Mexican Molé on Oatmeal Pancakes

  • Charlotte Turner

Recipe by Charlotte Turner – Entry 2013

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Inspiration / Influences / Story behind recipe
At last year’s competition I used molasses, nutmeg, banana, maple syrup, bacon and peanut butter to create a porridge inspired by Elvis Presley’s favourite sandwich.
The result was a sweet oatmeal, fit for The King, but alas not the judges!

So, I explored using oatmeal to create dishes that could be more versatile, and eaten at all times of day. I discovered that early Mexican traditional dishes included atole which was a porridge or gruel of hot maize meal and water, milk etc and said to be comforting at breakfast or soothing after supper.

This, combined with the fact my friends and I love Mexican food for celebrations, led me to my speciality recipe for the Golden Spurtle competition!

I wanted to use my favourite sweet elements – peanut butter, chocolate, raisins – but in a more savoury dish. The creamy, fluffy fromage frais in the pancakes balance the rich spicy sauce excellently and the oatmeal provides the ideal bed for the dish.

Ingredients
•       The sauce
•       25g cacao nibs
•       1 tablespoon sunflower oil
•       1 clove of garlic, crushed
•       500g plum tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or tinned)
•       1 onion, roughly chopped
•       4 tablespoons peanut butter
•       50g unskinned almonds
•       70g raisins
•       1 heaped tablespoon paprika
•       1 teaspoon ground cumin
•       ½ teaspoon ground cloves
•       1 dried chilli flakes
•
•       To finish
•       Chopped coriander and sliced avocado dressed with a wedge of lime

•       The pancakes
•       100g medium oatmeal
•       200g fromage frais (I use virtually fat free)
•       4 eggs

Method
Sauce: Put all the sauce ingredients except the oil, chocolate and raisins into a liquidiser and process to a purée. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy frying pan, add the purée, bubble up and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the sauce is rich and thick. Stir in the chocolate and raisins and bubble again.

Pancakes: Mix the ingredients well. Pour into a heated pancake pan to make small / palm-sized rounds, cooking 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve the sauce and pancakes.  Finish with a sprinkle of chopped coriander, the sliced avocado and a wedge of lime.