Although I have lived all over the country, and have learned to love all sorts of regional foods and flavors, it is the flavors of the southwest United States ( and oddly enough, France) that I have an affinity for.  Oh, I love a wet Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Pot Pie, and you can’t beat a ring of pickled bologna from Michigan when you need comfort food…Fresh she-crab soup from the outer banks….real andouille sausage from LEW-zana, chowdah from you know where…. calamari from the Sardine Factory in Monterey… that fresh fresh orange flavor straight from the groves in Citra, Fla…all of it is unique and wonderful…but..there is something about the southwest…just something.

Pecans, brown sugar, butter make that amazing bite of goodness that is known as a praline.  Different from the European praline, which is milder and more sophisticated, the southwestern praline is in your face friendly like a golden retriever and as intense as a Texas summer day.  And that is great.  But when you add vanilla…not the insipid, chemical vanilla either, but deep and robust vanilla…there… there you have something worth the calories.

This is a perfect ending to a perfect day.  The dessert, a porch, a technicolor sunset, and a cup of espresso…well now, it doesn’t get much better.

Praline Vanilla Custards

for Praline:

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the brown sugar until it is smooth.  Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly until  forms a silky sauce.  This will only take a very few minutes. You just want the sugar to dissolve completely and the ingredients to come together.   Do not over cook or you will have hard praline at the bottom of you custards.

Pour warm praline in the bottoms of six custard cups.  Sprinkle evenly with pecans.  Set aside.

Custard

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half and half (light cream)
• 2 vanilla beans
• 1 teaspoon pure bourbon vanilla extract
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 300F.

Pour the cream and the half and half  into small saucepan. Split vanilla beans in half lengthwise and scrape seeds into cream as well as adding the pod.

Bring cream and vanilla to just below a simmer, steam will be rising but it will not be bubbling.  Cover pan and remove from heat. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.  If you have time to do this a day ahead it is even better.

Beat egg yolks and sugar until they are light yellow, thick, and make ribbons when you lift the beaters.

Remove the vanilla pods from the cream.  Add the vanilla extract.  Stir the cream slowly into the egg mixture by hand.  Try to incorporate as little air as possible into the mixture.  Do make sure it is thoroughly blended, however.

Cover the cups with aluminum foil.  Set them in a large pan of warm water.  The water should come half way up the sides of the cups.

Bake about 30 minutes, or until the center is almost set.  Remove from the oven, cool, and then chill.

Makes 6.

There is nothing, and I mean nothing that will scent your kitchen up like Mole.  Not moles, silly, Moe-LAY.  Mole is a Mexican sauce that is so complex that it is unbelievable.  Your taste buds will be going nuts for hours trying to figure out all of the flavors they have taken in.  Sweet, spicy, warm, tangy….the list goes on and on in waves of flavor ecstasy.

Mole can be time consuming..but the best way to make this is in a slow cooker so that all the flavors meld together.  I like to stir in corn at the last minute but that isn’t totally required.

Don’t let this dish intimidate you.  It is a little non-traditional because I found, quite by accident, that I like it better made with dates than raisins.

Ready?  Put the Mexican music on the AM dial and let’s go…

Chicken Mole Stew

Mole:

1 tablespoon chile infused oil or olive oil

2 cups orange juice

2 lbs diced onions

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

6 garlic cloves, chopped

3 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons of cumin

1 teaspoon of dried  chipotle granules or to taste

1/3 cup pitted dates

1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons brown sugar or agave

1/4 cup red wine

Saute onion, garlic, and pumpkin seeds in oil until onion is transparent.  Stir in remaining ingredients except for wine.  SImmer for 20 minutes.

Place in a blender, a little at a time and blend until smooth.  Stir in wine.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Chicken:

Cut 4 lbs of chicken breast into chunks.  You can also use thighs or whatever you like.  Brown quickly in oil.

Stew:

Add chicken and mole sauce to a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.  Stir in corn in the last hour if desired.  Serve with rice, tortillas, and salad.

Serves 8

image:marye audet