-You know that feeling when you're cooking and you add that just-right something to a dish, that just-what-was-missing ingredient that salsa that makes everything that much better?
In our family, that special something is Sami.
Insightful, provocative, fun, supportive, loving, and just so easy to befriend.
Sami has just graduated high school and he's heading off into new horizons... And the world is about to get a taste of something wonderful.
-Cool.
-But Sami's not getting away without another bite, and a lesson of something delicious from my kitchen.
-Do you know why it's called chimichangas?
-Inspired by my travels in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, we cook a meal that will hopefully help get him through college, and who knows, maybe something else that life may throw at him, an unforgettable northern style shredded beef chimichanga, a chunky, crunchy, peppery avocado and radish salad, a scrumptious rice with lentils and caramelized onion.
-Oh, this is so good.
-Mm-hmm.
Another bit of Sonora I'm excited to share with you is a visit to a food stand that turned Hermosillo's taco scene on its head.
Johnny's Tacos, a multi-generational business that thrives on the Sonoran specialty, tacos de cabeza.
Johnny even kindly divulges not one but two of his secret recipes.
Oh!
And, oh, are those tacos good.
My mouth is feeling it.
Family, that special ingredient that's a welcome addition to any dish.
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-In Mexico, street food is such a basic part of life, a constant.
And almost every good street food stand has one thing in common, family.
Behind each of these small businesses with die-hard followings is usually one person with a dream, to support their family by feeding their community.
And of course you'll find most of the family working there too.
One of my favorite such establishments is Tacos Johnny's in Hermosillo, Sonora.
Hola.
-Hola!
[ Spanish ] -Owner Johnny Miller has put his heart and soul into this corner of the city for over 40 years.
Now his sons, daughters and grandkids are carrying on his tradition.
[ Spanish ] This is his biggest secret.
You know you want one of these, I mean look at this.
Johnny's is a classic meat stock -- pork, beef, barbacoa, machaca, it's all so good.
But their specialty is the true Sonoran classic, tacos de cabeza -- beef head tacos.
Mmm.
These are some intense tacos.
The head is so flavorful but so luscious, it really melts in your mouth.
It's so good!
You have to give it a bite.
Come with me, Johnny's going to show us how he makes his head tacos and his salsita.
Come.
Johnny, Jana, Romelia, y Cortes.
One of the things that customers crave here is that homemade chiltepin salsa I just had.
You can't believe how generous he is, he's giving us exact measurements.
Bueno, si!
That wakes you up!
I ate the tacos with this salsa and my mouth is feeling it.
Johnny's salsa and seasonings are to die for, but have you noticed his logo?
Come close so you can see...
I love it!
Yep, at Johnny's it's all about that beef head taco.
This is his original recipe, it is his recipe, it is what gave him an edge in a place where everybody makes this same recipe, and his is the best and different and he's going to show us how because of his big heart.
These are only the cheeks.
He makes the stew of the beef's head but he separates the meats, he doesn't cook them together.
So when everyone else in town was combining every part of the head together, Johnny took the time to separate the ingredients for a more pure, intense taste.
The rest is simple -- onions and Anaheim chili, tomato puree, oregano, a whole lot of black pepper, ground bay leaf, and salt.
He says you're so gigantic in Mexico.
[ Laughter ] I need this in my kitchen.
I want to use this to cook and I want to use this to threaten my boys and my man.
Oh!
After it cooks overnight, well... Just look at this.
Mmm-mmm!
Mmm!
-Muchas gracias!
-So much about Sonora is about beef, and it is the beef head and the carne con chili, and the machaca, one of the guisados.
One of the things that I really loved was the guisado de carne, and I'm going to make a northern style chimi that's topped with a guisado de carne that Sami absolutely loves, because Sami loves meat.
And I have two pounds of beef chuck.
A guisado is like a stew that is typically seasoned with chili, maybe some vegetables, and I have to tell you, and Sami knows I'm going to say this, but Sami used to be the pickiest eater.
His most adventurous thing was pizza.
It would drive me insane.
And when he was a baby, everything I put in his mouth he would devour, he would eat so much, and then the moment he was able to start saying no, he started getting picky with this, picky with that, and then, at some point, he decided that he had this power over me.
He knew it would drive me crazy.
So I put in 3 bay leaves, 6 garlic cloves peeled, and now I'm adding 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds, and this is a very typical Sonoran combination.
And the first time that I made this guisado, Sami commented, "Oh, I love this so much, this is new, like, is this new?"
And so we're making it again today.
And now I'm going to add half of our white onion, bring to this to a strong simmer and you try to take most of the foam out so that you have a clear broth.
Oh, this smells so good already.
After you take most of the foam off, you're going to cover it, reduce the heat to medium, and you're going to let this cook for about 1 1/2 hour until the meat is tender and falling apart and you can shred it really easily.
