Chicken Olé

I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

I knew the chicken with molé sauce would be delicious; after all, this is Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse. But I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what it would look like, never mind what it would taste like. Jill told me that chicken olé is a traditional Mexican dish, but one that isn’t likely to be found at our local tex-mex restaurants.

Blending together ten different ingredients, the molé sauce is one of the more complicated items on Johnny’s menu. Since the sauce contains everything from cocoa to chiles, it was impossible for me to predict which flavor would dominate this interesting dish.

Even after trying the chicken olé, I can’t tell you which flavor is most pronounced. I’m still learning about the mysteries of the way flavors come together and I found it impossible to distinguish one spice from the others. All I can give you is the assurance that the results were amazing. The sauce, the chicken, the provolone, each piece perfectly complemented the others.

One of the things I found interesting about this dish is that the chicken tenders are on top of the molé sauce, instead of the sauce being dribbled over the chicken. The amount of sauce may at first seem overgenerous, even for three hearty chicken tenders. However, once you try the sauce, you understand that having more is definitely better. I found myself carefully bathing each and every morsel of chicken in the sauce, so that I could enjoy the maximum amount of this surprising and delicious sauce. After I finished the chicken, I couldn’t resist using my bread to sop up the remaining sauce. It was just that good!

The chicken olé comes with grits and black beans. These two sides were handpicked by Johnny and Jill because of how well they go with this dish. After trying this amazing combination, I agree that the grits and beans definitely bring out the best flavors in an already wonderful dish.

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