Pati's Mexican Table

Pati, voice-over: Chihuahua was a crucial state in the Mexican Revolution, serving as the heart of Pancho Villa's battles that shaped the course of Mexican history.

One of those battles made this hacienda the official White House of Mexico for a single day.

And it's been such a journey.

Pati, voice-over: Now it's where Diana Acosta and her family continue making foods from the time of the revolution.

[Speaking Spanish] We're gonna get going.

Pati, voice-over: To my kitchen for stacked chile verde enchiladas with eggs featuring layers of corn tortillas bathed in a silky green sauce, melted cheese, crunchy onion, and topped with perfectly cooked sunny-side-up eggs.

Mm.

mm.

Pati, voice-over: Ending with empanadas filled with a sweet spiced pumpkin and apple filling, encased in a puffy golden crust, perfect for a satisfying dessert.

It's perfect.

What a feast!

Mm!

So succulent.

These beans are insane.

[Laughter] Mm.

Announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... Announcer: La Costea.

!por sabor!

Men: Avocados from Mexico Announcer: Texas A&M International University-- Going beyond borders.

Announcer: Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[Acoustic guitar plays Nationwide jingle] Announcer: Levenger-- nearly 40 years of craftsmanship for readers, writers, thinkers, and doers.

Pati, voice-over: The Mexican Revolution, starting in 1910, was a complex conflict aimed at overthrowing dictator Porfirio Diaz, who had held power for 35 years.

Chihuahua emerged as a key battleground where dissatisfaction with Diaz's regime fueled revolutionary leaders like Pancho Villa and Francisco I. Madero to organize a fierce resistance.

[Pati and woman speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Diana Acosta and her family have lived in the legendary hacienda for generations.

Her great-grandfather worked for the wealthy owner, Luis Terrazas, who fled when the war broke out, and Mexican law allowed him to continue living on the property.

They have lived here ever since.

Her grandfather also bravely took up arms in the revolution, becoming a general for the resistance.

He's in the green uniform to the left on this mural in Casas Grandes.

Diana: You can see some of the holes here are real bullet holes from the Mexican Revolution, because Pancho Villa, you know, thought that you know, Luis Terrazas, it will be a lot of treasure and gold, but it was just a hacienda for the cattle, so, they--I mean, the bank was not here.

Oh, so, they came here.

[Both speaking Spanish] Oh, I want to see.

And we love this room.

So, this was the original kitchen of the hacienda, Pati, and this is where my grandma, my great-grandmother, used to cook for Don Luis Terrazas.

So, she was the main cook for, like, a decade.

Yes.

So, she told my grandmother that they always need to be prepared with food and fire because they don't know when Don Luis Terrazas will arrive.

Pati, voice-over: The Mexican Revolution also influenced some of the ways we enjoy Mexican food today.

Foods like burritos were nourishing and easy to travel with, as well as canning and preserving, like how Diana's mother Doa Sarita Ramirez still cooks today for her husband Don Guillermo Acosta and their family.

[Speaking Spanish] I was asking Sarita how long it took to make everything for this amazing meal, and she said an hour and a half, and it makes sense because she preserves tomatoes and meat and corn and beans and it's ready just to be seasoned.

It's so smart.

This is, like... [Both speaking Spanish] 'Cause she cooks the meat and she has it ready and she cans it and preserves it, and so it's ready.

Pati, voice-over: She cans just about everything.

[Both speaking Spanish] Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm-hmm-hmm.

Pati, voice-over: Today, we are taking this canned meat along with other preserved ingredients and using them to create another delicious dish from era of the Mexican Revolution-- beef empanadas and cheesy corn.

[Both speaking Spanish] [Sizzling] Sarita: Mm.

[Laughs] [Both speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Diana and her family have upheld the rich legacy of Hacienda San Diego by not only maintaining the grounds but also preserving the recipes passed down through the generations, like these tender beef empanadas, the most incredible cheesy corn, and fresh cheese.

Everything is so beautiful.

The food, I can't wait.

[Pati and Don Will speaking Spanish] Cheesy!

