Ole Mole Chicken Burgers

Ingredients

Mole Sauce:
½ cup shelled pumpkin seeds
¼ cup shelled pistachio nuts
¼ cup pine nuts
2 poblano peppers, cut in quarters
3 tablespoons Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc
2 ounces of Mexican chocolate, chop in pieces
Sautéed Tomatillos:
6 tomatillos, papery skin peeled and cut into wedges
Patties:
1 ½ pounds of free-range ground chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican preferred)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Vegetable oil, for brushing grill
6 Corn Meal buns split
Fresh cilantro – wash, pat-dry, cut away stems

Instructions

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium-high. To roast the nuts, place pumpkin, pistachio, and pine nuts in a shallow pan and place on grill. Roast five minutes, then turn them over and roast another five minutes. Remove pan with roasted nuts and set aside. While nuts cool, place tomatillo wedges into saucepan and sauté. While tomatillos are sautéing, make mole sauce. To make mole sauce, in a food processor, combine the nuts, poblano peppers, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, chilli powder, salt, black pepper, and wine. Pulse until mixture is fully incorporated, stopping only to scrap side of mixture with a rubber scrapper. Scrap sauce into a saucepan and add the chocolate and bring the sauce to a quick boil and then lower to simmer, watching to make sure the chocolate melts into the mixture. To make the patties, combine the ground chicken, salt, black pepper, dried oregano and ground cumin in a large bowl. Knead until ingredients disappear into the meat, divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit buns. Brush the grill with oil. Place patties on the rack, cover, and grill five minutes on each side. To build the burgers, place a generous amount of mole sauce over the cut sides of the buns. On each bun bottom place a patty, more mole sauce on top of patty, spoon a portion of sautéed tomatillos on top of patty, garnish with cilantro leaves. Add the top bun, and serve. Makes 6 burgers.