Pati's Mexican Table

-Sonora, Mexico -- a wild, open, rugged territory, where the land is both beautiful and unforgiving.

Here in Mexico's northern region, this land provides some of the country's best views and most treasured culinary traditions.

iQu rico!

Oh, I'm so happy I tried this.

And, at the heart of those recipes, pure Sonora, with its extraordinary raw ingredients.

Today, those ingredients inspire me to cook a feast for my hard-working crew.

Excuse me.

[ Laughter ] [ Sizzling ] And to get the most of the experience, I'm cooking at an hacienda right in the heart of the countryside, using ingredients straight from the land.

Up first, a traditional Sonoran soup that is both homey and simple to make -- Sonora's beloved caldo de queso.

-It's a perfect caldo de queso.

-Mm!

And since we're on a pecan farm, I'm making an oh, so satisfying chicken with a smooth, nutty, velvety pecan sauce, served with fresh grilled asparagus, topped with spicy buttered chiltepin and pecan crumble.

-Thanks, Pati.

-Yay!

-Gracias, Pati.

-Thank you, guys.

- Dame, dame Dame tu chocolate Dame, dame Dame caf caliente Dame, dame Dame tu corazn -"Pati's Mexican Table" is made possible by... -La Costea.

- Avocados from Mexico Over 40 years, bringing authentic Latin American flavors to your table.

Tropical Cheese.

-Stand Together -- helping every person rise.

More information at StandTogether.org.

-BanCoppel -- your recipe for sending money to Mexico.

-Mahatma rice lets you unite ingredients and flavors.

Mahatma rice unites.

-Divine Flavor.

-Norson.

-This is truly a dream because I am cooking in an hacienda in Sonora, on the outskirts of Hermosillo.

And this is actually a pecan-growing hacienda.

And this is just such a treat, not just for me, but for my team!

Who are here and we're -- Kevin.

Danielle.

Mary.

Amado!

Dan.

Dave.

And I'm cooking for me, but mostly for them, and you can get the recipes, too.

We are starting with a caldo de queso, which is a most traditional soup here in Sonora.

And I'm excited because every time I've come to Sonora, every single time, which has been two times... [Laughs] ...I've eaten caldo de queso.

Caldo de queso is a recipe that just screams south Sonora.

And it's a homey, nurturing, super simple-to-make soup that can become part of your soup rotation because it is so delicious and so easy to put together.

So, I'm chopping an onion.

So, I started by putting four chiles verdes -- that's what they're called here in Sonora, though you may know them as Anaheim chilies.

And I am -- yo estoy asando.

That's a word we use in Mexico and in Spanish to say when you're going to toast something.

Now, you can either toast it by putting it on the comal, which is what I'm doing back there, or you can grill it, or you can broil it.

What it accomplishes is we are cooking the flesh of the chile and we're completely transforming the essence of this ingredient.

So, instead of being fresh and grassy and crunchy and bright, it's going to be more intense.

It's going to coax out the flavors.

So, once that you see the skin, that it's completely charred, that means that when you sweat it, it's going to come off.

I'm going to add these when it's ready.

These guys are going to start sweating, and you can see the steam, and you can see how the skin is starting to wrinkle even more.

Okay.

So, we have the chiles sweating.

We have a chopped onion.

I'm going to do three potatoes.

I'm going to peel them.

Caldo de queso is the soup of Sonora.

And an amazing thing about this soup is that you can make it year-round because these ingredients you can find year-round.

And the results are delicious and unpretentious.

Pretty much like everything here in Sonora.

So we're going to chop these potatoes.

Let me check my chiles.

Ooh, this is so nice.

See?

You can see how they used to be puffier and bigger, and they sweated for the time I've been cutting the potatoes.

So, you can clean your chiles under the sink, but you can also just grab a little bowl with water, because this helps remove the skin.

And just remove the skin like this.

It's so fast.

It's so easy.

I'm going to open the chiles, and then we're going to use a little bit of this water to remove the seeds.

I'm going to cut them into little rajas.

And "raja," you just refer to any chile that is cut into strips.

And I want them, like, in big bite-size because I like to bite into things, even in my soup.

And I'm going to add one chopped ripe tomato.

Tiny, little bites of tomato that are going to brighten the soup and give it a little bit of color.

Put it in here.

So, I have this pot.

