The main course ingredients for the twelfth episode of the third season were as follows:  mint peppermint patties, capers, ground goat meat and black bean flour.  As soon as I heard there were peppermint patties and meat, the first thing I thought of was something with a mole sauce.  Can’t be that hard, can it?  I’ve never made mole before, but it can’t be too hard to look one up and use an existing recipe for inspiration, right?  After some searching, this recipe from the US Food Network was one with fewer ingredients.  Of course, I’m going to substitute a few items – including cashew or almond butter in place of peanut and the and regular half the chocolate with peppermint patties  The sauce can be made a day in advance and refrigerated.

To make the meatballs, ground goat is mixed with an egg white, a splash of milk, garlic, capers, black pepper and bread crumbs.  Mix, form into balls and place them onto a casserole dish and pour the mole sauce over the meatballs.  The meatballs should marinate in the fridge between one and three hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Ideally the meatballs should be taken out of the fridge about half an hour before you plan to place them in the oven so that they’re not ice cold when they go in.  Depending on the size, the meatballs should take about 20-25 minutes to cook.  While they’re cooking, it’s time to start on the black bean pancakes (they aren’t really tortilla as they’re too thick), using a savoury recipe I posted a few years ago.

To plate, place two or three pancakes on each plate, followed by three meatballs and sauce.  Shredded lettuce, pico de gallo and cheese make excellent garnishes.

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