Over the weekend, I made Rick Bayless [2]' legendary mole negro [3]. This was my second time taking on the recipe (my first attempt took me 10 hours) and this time I was prepared. On Friday, I shopped for my primary ingredients at Rancho Liborio in Aurora, picked up chicken at Marczyk Fine Foods [4], and stopped into Savory Spice Shop [5] in Lowry for cinnamon, Mexican oregano, and guajillo chiles. While there, I asked about Mexican chocolate [6] (I was unable to find it at Rancho Liborio), and was introduced to black onyx cocoa powder [7]. This velvety dust is black as coal and it smells heavenly. I bought an ounce, which was plenty for the two tablespoons (subbed in for the half a cup of chopped Mexican chocolate) I needed. The final result was a mole that was silky, smooth, with just a perceptible hint of chocolate. And this time, the recipe only took me seven hours.

Bonus: Make Roberto Santibañez [8]'s chicken enchiladas with the leftover mole. And, Joy the Baker's black midnight chocolate pudding recipe [9] will gobble up any remaining cocoa powder.

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