Pati's Mexican Table

-Sonora, a vast open territory in Northern Mexico defined by rugged mountain ranges, unforgiving deserts, and the peaceful Sea of Cortez.

But down in the valley a gift from the culinary Gods.

Here conditions are just right to grow and harvest miles and miles of the regions most identifiable crop -- Sonoran wheat.

The flour produce from these wheat fields has completely shaped the food of Northern Mexico.

Mmm, delicioso!

And that iconic wheat flour it's inspiration from my take on two classic recipes.

This dough is -- oh, it's so delicious.

Sonora's absolute favorite pan dulce -- these light, crisp, flaky, sweet coyotas, and the hearty, savory, super satisfying chili con carne, wrapped in a flour tortilla, served with the tastiest refried beans.

I know one boy who's going to be so happy.

-This is probably the best burrito I've ever had.

- Dame, dame Dame tu chocolate Dame, dame Dame cafe caliente Dame, dame Dame tu corazon -"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.

-Sonora is one of the biggest states in all of Mexico.

Despite it's size there are some defining qualities that all Sonorans take pride in.

I'm in the capital, Hermosillo.

So I'm here with two gorgeous women.

Asked a couple of Sonoran friends to meet and talk about their home state.

[ Conversing in Spanish ] And that pride comes through right away.

How would you describe the personality of people here?

-Strong -- like, really strong.

-Brave.

-Brave.

-It's a state that is so big, the people are not all living together.

It's discerning and we're all kind of apart from each other so you become stronger.

-For me the identity of a place is always so intimately connected to food.

[ Speaking Spanish ] Oh, this is so ridiculous, look at this.

And on every Sonoran table it's easy to find a common theme.

So we have the bread, we have the tortilla, we have the tamale, and all of these have the foundation of farina.

I know people here are very proud about their Sonoran wheat, right?

-Wherever you go you're not gonna find a tortilla, the flour tortilla you find here.

-This is familiar territory for Luisa, who's family owns one of the oldest flour mills here in Hermosillo.

Where does this passion and love for wheat flour and wheat flour tortillas come from?

Like, how old is that?

-Sonora is one of the biggest producers of wheat, wheat is part of our history.

People start learning to make tortillas since they're eight years old, ten years old.

-Something that connects all the people from Sonora, no matter... -No matter their social status or whatever.

-It's just something that binds the communities together.

-Exactly.

-When we travel we bring tortillas.

-Oh, yeah.

-It's part of the gift that we bring to people that are receiving us, and -- como se dice?

Presumir.

-Brag about them.

-They love to brag about them.

-Our Sonoran pride.

-Yeah.

-Luisa's family has operated this flour mill in the heart of Hermosillo for three generations.

-Whoa!

Oye... Wow!

[ Spanish ] -Flour mills and the business of wheat have been the beating heart of the Sonoran economy for over 150 years.

I'm obsessed with history, and like, we're going back, back, back -- so, your grandfather started this?

-Yeah in 1935 he started, he was only 33 years old.

You can see the machines, some of them are from 1890.

-Luisa's family mill is like a time capsule to the early days of industrialization.

I wanna have a picnic here, it's so cool.

But there have been some updates.

-Each one of these silos has a capacity of 3,500 tons, we only buy wheat once a year.

-Wheat from all over Sonora comes in on these trucks and we wanted to make sure you could see.

[ Spanish ] So our camera guy Kevin made sure to get these shots for you.

I'm so sorry, Kevin, you had to do that!

New Kevin portrait.

Now, inside the factory there's a lot of high tech stuff, tubes and control panels and widgets and gadgets and important looking buttons.

It's all a little dizzying.

I don't know how it all works; but I can tell you is that over seven floors are many stages, the wheat is ground finer and finer and finer, until in the end you're left with pure, magical, white Sonoran flour.

This flour has shaped the culinary traditions of Sonora for hundreds of years, and just a few blocks away from Luisa's family flour mill you'll find one of the sweetest examples of just that at Doa Coyo's bakery where the specialty is this light, flaky, sugary breaded pastry called a coyota -- another source of Sonoran pride.

Here we have Jorge who has many, many, many nicknames including -- [ Speaking Spanish ] Come on.

-[ Spanish ] 2,000 a day?

53 years making coyotas?

It's a super balancing act.

Ooh, this is still hot.

This is piloncillo coyota, and it's her favorite.

Ooh!

Oh, you can hear the crack of...

So, it's nice and -- Ooh!

Mmm!

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!

Super flaky.

-Mmm!

-Mmm!

Mira -- look at this, this is... it's such a delight because it's so, so, so flaky and airy and a little bit chewy.

Mmm!

A little bit rustic tasting, little bit tangy, it's so delicious.

[ Spanish ] Thank you.

I absolutely fell in love with coyotas and I wanted to perfect my own recipe to bring it to you, so after many trials and tribulations I think I've got it just right.

So in order to make the coyotas we need to make the dough, and to make the dough I'm gonna start with a starter.

So I'm going to add a half a cup of lukewarm water.

So I have here 1 tablespoon of active yeast.

