Mole Sauce

To a small sauce pan, add the deseeded mulato chiles, pasilla chiles, optional chiles de arbol (these are spicy so add as desired), cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the chiles sit in the water to soak for 15 minutes; set aside.* (See Notes)

To a small bowl, add the raisins, cover with very hot tap water, and let them soak for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, to a small skillet add the tortilla and toast it until very dry and lightly browned, flip once. Add it to the canister of a high-speed blender; set aside.

Toast the Ritz Crackers in the same dry skillet until they are lightly browned, flip each cracker once. Add them to the blender; set aside.

Toast the white bread in a toaster, add it to the blender; set aside.

To the same dry skillet, add the Mexican oregano, cinnamon, cloves, and toast for about 30 seconds to bring out the flavor; add the mixture to the blender; set aside.

Preheat your broiler to 500F or high, add the tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, and garlic to a sheet pan, and broil for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until slightly blackened. Tip - Since all broilers vary vastly in their intensity, keep a very close eye on your food and don't get distracted. Add the blackened vegetables to the blender; set aside.

Place the pumpkin seeds on the same sheet pan and broil for 1 to 2 minutes and then add them to the blender.

Add 1 to 2 cups of chicken broth, and blend on high until very smooth.

Transfer this smooth mixture to a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat; set aside to simmer. No need to wash our your blender, just set it aside.

Meanwhile remove the chiles and raisins from the soaking water (if they soaked a bit longer than called for, that is fine), add them to the blender, add the Abuelita chocolate tablet, and blend all ingredients on high for 4 minutes. Note - The residual hot soaking water inside the chiles and raisins is all you need to blend and soften the chiles and chocolate; you don't need to add broth during this step.

Transfer this chile and chocolate mixture to the saucepan, add the peanut butter, add 2 cups broth, salt, pepper, stir to combine, and allow the mole to simmer over low for about 2 hours**(See Notes); stir intermittently. Note - It's okay to let the mole simmer for many more hours, simply keep an eye on it and stir it intermittently so it doesn't stick, and make sure to add additional broth or water as necessary if it's becoming too thick. Finished mole should have the consistency of gravy.

Extra mole will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Tip - You can freeze it in smaller freezer-safe containers or smaller ziplocks rather than in one big block to make it faster to thaw and easier to only thaw what you will use for a particular dish or meal.