Rodger and Mole, Olé!

Our good friend Rodger came over for dinner tonight and brought the dinner with him. We were treated to a lovely mole negro, a specialty of Mexico. This kind, the "black sauce" is the most difficult to prepare, with several different types of chilies, nuts, and in this case, dark Belgian chocolate. It was earthy, rich, and complex. It also took him hours to prepare plus four hours on the stove simmering.

He also brought a pan de muerto, which is a sweet anise flavored bread baked specially for the Dia de los Muertos celebrated in Mexico on November 2.

To top it all off, we had sauteed bananas with my homemade cinnamon ice cream and a sauce Rodger had prepared using orange peel, agave syrup, and rum.

What a feast!



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My plate: roasted yam, salad with a spicy cilantro dressing, corn tortilla with rice, chicken, and mole negro.


Rodger gets the baby treatment


Liam forgoes ice cream for gnawing on a chair


My banana got a bit more than flambeed!

Cinnamon Ice Cream

2 cups cream
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Simmer cream, milk, salt, cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Meanwhile, whisk 1/4 cup sugar and egg yolks until light and fluffy. Carefully whisk in a cup or two of the cream mixture (don't let it cook the eggs) and then pour it all back into the pan with the cream mixture and cook on low heat until thickened. Don't let it boil! Strain into a 1 quart ice cream freezer canister and stir in the vanilla. Cool down to room temperature, chill, and then freeze in an ice cream machine.