We need to make the yeast wake up and become alive, and in order to do that, gonna mix it with a lukewarm water and with 1 tablespoon of piloncillo.

Piloncillo is the base of the coyota practically.

It goes in the dough and it goes in the filling.

And piloncillo, which is the purest form of cane sugar syrup, it has a delicious, rustic taste, but it also, it's so yummy and so sweet that it helps the yeast become alive.

We have to feed the yeast, and yeast loves feeding on sugar and also on flour.

So in order to make these be really effective and bubbly and doughy, I'm adding flour.

It's going to help the yeast react, get really hungry, feed on it and foams.

And it's already smelling like it's reacting.

I'm going to cover it and I'm going to put it in a place in my kitchen that's nice and warm, and it's just gonna rise.

So I'm going to start my carne con chili.

And carne con chili is one of the most emblematic dishes of the state of Sonora.

So I have 6 pounds of brisket right here, with the fat on, I do wanna keep some of the fat because it's going to add a lot of flavor but we don't want that much fat, that is super, super greasy.

So I'm just removing like 60% of the fat.

Carne con chili is one of those stews that you can make a big batch of and then either refrigerate or freeze and then continue to re-purpose in many ways and you don't get bored, 'cause you can have it in burritos one day, and then a couple of days later you can have it in sincronizada or quesadillas or with scrambled eggs.

Later on when we make the sauce for the carne con chili we're going to make a roux, and you could use beef lard, which is this beef fat, or vegetable oil or vegetable shortening.

But in Sonora they use a lot of beef lard and it has a very different taste, it's rich, it's deep.

So I'm cutting about two inch pieces... We have the 6 pounds of brisket that I cut into pieces and I'm going to add half of a white onion, and then we're gonna add 5 garlic cloves that I already peeled.

1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorns, they're whole, 2 to 3 bay leaves -- I have 2 here and then I wanna add 1 really generous tablespoon of salt.

Then we bring this to a boil, you will remove most of the foam that you can from the top, as you should with every caldo de res or caldo de pollo, and then you cover it and you let it simmer for an hour and a half to two hours or until the meat is very soft and you can pull it apart very easily with your hands.

So we have the starter.

Come I'll show you, the starter -- first of all, it smells really, really nice, it smells very yeasty, it smells very different.

Come I'll show you something else, you see the little bubbles?

So it bubbled up and then look at how thick it got, so it got foamy, it got bubbly, so that means we have a yeast starter and the yeast was feeding on the sugar and the flour and it is ready to go.

And I have my mixer with the hook attachment which is this one, not the paddle attachment.

And I'm going to add 1/4 cup of water, 3 cups of flour.

I'm adding 1 cup of softened and room temperature unsalted butter, 1/2 a teaspoon salt.

You always want to start with slow so that the flour doesn't go everywhere and then I'm' gonna beat this for about 5 to 6 minutes until the dough comes together in a ball.

You're gonna see, I'll show you.

So you know your coyota dough is ready when the dough gathers into a ball all by itself around the hook.

Then I'm cutting this dough into three pieces just to make the rationing of the dough easier for me because each one of these three pieces I'm gonna cut into eight pieces to make eight balls.

This dough is super soft.

See?

Oh, it's so delicious!

It's soft and springy, and elastic, and just a pleasure roll.

and we're just gonna roll them and I'm gonna place them on this already buttered baking sheet.

I thought I needed two baking sheets, but you only need one.

I'm gonna cover them and I'm gonna put them back there in that cozy space in my kitchen and they're gonna rest for about two hours.

And this rest is really fundamental to getting the coyotas that you want.

I have my meat, and it's cooling and as it cools I'm going to make the seasoning sauce for the carne con chili.

Here I have some water that I'm already heating, and I'm going to add two ripe Roma tomatoes, two garlic cloves, and then I'm gonna add 12 chilies Colorados.

Chili Colorado is the dried chili -- okay, It's only of the dried chilies of choice of the Sonora Arizona region, and Sonorans absolutely love it to the point that they will get the chili Colorado from specific regions, because depending on where the chili Colorado comes from in the region, the tastes vary.

I remove the stem.

You do wanna remove the seeds, they are a little bit bitter.

I'm adding 12, and it is not a lot -- you know why?

Because carne con chili translates to meat with chili, so it should have a lot of chilies.

Now I'm gonna let these cook for like 8 or so minutes, and meanwhile I'm gonna strain my meat and my broth... You can see a little bit of the fat which is essential because it has a lot of flavor.

You want the meat to cook until it just -- you touch it and it falls apart.

So I'm adding two tomatoes I cooked in here, that are, as you know, super, super, super soft and mushy and the skin started breaking apart and then I'm going to add all of these chilies Colorados that re-hydrated and are plump and fleshy and meaty.

I have the 2 garlic cloves and then quarter of a piece of a white onion.

We have the chili de rbol -- that's gonna give it some heat and some smoky taste.

Removing the stem but I'm not removing the seeds, you don't need to.

And then we're adding chiltepin.

And the chiltepin packs a punch not only in heat like the chili de rbol, but in terms of taste.