I'm going to add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

And here I have the potatoes and the onion that I already diced, and I'm going to add them altogether, and I want them to start browning.

So, what I want to do here is I want to start browning the potatoes and the onions.

And I'm seasoning with salt throughout the cooking process.

So a little bit of salt, 'cause I want those potatoes and that onion to start getting a little bit of that salt.

And I have this over medium-high heat.

By browning and softening the onion first and browning the potato, you're giving the vegetables their own layer of flavor.

So they're going to be packed with taste in the soup.

So, now I'm going to add the chicken broth.

I'm going to let this come to a simmer and I'm going to add the chile verde, or the Anaheim.

And then we're adding the diced tomato.

And this is going to be another punch of color.

Come see how pretty this is.

Kev, please.

Pretty?

-Mm-hmm.

-It's going to add a little bit of, like, freshness to the soup.

I'm going to reduce the heat just a little because I'm about to add milk, which is a traditional addition to the caldo de queso, or sopa de queso, and you don't want to add milk to a soup over a very high heat, because it can curdle.

I'm going to add 2 cups.

The milk makes the broth very creamy and, I don't know, it just gives it a really nice depth that goes really well with the next thing we're going to add, which is cheese.

I'm going to dice my queso fresco.

Who wants the first one?

Amado?

-[ Laughing ] -I don't know which plates to choose from.

Like, should I use this?

Should I use this?

Should I use this?

They're all gorgeous.

I should be making three different soups.

So, I have my cheese.

Mmm.

I have my soup.

I have my plates.

Excuse me.

[ Laughter ] Put a little bit of cheese here.

Okay, that's a lot.

Oh, look at this.

This soup is making me so happy already.

Mmm!

Mm-hmm.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

I'm biting into the cheese, it's still a little firm, but so sweet and mellow, in contrast with the roasted Anaheim, which is subtle but rustic.

It has that fresh bite of the tomato.

This is such a comforting, delicious piece of Sonora that you could make every day at home.

This is for Amado.

And Amado has accompanied us throughout our trip here in Sonora.

He's helped us tell us where to go.

He's driven us everywhere.

He's opened doors everywhere.

-[ Laughs ] -And he knows a good caldo de queso.

I'm a little worried, but let's see.

-[ Laughs ] It looks good.

-[ Laughs ] Looks good?

You can be completely honest.

-It's a perfect caldo de queso.

-Mm!

-There's the taste, the creamy, the milk.

And the regional cheese...

It's the best.

[ Chuckles ] -Mm, and you're a perfect Amado.

-[ Laughs ] -It's the perfect caldo de queso for the perfect Amado.

Amado, thank you for everything you've done for us.

I feel so incredibly lucky sometimes, not only to be able to travel my home country in search of our most treasured culinary stories, but also to be able to share these journeys with this great team.

[ Cheering, clapping ] I'm so proud of my team.

They're all learning Spanish.

Kevin, how much are you going to eat?

-Ummmm...yes?

[ Laughter ] Say mucha.

-Mucha.

-We spend two weeks on the road together every year, traveling a different region in Mexico each time, sharing adventures and amazing food.

I couldn't think of a better group of people to share these experiences with.

Is it so good?

You have to give it a bite.

I mean, isn't it crazy good?

-Oh, gracias.

-Come here, Kev.

Did you get the sauce?

Did you get the sauce?

Did you get the sauce?

-Did you get the beer shot?

-Yeah.

Have some more beer.

[ Laughter ] Looks like part of the engine of the car is... not in the car anymore.

Amado.

Amado is giving us a hand.

Gracias, Amado.

Alex -- Mexican-American, handsome, amazing sense of humor.

-It's true.

-Looking for a girl.

-It's all true.

-Thank you, Mary.

This is Mary, and she's going to be so happy 'cause she's a vegetarian.

-Avocados.

-We have so much fun, but everybody works so hard.

It just feels so right to be able to cook for all of us as the traveling family that we've become.

We are cooking in a pecan hacienda, so I'm going to make a pecan sauce chicken.

And this dish is traditional of Sonora, but also the neighboring state, Chihuahua, the entire region, 'cause they love pecans.

And we have a ton of pecans right here.

And I just cut some fresh spring onions from their garden.

So, I have my comal.

You can use a griddle.

You can use a grill.

And I have set it up over medium heat.

I'm going to cut the heads, and we're going to use these as a rustic base to make this pecan sauce.