Ooh.

Mennonite cheese.

[Speaking Spanish] Y the el preserved corn.

[Sarita speaking Spanish] Mm.

Diana, I'm so impressed.

Like, as a Mexican, of course, I'm from Mexico City, pero, there's so much I don't know about Chihuahua and it's been such a journey, and me and my team, we're so fascinated 'cause it's so rich in food, it's so rich in culture, it's so rich in people.

It's been truly amazing.

We're gonna get going and we're gonna make some stacked chile verde enchiladas that use so much of that Mennonite cheese, and they're incredible for a festive lunch or for any time you want to just treat yourself or others to a beautiful, delicious, super-satisfying breakfast.

So, I'm gonna get started by slicing, like, 3/4 of this large white onion.

I have my heat set at medium.

I'm gonna add about two tablespoons of oil and one tablespoon of unsalted butter.

I want to make sure the butter melts before I add the onion.

I'm slicing, like, 3/4 of one large onion, and I'm reserving 1/4 of the onion to chop it to use it as a layering ingredient for when I build the enchiladas.

So, adding the onion in there.

The onion, that's starting to soften.

And I'm gonna add 3 garlic cloves that I'm going to thinly slice.

Chile verde in Mexican culinary lingo is these chiles.

The thing is, if in a Mexican recipe you say chile verde, it can be any of these chiles.

Like, all of these chiles are verdes.

But if you get a chile verde in a recipe and it doesn't say jalapeo or serrano or poblano, then you know you're referring to this chile verde--chilaca.

It's kind of citrusy, more pungent and bright than, say, the poblano.

If you can't find a chilaca, in a pinch you can use a poblano.

This is a chilaca that has been roasted.

I put it under the broiler and then put it in a bag or bowl and cover it and let it really sweat, and then the skin just peels off super easily.

And then you just make a slit and you remove all the seeds.

And then you have your clean chile verde.

You can leave them whole or cut them in strips like I have here.

So, this is completely softened.

Gently starting to brown.

I'm gonna add the flour.

Now, these are the details that may make your sauce taste different from mine.

So, if you left your onion and garlic to brown more than I did, you're gonna have a deeper-tasting sauce.

I'm adding the flour right now.

I'm gonna stir the flour.

Now, you can cook the flour to whichever point you want.

I like to cook it until it starts smelling toasty and the flour gains a little color.

Now I'm gonna add my chiles and here I have two pounds of chilaca chiles.

And then I'm gonna add marjoram.

Now, you can use dried or fresh.

Since I found fresh, I'm gonna use, like, two tablespoons.

I'm just gonna finely chop here.

So, chopping doesn't need to be fine because I'm gonna puree this sauce anyway.

I'm adding the marjoram in here.

I'm gonna add a teaspoon salt.

I'm gonna stir these.

And by now, my roux has really, really thickened and browned, which is gonna give my sauce another layer of flavor.

So, I'm just gonna pour two cups of chicken broth and look at this beautiful pitcher!

Brought to my home all the way from Chihuahua in my suitcase.

And now I'm just gonna mix.

Now, I'm gonna scrape as this cooks, and all that browning in the bottom is really delicious.

Now, while this cooks, I can start preparing my tortillas.

I'm gonna pour enough oil in this skillet to make it about a quarter-inch or a little less.

Now, the principles of enchiladas, like, no matter what kind of enchilada you make, are you need really good corn tortillas.

Don't use, please, please, please, flour tortillas for enchiladas.

They get soggy.

You need to prepare your corn tortillas.

That means you can either heat them or toast them, which will make the corn tortillas resilient and more sturdy and will hold the sauce better, or you can pass them through oil.

You want to make sure that the oil is very hot, because if it's not too hot, it's just gonna make the tortillas absorb too much oil and not transform.

So, you do this for about 10, 15 seconds per side.

This tortilla is perfect.

Tortillas are ready.

The sauce is ready to be pureed.

This is a super-chunky chile verde sauce.

We're gonna turn it into the silkiest, creamiest chile verde sauce.

