Molé-Madeira Sauce

There are few recipes that I get right the first time and write down immediately. Fortunately for me, this was one of them. I had this jar of Dona Maria brand Mole Mexican Condiment sitting in my refrigerator for a long time. I had used it trying to make a decent chicken en molé a few months previously, and had not been very satisfied with my efforts at that time. But it was time to either use up the dried molé sauce preparation, or toss it out. My Scotch-Irish ancestry insisted that I try again. The result, below, turned out to be marvelous!

  • ¼ cup Dona Maria Molé Mexican condiment
  • 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
  • 1 cup Madeira wine, my dear

Crumble the molé condiment, almost a cake, into ¼” dice and put into a 1 quart sauce pan with the remaining ingredients. Melt the molé in the liquid, stirring constantly until a thick sauce forms that will coat a spoon. You can control the thickness by the ratio of molé and Madeira. Serve over sautéed chicken or tamales (or potatoes, or polenta, or whatever else may please you).

Serves 6 people.

giblet gravy

Giblet gravy is an established accompaniment to the traditional turkey meal for Thanksgiving or any special occasion. The recipe here is the simple, but classical one that was used in the 1988 Family Thanksgiving Feast †.

  • 1 set poultry giblets (gizzard, heart, neck)
  • water, to cover
  • roasting pan drippings, strained
  • 1 cup giblet broth
  • 2 tbsp fat from roasting pan
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • ½ tsp <salt>
  • fresh ground pepper, to taste

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine gizzard, heart, neck, and enough water to cover; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add liver and cook 15 minutes longer.

Strain the giblet broth through a sieve into a large bowl. Pull the meat from neck and discard the bones. Coarsely chop neck and other meat. Cover and refrigerate meat and broth separately.

To make gravy, remove rack from roasting pan and strain the pan drippings into a bowl. Add the giblet broth to hot roasting pan and heat to boiling, stirring until browned bits are loosened from bottom of pan. Then add this to the drippings in the bowl. Let the meat juice stand 1 minute, or until fat separates from meat juice.

Spoon 2 tbsp of the fat from the drippings into 2-quart saucepan; skim off and discard any remaining fat. Add the remaining giblet broth and enough water to meat juice in cup to equal 3½ cups.

Heat the fat in a saucepan over medium heat; stir in 2 tablespoons flour and ½ teaspoon <salt>. Cook, stirring, until flour turns golden brown. With wire whisk, gradually whisk in meat-juice mixture and cook, whisking, until gravy has thickened slightly and boils; boil 1 minute. Stir in reserved giblets and neck meat; heat through. Pour into a gravy boat.

Yields about 3½ cups.