Tita, the main character and passionate cook, felt anger well up inside her as she made the Champandongo, Tita finally released her fury toward her forbidden lover who had married her sister so he could be close to Tita (Tita's mother wouldn't let her marry since she was slated to care for her mother in her old age). The guests at dinner noticed the dish didn't taste as good as usual. Tita's food always imparted some kind of emotion on the guest based on how she felt when cooking it. However this fury turned to passion and Tita and Pedro finally consummated their forbidden love, causing plumes of phosphorescent colors to ascend upwards to the sky.

In the book, the recipes are not neatly laid out, they are part of the story. So, I did my best to figure out how to make this and it came out pretty good.

oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 kilo (1/2 lb) ground beef
1/4 kilo (1/2 lb) ground pork
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp sugar (or none?)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 candied citron, chopped*
200 grams (almost 1/2 lb) walnuts, chopped
200 grams (almost 1/2 lb) almonds, chopped
About 1/4 pint cream
12 corn tortillas
1/4 cup mole (jarred mole is fine)
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 kilo (1/2 lb) queso manchego, grated  
Cayenne (optional)

The onion is fried in a little oil, over medium-high heat, until lightly browned. Add meat. While it is frying, the ground cumin and sugar are added.

When the meat starts to brown (I waited until it was cooked), the chopped tomato is added, along with the citron (rind), the walnuts and the almonds.

In a small saucepan, mix mole and stock and cook until thickened.

Preheat oven to 450°. After the meat has been cooked and drained (I didn't find it needed draining), the next step is to fry the tortillas in oil, lightly, so they don't get hard (I liked them a little crispy!). In the dish, destined for the oven (I used 9-1/2" x 13-1/2 x 2" (3 quart)" casserole and it fit perfectly), spread a layer of cream so the other ingredients don't stick, a layer of 6 tortillas, and over these a layer of the 1/2 the ground meat mixture and finally 1/2 the mole (I smeared it around a bit), covering it with 1/2 the cheese and cream-drizzled over casserole. Repeat this process again (or as many times as necessary until the pan is filled) - I made two layers. (although the last time I did cream first, before cheese and topped with cheese so it would brown.) Put the pan in the oven and bake until the cheese melts and the tortillas are softened, about 10-15 minutes. Dust with cayenne. The book said to serve with rice and beans, but I don't think it needs them.

*Instead of citron, which is hard to find (and you don't want to use that gross stuff available around the holidays), I made chopped candied orange and grapefruit rinds. You should be able to find the recipe under "Candied Citrus Peel" at epicurious.com. This recipe takes several days to make, although you can take shortcuts. I was able to start one morning; do step two that night; and step 3 the next morning. I cut one step out of the process and stopped after the last 30 minute cooking,removing the rinds from from syrup and let dry. I didn't roll it in more sugar, since I thought it had plenty sugar by then.

The recipe for the Candied Citrus Peel can be found at Epicurious.

However, keep these notes with it:

1)   I cut the citrus into smaller wedges, it's easier to slide the knife between the fruit and the peel to separate them.

2)   Important:   Stop before the "Dry and Coat Peel" section. I couldn't get the sugar to liquify that last time, it was hard and crusty and I had to dig the peels out. Maybe it's our elevation or lack of humidity. Next time, I'd just stop after the third boiling, and immediately drain them before drying. I also didn't roll them in sugar, because I figured they had plenty of sugar in them anyway. However, maybe because I pulled them out of dry sugar syrup, they came out with a crusty surface and if you drain them earlier they might not...so you might want to dip them in sugar anyway. Use your judgment.