And...I'm also gonna start heating this pan 'cause I'm gonna make my sunny-side-up eggs.

Gonna puree this until completely smooth.

This is what you want to do when you have something very hot to puree.

Grab a towel, fold it, put it on the top of your lid, and press.

[Whirring] [Whirring stops] Oh.

The smell!

I mean, this can be a soup, too.

I'm gonna pour it right here in the same saucepan and then we're just gonna keep this over a very low heat just to keep it hot.

Gonna add a little bit of oil to my pan and then I'm gonna crack two eggs.

[Sizzling] Then I'm gonna add salt and pepper and I like to cover my eggs because that way the egg white completely cooks.

As my eggs cook, it's gonna be a minute, I'm gonna cut some onion to layer in between the tortillas.

Another second, which gives me an opportunity to chop some chives so that I can garnish my eggs.

Perfect.

Eggs are ready.

Let's build.

Tortilla that we prepared, dunking it in the sauce.

Then...adding a little bit of onion.

A lot of onion.

I have some Mennonite Chihuahua cheese.

Mm.

The second layer.

Onion, cheese, and one more.

You can stack these up to heaven, but I find that 3 tortillas are very satisfying.

And this is the last part.

Cheese.

Onion.

How perfect is that?

Of course, I'm gonna add more onion, more cheese, because I can't help myself.

OK, fine, I'm gonna add a little bit more sauce, and chives just to make it pretty and something fresh.

And now, excuse me.

Ah.

So beautiful!

I love eggs.

I love enchiladas.

I love Chihuahua.

Mm.

mm.

It's so satisfying.

Not spicy at all.

Super flavorful.

Creamy, rich.

You gotta try stacked chile verde enchilada.

Mm.

Mm.

Sweets are so big and so delicious in Chihuahua, from dulce de leche and preserved fruits and empanadas.

Empanadas are so delicious, and I'm gonna show you how to make my favorite take which I came up with here in this kitchen.

It has pumpkin, apple, pecans, and I'm gonna start by making the filling, and in this saucepan that I have set over medium heat, I'm going to add the juice of an orange, and I'm gonna add a cup of water.

Then I'm gonna add two cones of piloncillo, 8 ounce each, which you know piloncillo by now.

This is the most unprocessed form of cane sugar.

And then I'm gonna add cinnamon, but now let's talk about cinnamon.

This is Mexican cinnamon.

It's Ceylon cinnamon.

Super-sweet and fragrant-smelling, and you can break it with your hands.

[Crack] Like this.

I'm gonna add this piece into the syrup that I'm making here.

See, if I used the Cassia cinnamon, which is this very hard bark, you couldn't break it into pieces, and it has a much more stringent, like, stronger, bitter taste.

So, if you have a choice, go for this.

What I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna cover this so that not much liquid evaporates but the piloncillo can dilute and mix with the liquid.

I'm gonna cover it, let this thing become one.

While that's happening, I'm gonna peel an apple.

I have a Granny Smith here.

And I was so surprised to see apple used in so many ways in Chihuahua, from spicy apple salsas to, of course, apple empanadas.

Everywhere.

I like to feel the bite of the apple.

So, I'm just chopping it into little pieces.

Using 1 1/2 pounds.

I already have some chopped in here.

I'm giving you a really unique and different pumpkin empanada by mixing it with apple.

The combination is divine.

You see how the piloncillo is starting to melt and to break.

But the smell of piloncillo cooking is so satisfying.

It's so heartwarming.

It smells like Mexico.

Sweet Mexico.

I'm gonna let it continue to mix and dilute.

Let's see what this is looking like.

Smelling delicious!

So, you can see how it turned into a very bubbling, dark syrup, which I love, 'cause it has so much flavor already.

So, what I'm gonna add now... is the juice of two limes.

It's gonna have such intricate flavors, 'cause we have sweet, tangy, rustic, citrusy.

Then we're gonna add two cloves, but I'm gonna remove the stems.

See, you grab your clove and you remove the peppercorn.