So I'm going to make this rice and lentils with caramelized onions, and I'm going to start by cooking my lentils.
Now I'm adding 3 bay leaves to water that I'm bringing to a boil, but I'm not going to add any salt because I want the lentils to soften.
So I'm going to add 1 cup of brown lentils, partially cover, heat these at medium heat, and then I'm going to get started with caramelizing my onion.
I have a big, heavy pot that I'm heating over medium heat, and I'm going to add 1/4 cup of olive oil.
This dish has a Middle Eastern origin, and you may be surprised but there are large and solid Syrian communities throughout Mexico.
So I'm going to coarsely chop two large onions.
Does this seem like a lot of onion?
Well it's not, because it's going to cook in this olive oil for a while until it softens and caramelizes and becomes completely irresistible.
And we're going to do that by cooking the onion over a medium heat for like ten minutes.
My lentils are ready.
We want them to be soft.
Mm-hmm.
But we want them to still have a bite.
So I'm going to drain them.
So this is when you know that the onions are ready when they're super soft and translucent inside, you want to take the onion almost to the extreme, not burnt, but, like, urgh, like charring almost.
And also look at the bottom of my pan, all of this browning is extremely flavorful, and when I add the liquid then this is going to deglaze and all that flavor is going to go into the rice.
I'm adding the lentils, and then I'm adding my spices.
1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of ancho chili, and I'm adding one teaspoon of dried oregano.
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander.
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric.
So kind of Middle Eastern but then it has that Mexican thing in there with the ancho chili and the cumin.
So I'm making some room right here in the middle.
I'm adding a little bit more oil and then I'm adding my 2 cups of jasmine rice.
Jasmine rice is so perfumed and fragrant, it's just irresistible.
It smells rich.
So I want my rice to cook a little bit before I add my liquid.
I want the rice to get enrobed and coated in the oil.
Jasmine rice grains, like, cling to each other in a deliciously sticky way when you cook it.
And I'm going to add 1 very generous teaspoon of salt.
So I'm going to add 5 cups of chicken broth, which is already hot, just to speed the cooking of my rice.
Ugh, I love this.
And now I'm going to scrape the bottom of the pot, which is going to make for a much more flavorful dish.
And the moment you see not the little bubbles, but the really big, aggressive bubbles, that's when you're going to cover the pot, reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and let it cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Once the meat is cooked, I'm going to take the meat out so that I can chop it, and I'm going to reserve 1 1/2 cups of broth.
[ Spanish ] -Which one?
-That, like, guisadito?
-Yeah, yeah.
-So you're going to help me make that beef guisado, because I know you love meat, right?
-I do like meat.
-You do?
Okay, so I'm going to add 2 tablespoons of oil, and I have about a cup of onion.
Okay?
You're going to help me stir, come over here.
-Ooh, challenging.
-This is going to be the base that's going to season the meat.
See?
[ Spanish ] Hmm?
-Mmm.
-Juicy?
And I reserved about 2 cups of the broth, so all of this flavor, like all of this color that's full of flavor, it's going to go in the guisado.
-Ooh!
Mmm.
It tastes like the earth, I feel.
-Like the Sonora landscape, you know?
Yeah, I'll tell you.
So these are 3/4 pounds of yellow potatoes that I just peeled and diced, and I'm going to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt with one for the potatoes to start softening, and then I'm going to start cutting the meat into the pieces; you take that, I take that, and you know how to hold your knife.
Si!
-Is there a certain way that I cut or are you just... -Like for this, we want it small because we're going to put it in the chimi -- in the chimichanga -- and if there's a little of fat it's fine because it's going to mix with everything in there.
-Do you know why it's called chimichangas?
-Si.
So, you know, about the name, like, here, let me stir the potatoes.
So people don't know where the name chimichanga comes from, there will be discussions on whether the chimichanga is Mexican or American, or Mexican-American, and all we know is that chimichangas are like burrito style pockets that are eaten either deep fried or pan fried, and the name, who knows, but it's like a super fun name.
-It is super fun.
I definitely feel like it's a name that a lot of people know but just have no idea what it is.
-Growing up in Mexico City I just didn't know that much about them.
-But I guess because it's something from the border, I guess it's something that like has reached more of the U.S., you know?
-Mm-hmm, absolutely, and because it's made with a flour tortilla.
So we're going to add two ripe Roma tomatoes, mix that up, and then -- Fire roasted it, sweated, peel it, and then dice it into pieces, just like that, okay, will you do that for me?
Sami, it's been really, really fun to see you through like elementary and middle school and high school and look like you're now so much taller than me, and the most amazing thing, Sami, for me, is that the more you grow, the more you teach me lessons, you put me in my place, I mean, you make me learn and get better and improve, and you fact check the things that I say, which is really good because many times I just have opinions, you know?
