Recipe: Grilled Shrimp with Chocolate Mole Poblano Sauce

From Denny: We love seafood because it is quick to prepare. Here's a new twist; pair grilled shrimp with a chocolate mole sauce! Anything chocolate works for me!

From: Southern Living Magazine, a wonderful resource recipe database.

Southern Living, "This recipe offers a creative savory use of Andrew Weil's "perfect" food: dark chocolate. The chocolate adds richness to the mole, a traditional Mexican sauce. Prepare the sauce a day ahead, and refrigerate so the flavors have time to develop. Store the mole poblano, covered, in the refrigerator for up to three days, or freeze for up to two months."

Ingredients:

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups Mole Poblano (recipe follows)


Directions:

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Pat shrimp dry with paper towels. Combine shrimp, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Thread the shrimp onto 6 (8-inch) skewers. Place skewers on grill pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Serve with Mole Poblano.

Note: Nutritional analysis includes 1/3 cup Mole Poblano per serving.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 skewer and 1/3 cup mole poblano)

CALORIES 230 (25% from fat); FAT 6.5g (sat 1.5g,mono 2.1g,poly 1.2g); IRON 3.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 230mg; CALCIUM 79mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.1g; SODIUM 556mg; PROTEIN 32g; FIBER 1.3g

*****

Mole Poblano

If needed, add more water during the final 18 minutes of cooking to achieve the desired consistency.
This recipe goes with Shrimp with Mole Poblano

Ingredients:

2 ancho chiles, seeded

2 mulato chiles, seeded

1 pasilla chile, seeded

2 plum tomatoes

2 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Cooking spray

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 soft black plantain, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1/4 cup sliced almonds

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/4 cups water, divided

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ancho, mulato, and pasilla chiles; cook 1 minute on each side. Place chiles in a medium bowl; cover with hot water. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes; drain.

While chiles soak in hot water, place tomatoes in pan, and cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Add tortillas to pan, and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place drained chiles, tomatoes, tortillas, and broth in a blender; process until smooth.

Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add chopped onion, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add plantain, and sauté for 3 minutes or until browned. Add almonds and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Stir in unsweetened cocoa, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves; sauté 15 seconds. Place onion mixture and 1/4 cup water in blender with chile mixture; process until smooth.

Place chile mixture, 1 cup water, and chocolate in pan; cook over medium heat, partially covered, 18 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and salt.

Wine note: The complex flavors of moles are a big challenge when it comes to wine. One style I like is fruity but dry rieslings. These have crisp acidity to counterbalance a mole's intense flavor, plus a touch of fruitiness that plays perfectly off the chiles. A great example: Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling Cold Creek Vineyard 2003 from Washington's Columbia Valley ($17). -Karen MacNeil

Yield: 4 cups (serving size: 1/3 cup)

CALORIES 80 (30% from fat); FAT 2.7g (sat 1.1g,mono 0.7g,poly 0.4g); IRON 0.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 23mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.8g; SODIUM 219mg; PROTEIN 1.9g; FIBER 1.8g