Pumpkin Mole Enchiladas

After roasting and pureeing the large musquee de provence pumpkin I got from Mariquita months ago - I had 15 cups of pumpkin in my freezer!  Since I have been so happy with my red and green enchilada sauces, I decided to go for something more exotic - pumpkin mole sauce for enchiladas.  It came out STUPENDOUS! 

Here's the recipe - or process, rather - for the mole.

Ingredients:

• 1 very large yellow onion, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 5 c pumpkin puree
• 1 c tomato sauce
• 3-4 c mushroom broth
• 2 chipotle peppers, softened in hot water
• 2 ancho chile peppers, softened in hot water
• 1 bar mexican chocolate
• 1/2 c toasted black sesame seeds
• 1 c toasted pumpkin seeds
• Herbs: 1-2 tsp sage, marjoram & epazote
• Spices: 2 tsp ground Mexican cinnamon, 1/2 - 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ground allspice
• Cayenne chili flakes - to taste
• Salt - to taste

Directions:

1. Soften the onions & garlic in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven in olive oil.
2. Add the pumpkin, tomato and coarsely chopped or broken up chocolate to the pan.
3. Stir to keep the sauce from sticking and add mushroom broth about 1 c at a time throughout the process - you want this sauce to pour nicely over your enchiladas and keep in mind that while it is in the oven, it will reduce so you want to make it a bit thinner.  
4. Carefully toast the sesame & pumpkin seeds - either in the oven on a small cast iron skillet, on the stove top or in toaster oven - the sesame seeds burn easily!  Grind half the pumpkin and sesame seeds and add to the sauce - reserve the other half for garnish.
5. Grind dried herbs & spices in the spice grinder and add to the sauce.
6. Chop up the chipotle & ancho chiles - add the water used to rehydrate them to the sauce, and add the chopped peppers to the sauce in batches and stir & taste.  Add more mushroom stock as needed.
7. Taste & adjust seasonings.  Let cool on the stove.
8. Puree in the blender - add more mushroom stock if necessary - taste and adjust seasonings.
9. Pour a small amount in bottom of casserole dish - use some sauce to soften tortillas (I nuke them in the microwave for 1 minute inside the plastic bag to soften), roll with your filling - then pour enchilada sauce all over the enchiladas.
10. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
11. Garnish with cashew cream (1 c cashews soaked for 20-30 minutes, put into blender, add liquid as necessary, brewers yeast, cilantro & lime to taste - puree til you get a cream consistency) and toasted nuts.

ENCHILADA FILLING:
Since the sauce is the main show, I like to keep the filling a bit simple firm tofu with some potatoes, chard, kale or other greens, some mushrooms, a little onion & garlic, maybe juice of a lemon, salt & pepper - cook til it is "dry" and let cool so you can roll it up into the tortillas and cover with your enchilada sauce.

Abandoned Chanterelles!

I came across this pile of chanterelles - abandoned in the woods - too late for me to salvage.  I also found a knife - and I cannot for the life of me figure out why someone would dump a whole pile of chanterelles like that.