Community Cookbook: elNico’s Pink Mole

Williamsburg’s rooftop bar and restaurant atop the Penny, elNico (288 N 8th St.), recently started a new series called Sunset y Sazon, a weekly sunset drag performance as a part of their ongoing Pride initiative. Every Sunday through the end of summer, enjoy a sassy show alongside Executive Chef Fernanda Serrano’s Mexican specialities.

After the show, try your hand at making one Chef Serrano’s favorites at home. Chef Serrano has shared her recipe for pink mole (perhaps, the perfect dish for the opening weekend of Barbie).

See the recipe for elNico’s pink mole below and find last week’s community cookbook recipe here.

elNico’s Pink Mole

Serves 8

Ingredients for Pink Mole Sauce

1 cup of tahini 

2 tablespoons of beet powder 

1 piece of seeded habanero 

1 piece of garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon of toasted cumin seed 

1 1/2 cups of water 

Directions for Pink Mole Sauce

1. In a Vitamix, blend all ingredients. (Be careful to blend all ingredients thoroughly, double check consistency and color, as it might be needed to add more water or beet powder. It should be a creamy texture, without being liquid.)
2. Set aside.

Ingredients for Roasted Beets

8 red beets 

Kosher salt

Directions for Roasted Beets

3. Preheat oven at 420F. 
4. In a hotel pan, place a layer of kosher salt covering the bottom of the pan. 
5. Place clean beets on top of the salt, and cover the hotel pan with aluminum foil. 
6. Insert hotel pan into the oven and cook for 35 minutes. 
7. Double check the beets once the time is up, in case they need more time to cook. If necessary, add 5 minutes. (Take in consideration the beets will keep cooking once you take them out of the oven. The beets are done when you pinch them with a cake tester and it goes through easily.)
8. Cool down and peel beets. 
9. Using a mandolin, slice the beets in thin slices. (If you don’t have a mandolin, simply slices thinly.)
10. 10.Set aside.

Ingredients for Kumquat Habanero Kosho

4 pieces of seeded habanero 

4 cups of kumquats, seeded 

4 pieces of lemon, only the zest 

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of olive oil

Directions for Kumquat Habanero Kosho

11. Blend lemon juice and habanero until very smooth.
12. Add kumquats, lemon zest, and salt, and blend until smooth. 
13. Emulsify with olive oil. (1 cup should work, but the mixture should blend easily. If it doesn’t blend easily, add a tablespoon of olive oil at a time.)
14. Set aside.

Additional Ingredients for Presentation 

2 tablespoons of pinenuts toasted with butter

1 cup of thin slices of fennel 

3 pieces of shiso leaves 

5 pieces of fennel tops

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon of Maldon salt

1 cup of lemon juice

Directions for Presentation

15. Add two tablespoons of pink mole sauce to a dish, and spread it in a circular shape. 
16. In a mixing bowl, combine the shaved fennel with the kosher salt and lemon juice.
17. Shape the mixture into a ball and place it in the middle of the mole sauce.
18. With the thin beet slices, create small parachute-like shapes, add a layer of the kosho and cover the fennel ball and sauce. (You want to hide the fennel and sauce underneath the beets).
19. Once the fennel and sauce are covered, sprinkle the pine nuts on top of the beets. 
20. Place shiso leaves and fennel tops on top of the beets.
21. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and Maldon salt on top and enjoy.