And then I have two garlic cloves.

I'm not going to remove the skin, because I'm also going to char or toast it.

So I'm going to put it right here.

And then I'm going to use three ancho chiles.

And you can see they're smallish, but they're beautiful.

The color is a red wine color.

And they're pliable and soft.

I'm going to remove the stems.

Removing the seeds.

Their flavor is a little bit like chocolaty, a little bit like prunes, which is perfect 'cause we're also using prunes.

So I'm going to do three of these and I'm going to also toast them here.

And why are we toasting the chiles?

Because we're already toasting the onion and the garlic.

You could go ahead and just rehydrate the chiles with water or broth, but if you toast them, you sort of wake up their flavor a little bit more.

So you want to toast them like this.

You can see the skin is changing.

Those chiles are really waking up.

It's more intense, but at the same time, we're... Oh, this breeze is so nice.

[ Laughs ] At the same time, so the flavor becomes more intense, but it also sweetens because the sugar of the ingredients comes out and kind of explodes.

And here I have 4 cups of chicken broth.

You could use vegetable broth, you could use water, but chicken broth -- mm, with chicken, better.

So I'm adding the three ancho chiles.

You ready for me, Kev?

So, we have the three ancho chiles, and in here, I'm going to add a cup of pecans and 1/4 cup of prunes that are pitted and are going to add a tangy, sweet taste that actually matches a little bit of the flavor of the ancho chiles.

So we want this to simmer for a few minutes so that it can be pureed.

And then these onions and garlic I think are almost ready.

We want them charred, but we don't want them burned.

So I'm going to remove them from my griddle.

It's not mine.

They lent it to me, okay?

And the garlic, which you can see how it charred on the outside.

It should be soft on the inside.

We're going to let these cool for a little bit.

While that cools, right here, I have my deep, heavy, extended skillet that I have heating over medium-high heat.

And I'm going to add like 3 tablespoons of oil.

I want it to be hot.

And I have a whole chicken that I cut up, and I'm going to sprinkle some salt and pepper.

We're going to brown it about three to four minutes.

First, skin side down.

Careful!

I'm protecting my people.

I'm adding some salt on top, too.

It's looking beautiful.

Just look at the crisp skin.

Something that I've learned about the food of Sonora is that most dishes have very few ingredients, but the dishes are packed with flavor.

And food here is unpretentious, but it's really delicious and it's hearty and it's nurturing and it's filling.

And I get the sense that food here is really, really family-friendly -- really family-friendly.

As this browns, I'm going to get ready to puree my sauce.

And here, the garlic that I had charred.

So, you remove the charred skin.

I'm going to remove the tails of my spring onions.

I'm going to add the garlic cloves, the charred spring onions.

And you can see the pecans, how they softened.

We're going to add everything in here.

You just have to start slow, okay, because it was a lot of content and it was hot.

So, cover it really well and start pureeing slow.

[ Blender whirring ] [ Whirring intensifies ] I'm driving a shift stick here.

Okay.

So, super pureed.

Oh, you can see how beautiful it is.

Smooth, soft, and the smell -- this is unlike anything you've tasted before.

Think pecans, prunes, ancho chile, roasted onion and garlic -- that's what it smells like.

So I'm going to pour that over my chicken that's been browning over there.

Come with me.

So, we have the chicken that's been browning and crisping.

And it smells like delicious fried chicken already.

And I'm going to pour the pecan sauce, and it's going to jump all over the place, and I'm wearing a really cute shirt and I don't want to stain it.

I seasoned the chicken very generously with salt and pepper, so I'm not going to add any salt to the sauce until this finishes cooking, and then I'm going to taste and see if it needs a little bit more salt.

So I'm going to cover this, reduce the heat to medium-low, and it's going to cook for about 35 to 40 minutes.

So, the chicken cooking, and I flipped this griddle and it has a grill side.

I set it up over medium here.

And I have the most gorgeous, gigantic, and fattest asparagus I've ever seen.

I mean, look at this.

And this is also a local ingredient that's super loved in Sonora and used a lot, but it's also exported a lot.

And I have some that we already cleaned here.

I'm going to clean a few more and I'm going to show you how to clean them.

You want to have it flat on a surface because you're going to press with a vegetable peeler, and you want to go down.

And since you're pressing, that's why you want to have them straight onto a surface, so the asparagus spear doesn't break.