-It's good to have opinions.
-But no, but it's been humbling, Sami.
You want to add the meat?
-Yeah.
-And then we're going to add the broth from the meat.
-Mm-hmm.
-Que rico!
So now you're going to help me deglaze, which is just scrape the pot.
So you want the potatoes to cook for a few more minutes, but you also want this mixture to be moist, you don't want it to be too wet, so you want the container to be able to withstand the filling, and you want to bite into something juicy and delicious, but you want it to still hold, so it's a trade off.
-Yeah.
-You're going to make the salad.
-I am?
-Yes you are.
-I don't think I've ever made a salad before.
-I don't think you have either, you only make desserts.
-And cereal.
-And cereal.
We're going to make the vinaigrette in the same salad bowl.
-Okay.
-The juice of a lime, the juice of a lemon, and I love mixing different kinds of citrus.
So this is toasted sesame oil, and that's about 1 tablespoon.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, but I want you to use a tablespoon for one and I want you to eyeball another one.
-Alright, you got to tell me when.
-Because you need to be able to cook without measuring things too.
Pretty good.
-Pretty good?
-Pretty good.
-Did I put too little or too much?
-No I think it's really good, and you want to kind of balance the acid with the oil, and then we're going to add like 1 generous teaspoon of salt.
We'll just a little black pepper.
Mm-hmm.
Whisk the citrus juices into the oil.
While you do that, I am going to cut the radish leaves, which are used in Mexico sometimes to make mole.
-Mm-hmm.
-Mm-hmm?
Mmm, mm-hmm?
-Bittersweet.
-Yeah, I know, but it like starts bitter and then it ends sweet.
We're going to add the radishes.
We're adding the leaves too.
And then we're adding -- Okay, this is something you also started loving and you didn't used to eat that much, avocado, yeah?
-Yeah, I didn't start eating that until like a year or two ago I think.
-I know!
And now you're liking the avocado, like, next to everything.
-Or by itself too a little bit.
-Or by itself.
We have the peppery of the radish, but we have the buttery sweet of the avocado.
Different than burritos, chimis are fried.
So they can be deep fried or just pan fried.
So I'm heating oil to make our chimi, this is what we're going to do, and add filling.
You add as much filling as you want, but you need to leave some space.
-Okay.
-This, and then you close it on the sides, because we're making a pocket, okay?
There's your chimi.
-Why does yours look better than better?
Wait.
-No, it's good.
Wait.
You were closing it too much.
You fold it from the top, then you do it on the sides as if it were an envelope.
So it's bigger.
That's really good.
And then we're going to shallow fry.
You always want to put it seam side down so that it seals.
What do you want to dress yours with?
-Everything, Mom.
[ Spanish ] -Salsita.
-Salsita.
-Mm hmm.
[ Spanish ] It's so pretty!
-[Foreign] -Mm hmm.
-[ Spanish ] -Mm-hmm.
-Quesito fresco?
-Mm-hmm.
Let's dig in.
Do we want to try what first?
-I want the rice, I really like the rice.
-Go for it, for for it, I'll follow you.
Go to the rice first.
Mm-hmm.
-Oh, this is so good.
-Mmm.
With the onions because they're so soft, they're like melting in the rice.
-Mm.
-Mm.
Salad, okay.
Mmm.
I love this salad!
I love this salad.
Love, love, love, it's so refreshing, and it's like so fun to eat because of the chunks.
There was the vinaigrette.
-I love the vinaigrette, yeah.
-Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Let's go for the chimi.
Ooh.
Mmm.
Mmm, Sami.
-Yeah?
-Mm-hmm!
-Didn't wait for me.
-Mm-hmm!
Okay, I'll do it again.
-No, no, no.
-I'll do it again.
I really want to do it again.
Delicioso!
Delicioso!
-Delicioso?
-Delicioso!
-Didn't wait for me again.
-Wha!
You're taking too long!
Mmm.
-Mmm.
-Mm-hmm!
-Mmm!
-Mm-hmm!
Mm.
-Oh, this is so good.
And it still has that earthy taste, you know, but with all the toppings, it definitely, like, contrasts very strongly with like the earthy flavor, no?
-Mm-hmm!
-Because it's a lot lighter.
-It's like such a delicious and fun pocket to bite into.
The potatoes and the meat that's just, I mean, the meat is just like falling apart in your mouth.
-Mm, completely, yeah.
-Northern inspired meal.
I only hope that I can continue to travel more to all of these new for me places in Mexico so that we can keep on making more new yummy foods.
Like, I always make the foods that you love, and hopefully I will always have tons of new things to surprise you with, so that you will keep on wanting to come back home.
-Oh, always.
-Mmm.
-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.
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