By Florence Fabricant
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 40 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 4(15)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Florence Fabricant brought this recipe to The Times in 1988, part of a piece looking at the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, N.M, where the owner Mark Miller drew from a diverse selection of ingredients. Here, duck serves as the filling in tamales smothered in mole sauce. It’s a rich, satisfying dish for a weekend project.
Featured in: Coyote's Spirit Frolics Through a Lively Menu in Santa Fe
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 3dried ancho chilies
- 2plum tomatoes
- 2fresh tomatilloes, husked
- 2cloves garlic, peeled
- 2cups duck or veal stock
- 1teaspoon dried oregano
- 2teaspoons canela or cinnamon
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 1teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼teaspoon ground allspice
- 2ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into small pieces
- Pinch of sugar
- ⅔cup duck confit fat, chilled (see recipe)
- Duck confit (see recipe)
- 2cups masa harina (an instant cornmeal preparation available in specialty food stores)
- 1⅓cups warm water
- Salt to taste
- 16cornhusks, soaked in warm water, or cooking parchment
The Mole Sauce
The Duck Tamales
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
To make the mole sauce, cover the ancho chilies with boiling water, and allow to soak until soft. Remove the seeds, and chop the chilies.
Step
2
Spear the tomatoes and tomatilloes with a fork and roast over an open flame until the skins begin to blacken. Chop and place in a food processor.
Step
3
Roast the garlic by holding it on a fork over the flame until lightly browned. Add to the food processor, along with the duck or veal stock, chilies, oregano, canela or cinnamon, cloves, pepper and allspice. Puree this mixture.
Step
4
Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Add the chocolate and sugar, and stir just until melted.
Step
5
To make the tamales, remove 3 tablespoons of fat from the duck confit, and heat the fat in a skillet. Add the mole sauce to the fat, and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Step
6
Melt the confit. Remove duck legs, skin them, and cut the meat off the bones, dicing it into ½-inch cubes. Mix with ¼ cup of mole sauce and set aside.
Stir warm water into the masa harina. The texture should be malleable, like a very soft dough. In a bowl whip the remaining chilled confit fat with a fork, and beat in the masa harina. Season to taste with a little salt.
Step
8
Dry the cornhusks. Flatten them, and spread about 1½ tablespoons of the masa harina-fat mixture on the smooth inner side of each husk. Distribute the diced confit mixture in a line down the center of each husk. Roll each husk loosely, allowing room for expansion, and fold down the top to make a package. Tie with a strip of cornhusk. If cornhusks are not available, use pieces of cooking parchment.
Step
9
Steam the tamales for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, reheat the remaining mole sauce. Allow the tamales to cool slightly, then serve with the mole sauce on the side.
Ratings
4
out of 5
15
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Patricia
I made the mole only. I had leftover rotisserie duck which I wanted to stew in the mole because the duck was a bit tough. It turned out quite tasty and tender. I served it over rice.
idh
Added three roasted poblano‘s, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic, sautéed onion, 10 whole almonds, one cinnamon stick instead of ground, no cloves. Cook to stew consistency. Add honey at the end to round out bitterness of chocolate. delicious.
Madeline
The mole is delicious, but made unnecessarily complicated. I didn’t have flame to roast veggies over, so just sautéed them in some of the duck fat. Also used frozen tomatillo with hot pepper from last summer— I doubt anyone would know the difference.
Kim
Nice easy mole sauce. I served it with tamales made with turkey and pumpkin filling.
idh
Added three roasted poblano‘s, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic, sautéed onion, 10 whole almonds, one cinnamon stick instead of ground, no cloves. Cook to stew consistency. Add honey at the end to round out bitterness of chocolate. delicious.
idh
Added roasted red peppers, 10 whole almonds, 3 roasted poblanos to ingredients. Used 1 cinnamon stick instead of ground. Cooked in combo of chicken stock and apple cider. Cooked to stew consistency. Add honey at end to round out bitterness of chocolate. Blend.
Patricia
I made the mole only. I had leftover rotisserie duck which I wanted to stew in the mole because the duck was a bit tough. It turned out quite tasty and tender. I served it over rice.
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