Chicken Alejandro

This is mole’s friendly cousin. The combination of warm cinnamon, ground clove, and a bay leaf shows up in plenty of traditional Mexican braises, but here it gets a shortcut start from jarred salsa instead of a long-toasted chile paste. Simmer the chicken breasts covered for 30 minutes and that ordinary salsa becomes a brick-red, faintly sweet sauce that smells like a tienda on a Sunday morning.

The orange segments at the end aren’t a garnish. They burst gently against the warm sauce and add quick pops of citrus that lift the cinnamon and cut the richness of the tomato. Don’t add them too early or they’ll dissolve into pulp. A cornstarch slurry whisked into tomato sauce thickens the pan juices into a real sauce, not a watery braise.

Pro Tips

• Use a flavorful salsa with real chunks of chile and onion. A thin, watery jar will leave the finished sauce flat.
• Slice the onion thin so it melts into the sauce instead of staying as crunchy ribbons.
• Bring the tomato sauce and cornstarch together off heat, then whisk in. Cornstarch dumped straight into hot liquid clumps fast.
• Fish out the bay leaf before serving. Easy to forget, painful to bite.

Variations

• Use chicken thighs for a richer, more forgiving braise.
• Swap the orange for a few squares of dark chocolate stirred in at the end to push toward true mole territory.
• Add a chipotle in adobo to the salsa for smoky heat.