So I'm adding, this is like 10 chiltepin chilies and then we're gonna add 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and then I'm going to add 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and you can see the really pretty color!

Then we're gonna puree these until completely smooth.

Carne con chili sauce, it is so colorful, just look at that.

And I wish you could smell, it just smells -- it just smells like Sonora, Arizona!

So I have the same pot where I made the caldo de res, and I have it over medium-high heat, and I'm going to add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Now we're gonna make a roux, which is a paste or a mixture that you make by combining fat with flour, and this is so untraditional to Mexican cooking to make a stew or a guisado with a base of a roux, but this just speaks to how important flour is to the state of Sonora, and how much convergence there is between U.S. and Mexico in that border region, which I find fascinating.

I'm gonna add 2 tablespoons of flour.

If I want this roux to add a lot of flavor I need to let it brown and darken.

The deeper and darker that the roux gets, not only will it thicken but it will add flavor and depth to the sauce -- and I'm feeling like I wanna go dark in here but not super bitter and dark.

So I'm just waiting for the roux to turn a little bit more brown and then I'm going to add the chili sauce.

I need to season my sauce with the roux before I add the broth.

It is all this layering of flavors that it's gonna make your carne con chili be the best carne con chili ever, it will not have any blandness to it.

So let it cook this for just 1 minute, you want it bubbling, you want it changing color.

Now I'm adding the 4 cups of caldo de res.

And then we're going to mix this... And now as this simmers, I'm gonna quickly shred my meat.

I'm just removing the extra fat.

You wanted the fat for seasoning but now you just want the meat.

If you noticed, I shredded in, like, big, bite-sized chunks because you want that mixture to not be just a paste, you want the bites of meat, 'cause now the meat is gonna cook in here.

Look at that, it's starting to change it's colors on the surface and I love this part of the process because it's like the sauce is talking to you and it's telling you, "I'm changing my essence, I'm changing my flavors," by mixing and cooking in here.

You know that the carne con chili is ready when the meat mixture is very moist and the sauce is very sticky and thick.

And now I'm gonna make some refried beans.

And I have here 1 pound of pinto beans that I cooked with just a piece of an onion, cover them with water, and cook them until they are very soft and tender.

Mmm!

You add the salt in the end because if not it's gonna taste like nothing.

I'm adding all of the beans, 2 cups of the cooking liquid of the beans, Colorado chilies.

And we're adding a couple of chipotles in adobo.

I'm gonna puree these not until completely smooth, I still want them with some texture because frijoles refritos should have some texture.

And you can already see the really pretty color.

In order to make them true refrieds, they have to fry with some fat and thicken, so I'm adding about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Once they thicken a little bit more, in 1 or 2 minutes, I'm gonna add the cheese.

Now, let's talk about the cheese: you could use anything that melts that has flavor, so you could use Oaxaca, you could use asadero, quesadilla, you could use muenster, here I have a combination of Oaxaca and quesadilla, it's 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.

Now this mixture is gonna mix so much to the point that you can't tell that the cheese is there but it's there.

Juju, remember how many times I tried to make the coyotas and just couldn't get it right?

-Yeah.

-I think I finally nailed it.

We have 1 pound of piloncillo that I already, like, chiseled, I wanna show you, since the piloncillo is hard, you chisel it like this.

-Yeah, looks really hard.

-It is -- it took me a little while.

Add that in here.

We have 2 tablespoons of flour, I know you washed your hands really well.

You're gonna mix that with your hands.

This is the filling of the coyota.

[ Speaking Spanish ] ...to rolling pin.

With these balls of dough, we wanna do like a little flat tortilla of about an 1/8 inch, and then I just use a 5 inch ring mold.

So if you wanna help me with all those 22 that remain, okay?

And then I'm adding 2 tablespoons of this mixture and then topping one tortilla with the other one, I go around with a fork.

They make like a little hole at the top for the coyota to breathe and caramel to ooze out.

You have flour on your face.

Aww!

We have the oven at 375, they're gonna be there for about 20 to 22 minutes.

Now we're gonna make burritos.

Okay, how do you know when the refried beans are ready?

-When you can see the trail.

-Yeah!

We have the large flour tortillas.

In Sonora the refried beans go on the side -- do you wanna break the rules?

I'm not, do you?

-I wanna break the rules.

-Of course you want, okay.

Carne con chili right in here.

See, the beans are talking to us, can you hear the bubbles talking?

Queso fresco on top.

Mmm.

-So good.

-Mmm!

I'm out of words, Juju!

-Mine is definitely better.

The frijoles inside makes it so good.

-I really like tasting the burrito with the beans outside because then I get like the different tastes and textures.

-This is probably the best burrito I've ever had.

-Mmm!

What does it smell like to you?

-Smells like caramel.

[ Speaking Spanish ] So crunchy!

So the piloncillo has, like, melted throughout the inside and stuck to the walls.

-Oh, this is so good.

-It's flaky, it's crispy, it's like the perfect treat, like, it's so reminiscent of everything you find in Sonora.

Oh you wanna dunk into mine?

This just takes it like... -Yeah next level.

-For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit patijinich.com and connect -- find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest @PatiJinich.

-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.