Tacos are probably one of my most favorite dishes, providing the perfect canvas to play with ingredients, colors, flavors and textures.
With Valentine’s day is just around the corner, enjoy a new spin on the holiday with a mole inspired take on a taco dinner, the perfect do ahead dinner for your Valentine, or a group.
Mole is traditionally a recipe that takes all day to make! Many steps, much chopping and mixing and hours of simmering produce a dish with a complex, layered flavor of intricate blends of dries chiles, spices and chocolate!
The term mole stems from the Nahuatl world ‘molli’, which means “sauce” and comes from a family of sauces prepared throughout the Oaxaca and Puebla regions of Mexico.
My take on the recipe brings you the Mole flavors, without the hours of work, by using spice blends from the Savory Spice Store. These amazing spice blends are carefully curated with unique flavors.
Key to this dish is the grass fed beef, I am in favor of this over conventional beef, as pasture raised beef is brimming with heart healthy omega 3, lower in potentially inflammatory omega 6 and loaded with CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) which is proven to support insulin sensitivity.
The grass fed chuck roast for this dish was sourced from Watson Farms Beef in Chester, SC, a family farm raising true grass fed beef without hormones and antibiotics, and is sure makes a difference to the flavor!
Seared and slow braised until tender in the luxurious goodness of the sauce, the beef turns out melting tender and is truly a special dining experience.
Not a bit of guacamole in sight, the trimming sauce is gluten and dairy free, with a raw cashew crèma a great option to dairy cream for your lactose intolerant guests. Of course, regular sour cream could be substituted too.
Crunchy, bittery flavors of bok choy, beet, jicama and radish in the slaw blend add the perfect balance to the complex chocolate-y goodness of the beef.
Serve up the love with your favorite soft or hard taco shells, crumbled queso fresco, enjoy!
I prepared this delicious recipe live on the WCNC Charlotte Today show, here’s the video.
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Red Mole Braised Beef Tacos with Charred Red Pepper Crèma & Slaw
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 90
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Tender beef slow simmered in a rich complex Mole sauce, with chocolate and featuring the Savory Spice Mole blend, simply delicious!
Ingredients
Red Mole Beef:
4 Lbs. Grass-fed Chuck Roast
2 Tbsp. Savory Spice Shop Mole Seasoning
1 Tbsp. Savory Spice Store Mexican Cocoa Blend
2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
4 cups Beef Broth
½ cup White Wine
Salt, to taste
1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil or Ghee
Jicama, Beet & Bok Choy Slaw
2 cups Jicama, shredded
3 cups Bok Choy, shredded
1 cup Red Beet, shredded
4 red Radishes, shredded
2 Limes, juiced and zested
1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Mexican Spice
Charred Red Pepper Crèma
2 large Red Bell Peppers
1 cup raw Cashews
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Mexican spice
Instructions
Prepare the beef:
- Preheat oven to 325 F
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add the fat and sear the beef on all sides, until well browned, at least 15 minutes.
- Add the broth, wine, tomato and spices, place lid on and place in the oven for 2 to 3 hours.
- Every hour or so, turn and baste the meat.
- Remove from the oven when fork tender, allow to cool.
- Shred the meat finely, and combine with the reserved juices.
Prepare the cashew crema:
- Soak cashews in filtered water for 4 to 6 hours. Rinse well and place in high speed blender with enough water to cover, blend to smooth paste.
- Hold bell peppers over an open flame until charred, place in a bag for 10 minutes to loosen the skins, remove skins and seeds.
- Add peppers and rest of ingredients, and process until smooth.
- Check for seasoning
- Toss together the slaw ingredients, taste for seasoning
To Serve:
- Serve with warm tortillas and crumbled Queso Fresco if desired.
