736 WEST NORTH TEMPLE
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84116
(801) 322-1489
LUCY CARDENAS, CHEF/OWNER
An eighteen-seat Mexican diner started by the Cardenas family has became one of Salt Lake’s most beloved institutions. Now enthusiastic customers wait patiently in line for the treasured Mexican cuisine that feeds over seven hundred people a day. People are loyal to Red Iguana, coming week after week, and often ordering the same dish every visit. Bill comments, “I bet 70 percent of our clientele get the same meal when they come in. It’s hard to veer to something new when you find a favorite.”
Lucy Cardenas, daughter of the original owners, along with her husband, Bill Coker, now run Red Iguana. They are most proud of the restaurant becoming a home for so many. Familiar faces and favorite foods make everything worthwhile. Even Lucy has her favorite: gringas with tender carne adovada, grilled with pineapple and peppers and served in flour tortillas.
Lucy and Bill met at a restaurant in California, following in her parents’ footsteps, as they had also fallen in love over a meal. Lucy’s mother, Maria Cardenas, was the one who so passionately created what is known as “Killer Mexican Food” in Salt Lake City. She brought the classics from Chihuahua and was known for her creativity. Lucy recalls, “My god-father once asked Mom to make him something delicious.” She then came up with a mole, and he had a dinner that night that would live on in his memory and yet could never be re-created.
Red Iguana is known for its moles. While many restaurants offer one, maybe two, moles on their menu, Red Iguana offers eight, plus seasonal specials. A mole is a creamy-textured sauce or, more accurately, some type of creative concoction with many ingredients such as chiles, dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate. One mole on their menu has over fifty ingredients. Lucy says, “When making mole at home you just have to be creative and use quality ingredients.”
The Cardenas family continue to produce artistic Mexican dishes and serve their patrons and friends who form a line down the street.
(SERVES 6)
7 pasilla negro chiles
6 chile mulatto
Water to soak chiles
⅓ cup peanuts
⅓ cup roughly chopped walnuts
½ cup oil, divided in half
1 (8-inch) flour tortilla
¼ yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 overripe banana
½ poblano chile
5 cherry tomatoes
3 whole sprigs cilantro
6 whole sprigs epazote
1 bay leaf
1 avocado leaf
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ coriander seeds
1 clove
¾ teaspoon dried thyme
¾ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoon anise seed
1 teaspoon chicken base
¾ tablet Mexican chocolate (5 ounces of a 7-ounce tablet)
3 cups water
⅓ cup sugar
Salt to taste
6 chicken breasts
To prepare mole negro: De-stem and seed chiles and then set in hot water to soak for 20 minutes. Toast peanuts and walnuts in a dry sauté pan on medium heat for about 5 minutes or in the oven on 400°F for 3 minutes, until slightly brown and fragrant.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add ¼ cup oil and the flour tortilla to toast. Remove tortilla and add the onion, garlic, banana, poblano, tomatoes, cilantro, and epazote. Sauté until onion and poblano are cooked. Add all the spices, chicken base, seeds, nuts, chocolate, and chiles (do not add salt yet). Add the 3 cups water and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer into a blender and puree until smooth.
Add the remaining ¼ cup oil to the saucepan and increase heat to high. Pour the mole back into the saucepan, being careful to not spatter yourself with hot oil. Add the sugar and salt and let simmer for 15 minutes.
In a sauté pan over medium heat, add chicken breasts and slowly sauté for 10–15 minutes or until done. Cover chicken with mole and serve with warm tortillas.