Then I'm gonna break that in here, crumble it.

Just two, because cloves are powerful.

So, now that my syrup is super-ready, I'm gonna add my apples.

Let's mix it up.

So, this is gonna cook down for, like, 8 or 10 minutes.

What I want is for the apples to start becoming amber-colored.

OK.

So, as this happens, I'm gonna make the dough.

It's so important to have a clean cooking station so then you can mess it up again.

I have 8 cups of flour, which is about two pounds; one tablespoon of baking powder; one teaspoon salt.

Mix this a little.

Then I'm gonna add two cups of vegetable shortening.

So, now what I'm gonna start to do, which is really fun, is I'm gonna start breaking the vegetable shortening into the dough.

And you want these to become, like, just fine meal.

I'm mixing the apples in the syrup as that cooks.

I'm gonna add my sugar.

I have one cup of sugar.

And then gonna mix that in here.

I'm gonna add 1 1/2 cups of whole milk and I'm gonna crack an egg.

Whisk it a little before I add it in the dough.

I'm gonna jump in.

I'm just laughing because it's gonna get messy.

And the egg.

OK, here we go.

Just mix with your hands until it comes together.

You don't want to overdo it.

But you can see the dough coming together.

[Exhales] And if your dough seems to be a little bit more thirsty and it calls for a little bit more milk, can add a little more until it comes together.

This feels good.

It's not a perfectly beautiful, homogeneous dough.

It's kind of rustic.

That's what you want.

I'm gonna let it rest there and sit a little as I finish my filling.

Now, come see.

I'm going to fish out the cinnamon because now I'm gonna add the vanilla.

Just one teaspoon.

Mix it up.

And I have two cups of pumpkin puree.

You can make it at home if you roast or boil your pumpkin, or you can just get a can.

This would be one 15-ounce can.

But make sure that you get the pumpkin puree that's not seasoned with spices or anything.

So, we're gonna let this thicken a little and become a little more caramelized for about 8 to 10 minutes.

OK.

So, you have apples that have absorbed that piloncillo, orange, cinnamon syrup.

Mm!

OK, so, I'm gonna roll this out.

And you see as you roll the dough, it becomes softer.

Make sure that you have flour on your counter.

I want about a quarter-inch of thickness because if not, the dough is gonna be too thick, and it's not gonna cook inside.

This looks good.

I have a 4 1/2-inch cookie cutter.

If you don't have a 4 1/2- or 5-inch cookie cutter, you can use a Tupperware or a dish that you have at home to make rounds.

Crack two eggs for my egg wash. All over the edges so that they close and seal.

Add a tablespoon of filling.

Then I'm adding chopped pecans.

Chihuahua is a growing region, not only of apples, and pecans.

So, now I'm closing the empanadas.

I go like a taco and I close them like this.

But it doesn't matter if it comes out a little because then it's caramel.

Once that you have them down, seal the deal with a fork around the empanadas and then brush the top with more egg wash because it looks beautiful when it's in the oven.

It adds color, it adds shine.

And then they go in the oven, which is at 350, for anywhere from, like, 22 to 24 minutes.

[Ding] I've been getting so many requests throughout the years for pumpkin empanadas.

These smell so good.

This one's calling my name.

So pretty!

Mm.

The empanada dough is so cushiony.

It has the sweetness that it needs.

It's not too much, not too little, it's perfect.

The apple filling has the very soft bite of the cooked apples, of the crunchy from the pecans, and the velvety from the pumpkin puree.

And I can see why empanadas were so famous during revolution times because these are things that you can just pack on the go.

You're eating something super delicious and that will remind you of important revolutions.

Pati: For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit patijinich.com and connect.

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, X, Instagram, and Pinterest @PatiJinich.

Announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... Announcer: La Costea.

!por sabor!

Men: Avocados from Mexico Announcer: Texas A&M International University-- going beyond borders.

Announcer: Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[Acoustic guitar plays Nationwide jingle] Announcer: Levenger-- nearly 40 years of craftmanship for readers, writers, thinkers, and doers.

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