Ay Dios Mio! Chicken en Mole' without Ancho Peppers

I go to make chicken en Mole' sauce tonight. Mole's are a sauce popular in Mexico and can be very simple or complex. Mine only takes about a hour total with the chicken. I usually have my pantry pretty well stocked but was out of dried Ancho chillies and chiles en Adobo.  With a little improv, I was able to pull off the dinner. Here's what I did.

Simple Chicken en Mole' Sauce

4-6 chicken thighs or drum sticks
14 oz chicken broth
1 14 oz can of chicken broth
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1 tsp. pepper flakes
1 box raisins
2 TBSP's sesame seeds
80-85% cacao chocolate 2 medium pieces
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
hot sauce to taste
salt and pepper
Rice for serving
tortillas

In a large sauce pan add the chicken broth, cinnamon, cloves, Cayenne, pepper flakes, raisins, sesame seeds, chocolate and peanut butter. Bring to a boil and then add the chocolate. Mix until incorporated. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and use a hand blender to smooth the sauce or put in a regular blender, just remove the middle piece and cover with a paper towel.

 Season the chicken with the skin on and place in the Mole. Cover with a lid and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and turn the chicken over. Cook for another 15-30 minutes or until the chickens internal temp is 165. Taste for seasoning and add hot sauce if needed. Here you can either rip the chicken off the bones or serve whole over rice with the sauce. If breaking down the chicken, you can serve with tortillas.

Note: I have made this several times. Today I used New Mexico dried chilies. Simply heat up a dry frying pan and press the chilies down. Warm them up on each side for about 2 minutes. Cool, make a slit down the middle, and shake out the seeds. Cut in rings.

This recipe can also be made in the crock pot which I am doing today. Just all all of the ingredients. I am using frozen chicken breasts so I am giving this 5-6 hours on high. I will be shredding the meat with a fork and serving with tortillas.