicken is cooked, ladle 2 cups of the stock into a medium-sized bowl. Drop in the chiles and leave them to soak for 15 minutes.
6. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once it glints, stir in the chopped onions. Cook, stirring often, until the onions look translucent, about 3 minutes, then scrape them into the blender.
7. Once the chiles have soaked, put them in the blender with the soaking liquid. Blend until the puree is very smooth, pausing as needed to work down the sides with a spatula. Give it a few minutes here; the sauce wants that time. Pour the puree through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing with the spatula so the liquid passes through.
8. Wash the large saucepan, then pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Set it over medium heat. When the oil glimmers, add the chile puree, cover the pan, and let it cook, stirring here and there, until the sauce has thickened and you can see the fat beginning to separate, about 15 minutes.
9. Stir in the shredded chicken, loosen the sauce with a little of the remaining stock, and add the sugar. Taste and adjust with more salt. Serve with white rice, tortillas, and chopped cilantro.