2 poblano chiles
2 anaheim chiles
4 sesame seed buns
4 slices of provolone cheese
1.32 lbs 82% lean ground beef formed into 4 patties, with a small indentation in the middle of each patty
kosher salt
garlic powder
onion powder
fresh black pepper

The Procedure:

1. Season the patties with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste.

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Fresh lemongrass stalks at the farmer’s market inspired this attempt at a classic Asian dish. I used Charles Phan’s recipe on Food and Wine as a springboard for whipping together my own creation, which was scaled up and done more or less by taste rather than with measuring instruments.

The Procedure:

1. Wash 4 lbs of chicken breast in cold water, then pat completely dry. Cut chicken into small bite size pieces. Put peanut oil in the Calphalon Everyday Pan and heat until ready to fry. (Heat Setting: 8 ) Then add enough chicken to cover the bottom-but no more-and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the pan for a few minutes to minimize splatter. Use a plastic spatula to scrape the chicken from the bottom, then switch to your slotted spoon and remove the chicken from the pan. Continue frying the rest of the chicken in batches, being sure to add peanut oil as necessary to prevent excessive sticking. Do not clean the pan between batches!

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This recipe from Diary of a Foodie is an excellent starting point for a mole. I followed the instructions with a few important changes:

1. It was impossible to obtain the prized (and rare) chilhuacle negro. As a substitution, I used pasilla negro chiles.
2. I used ancho chiles (essentially dried poblanos) instead of mulatto chiles, also known as ancho negro.
3. The variety of chipotle chile to be used was not specified in the original recipe, but I used morita chipotles.
4. Since I used pasilla negros in place of the chilhuacle negros, I did not follow the directions, which called for an additional four pasilla chiles.

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