And what this is going to do is going to make the finished cooked asparagus have a very silky and smooth exterior to bite into.

You don't have to do this, but I think you should do this.

[ Laughs ] So, the other thing you want to do is you want to cut the dry part of the asparagus, which is the bottom.

And depending on the state of the asparagus, how much you want to cut from the bottom.

These are so fresh and so chubby and so big, it's going to be very little.

I have my grill here set over medium heat.

I'm going to drizzle my asparagus with a little bit of olive oil.

Then I'm going to add some salt and some pepper.

And then we're just going to put them on the grill.

While the asparagus is cooking, I'm going to make a pecan chiltepin butter sauce to dress them with.

I'm going to chop like a handful of pecans.

Let's check on the chicken.

Ooh, this is looking beautiful!

Let me get my spoon.

We want to baste this a little.

[ Laughing ] You can see, as the chicken is cooking, how the sauce is thickening.

It smells delicious.

And it's looking a little bit like a mole consistency.

You can see the color change.

It's much deeper.

So, I'm going to continue to cover this.

I'm going to flip my asparagus.

You can see how the salt is sweating on them.

Ooh, beautiful.

Mmm!

And we're going to make the butter sauce.

So, for this, I have my pan here set over low heat.

And I'm going to add a couple tablespoons of unsalted butter.

And I'm going to add a little bit of olive oil.

I'll add the pecans and chiltepin chiles.

Which, everybody here in Sonora seems to have a bush of chiltepin in their homes, so I just picked some from the garden there.

And you can see how beautiful they are, the color.

They use them on everything.

They are feisty and they have so much flavor.

Then I'm chopping these chiltepines.

I'm going to add these in here.

We're adding a little bit of salt, mixing that up.

You can see how pretty this looks already, the brown pecans with the butter, the spicy chiltepin.

The last thing I'm going to do is squeeze a little fresh lime juice.

And I found a treasure of tools here in this kitchen.

Look at these adorable lime squeezers.

I mean, they're so beautiful, like, I can't choose which one I want to use.

I think, since I've never used one of these, I'm going to go for this.

Let's see what happens.

Oh, I love this tool.

Let me see if the asparagus is ready.

Let's see.

I'm going to cut into one.

Ooh, crunchy.

Mmm!

Mmm.

Mmm.

The crunch.

It tastes so green.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Let's dress them.

Chiltepin pecan buttered asparagus, and then we're going to eat these with this pecan sauce chicken.

I don't think that's going to be too much pecans.

It's just pecans in two different ways.

Ooh, and this is looking so beautiful.

So, this is how you know the chicken is ready -- you grab a little paring knife or a little sharp knife and you poke the chicken.

And if the juices come clear, that means the chicken is ready.

Now, you can decide if you want no juices to come out of the chicken, but then you're going to have a pretty dry chicken.

So I think we're set.

Look at the color.

Look at the consistency of the sauce.

Mmm.

And then I have some rice here.

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

The chicken is so juicy and moist.

And the sauce, it's rich, it's nutty.

The sauce is thick but creamy, so nicely seasoned.

It's so delicious.

You have to try this.

It's -- mm!

-- really satisfying.

Mm.

Mmm.

Mm-hmm!

Mm-hmm!

Mm-hmm.

You feel the kick of the chiltepin, but then it's really fun to bite into the chunks of pecans.

And then you got that splash of citrus from the lime juice.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

All these dishes are simple enough that you can make them at home wherever you are, 'cause you can find all these ingredients.

And you will have a bite of Sonora right in your home.

Alex!

James!

-Yes.

-Which one do you want?

-Is that the thigh?

-Yes.

-S.

-S?

-Claro.

-Thanks, Pati.

-Thank you, Pati.

-Thank you, guys.

For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit PatiJinich.com.

And connect!

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest @PatiJinich.

-"Pati's Mexican Table" is made possible by... -La Costea.

- Avocados from Mexico A tradition of authentic Latin flavors and family recipes.

Tropical Cheese.

-Stand Together -- helping every person rise.

More information at StandTogether.org.

-BanCoppel -- your recipe for sending money to Mexico.

-Mahatma rice lets you unite ingredients and flavors.

Mahatma rice unites.

-Divine Flavor.

-Norson.

-Proud to support "Pati's Mexican Table" on public television.