Holy Mole, Enchilada!

HOLY MOLE! That was literally my reaction when I first tasted this (Ok, so it began as Holy Moly)! My favorite mexican restaurant in town serves a mole sauce over their enchiladas. I had never had anything like it at another mexican place and at $50 for our family to go out to eat, I was determined to mimic these amazing flavors in my own kitchen. Not to mention that my hubby makes much better Margaritas! This is what I came up with. Now, I learned alot making this for the first time, so I will post the recipe as I will make it from now on. I used a pretty dated, mediocre, chili powder and will soon be purchasing a newer and better quality jar of it for next time. I reccomend the same for you, but the sauce was still awesome. Soooo bueno!
Though I could probably eat this sauce with a spoon, I made some yummy Spinach Enchiladas to go with it. Served up with black beans and saffron rice, it was a hit with the family; even our 2 year old gobbled it up!

Mole Sauce

Ingredients:

1-2 tbl vegetable oil
1 med onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3 tbl all-purpose flour
4-5 tbl hot or regular chili powder (depending on your taste)
4 cups chicken broth (1 box)
1/4-1/2 square semisweet chocolate (I used 1/2 and felt a little less would have been perfect)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat.
2. Saute onion until tender
3. Stir in garlic, oregano, cumin and cinnamon; saute a few minutes
4. Stir in flour and chili powder, keep stirring as it gets thick
5. Slowly whisk in chicken broth
6. Reduce until desired consistency (reduce to almost to 1/2 - leaving about 2 1/2 cups of sauce - it will seem a bit thin, but it will thicken a little and is supposed to be runny)
7. Stir in chocolate until melted and well blended. Spinach Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 medium onion, sliced in half moons
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbl butter
1/2 pkg. (4 oz.) cream cheese

1. In a skillet saute onion, salt, cumin and nutmeg in butter
2. Add spinach and cream cheese
3. Cook over medium heat until cream cheese is melted and blended through, set saide.
4. Spoon about 1/4 cup of filling into medium round flour tortillas, and fold/roll to close.
5. Place in 13x9 inch baking pan and continue filling tortillas until pan is full.
6. Pour sauce over enchiladas and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
7. Serve with extra sauce poured over enchiladas and a sprig of cilantro on top.