Turkey in Mole Negro with Black Beans and Lime Rice

Ingredients

For the Turkey in Mole Negro

• 2 whole (about 4 lbs) boneless turkey breast with skin on (cut in two)
• 1⁄3 cup fresh-rendered pork lard (divided) or neutral cooking oil
• 4 medium dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 4 pieces
• 5 medium dried mulato chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 4 pieces
• 4 medium dried pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 4 pieces
• 1 small white onion, roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
• ½ cup skinned almonds
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• ¾ cup raisins
• (1) 15-ounce can (1 cup) tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
• 4 slices firm white bread, darkly toasted and torn into several pieces
• 6 ground cloves (1⁄8 tsp ground cloves)
• 2-inches Mexican canela (½ tsp ground cinnamon)
• 1 tsp black peppercorns (½ tsp ground black pepper)
• 1⁄8 tsp anise seeds (1⁄8 tsp ground anise)
• 1 cup (about 2 oz) chopped Mexican chocolate
• 8 marigold flowers
• Sesame seeds for garnish
• Salt
• Sugar

For the Black Beans

• 2 lbs dried black beans
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 bunches epazote leaves
• 1 medium white onion, quartered
• ½ lb pork belly, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp lard
• 1 cup queso fresco

For the Lime Rice

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 4 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp butter or oil, optional
• 3 cups long grain white rice
• ½ cup frozen peas
• 2 carrots, diced
• Juice of 3 limes
• Fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. 1
   Make the Turkey in Mole Negro:
   Fry the chiles, onion, and garlic. Measure about 3 tablespoons of the oil or lard into a heavy, 6-quart (or larger) pot or Dutch oven. There should be enough fat to coat the bottom generously. Set over medium heat. When hot, add the dried chiles, onion, and garlic. Stir nearly constantly until the onion and garlic are soft and the chiles fill the kitchen with a toasty aroma and have changed noticeably in color, 4 or 5 minutes. Scrape all the chiles, onions, and garlic into a blender and add 1½ cups of the chicken broth.
2. 2
   Return the unwashed pot to medium heat and add more oil or lard to coat the bottom of the pan evenly. Add the almonds and stir for a minute or two, until you see the first signs of browning. Add the sesame and raisins and stir nearly constantly until the sesame turns golden and the raisins have puffed, about 3 minutes more. Scrape into a bowl and rinse out the pot.
3. 3
   Blend the chile mixture until as smooth as possible—a minute or so in a Vitamix, 2 or 3 minutes in most blenders. Set the pot over medium to medium-high heat and add enough oil or lard to coat the bottom of the pan generously. When hot, set a medium-mesh strainer over the pot and press the mixture through it and into the hot fat. Stir nearly constantly until the chile puree darkens noticeably and thickens to the consistency of tomato paste, usually 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
4. 4
   Blend the nut mixture. Scrape the almond mixture into the unwashed blender and add the tomatoes and bread. If using whole spices, pulverize them with a mortar and pestle and add the ground spices to the blender along with 1½ cups of the chicken broth. Blend until as smooth as possible. This may take longer than blending the chiles because of the sesame seeds’ hardness. Rub some between your fingers to test for smoothness.
5. 5
   Return the pan with the chile paste to between medium and medium-high heat, and, when steaming hot, strain in the nut mixture. Stir for several minutes until the mixture again looks the consistency of tomato paste. Stir in the chocolate and the remaining 3 cups chicken broth, partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring from time to time to ensure nothing is sticking, for an hour or longer.
6. 6
   If the mole has thickened beyond the consistency of, say, potato soup, thin it out with a little more broth or with water. Taste and season first with salt (usually about 2 tsp if you’ve used salted broth) and then with sugar (usually about 2 tbsp) to bring forward the chile flavor and give the finished sauce a slightly noticeably sweet edge.
7. 7
   Heat the oven to 355 degrees. Lay room temperature turkey breasts in 3 tbsp lard in a Dutch oven, brown both sides. Add in the mole sauce, cover and place in the oven. Cook until an instant-read thermometer placed in the center of the turkey breast registers 160 degrees, about 40 minutes.
8. 8
   Remove the turkey from the mole and place on a cutting board. Cover with foil and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Slice the turkey into ½-inch thick pieces, then arrange the slices slightly overlapping on a large, deep, warm serving platter. If the mole has thickened beyond the consistency of a medium cream soup, thin it with a little water. Taste and season with a little more salt or sugar if you think necessary.
9. 9
   Ladle a generous amount of mole over or around the turkey slices and sprinkle with the reserved sesame seeds and marigold flower petals.
10. 10
    Make the Black Beans:
    Clean the beans by removing any old or broken beans.
11. 11
    Rinse the beans under running water using a strainer.
12. 12
    Place the beans, chicken stock, water, garlic cloves, pork belly, onion, and epazote leaves into the Instant Pot. (Alternatively, you can add the epazote leaves in step 14.)
13. 13
    Put the lid on and set the release valve to sealing. Cook for 30 minutes using the Beans Setting. After this time, wait for the steam to be completely released.
14. 14
    Take the lid off, add the lard, epazote leaves, and season with salt. Stir and cook for 5 more minutes on the manual setting.
15. 15
    Top with crumbled queso fresco and serve.
16. 16
    Make the Lime Rice:
    In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to boil. Add the salt, lime juice, and butter and allow the butter to melt. When the chicken stock has returned to a boil, stir in the rice, carrots, and peas. Let the chicken stock return to a light simmer. Stir again, cover the pot, and turn the heat down to low. Keep the rice simmering slightly, and cook for 18 minutes.
17. 17
    When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and let it sit for another couple of minutes to finish absorbing any liquid. Take off the lid, fluff the rice with a fork and let it sit for another 2 minutes or so, so that some of the excess moisture in the rice dries off.
18. 18
    Plate and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.