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00:00I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:36Today on America's Test Kitchen, Keith makes Bridget chilies and nogada.
00:43Dan explains the science of why oil shimmers.
00:47And Al makes Julia tacos gobernador.
00:51It's all coming up right here on America's Test Kitchen.
01:02Chilies in nogada is what history looks like if you fashion it into a recipe.
01:08Now, in Mexico, they make the dish to celebrate their independence from Spain.
01:12And the recipes use ingredients that are native to Mexico, as well as those that were brought over from the
01:18Spanish.
01:18Now, it's a project of love, for sure.
01:21But Keith is here, and he's going to show us how to make this wonderful dish.
01:25Yeah, if you've never had this dish, you're in for a real treat.
01:27It comes from the Pueblo region of Mexico.
01:31And what it is is a roasted poblano pepper stuffed with a savory picadillo and topped with a rich, luxurious
01:37walnut sauce.
01:38And what's special about it is that the ingredients represent the colors of the Mexican flag, so red, white, and
01:44green.
01:44Okay.
01:45And we're actually going to start with the green part of the flag today, which are poblano peppers.
01:49So we have eight large poblano peppers here.
01:52Poblanos are great for a couple reasons.
01:54They have a nice flavor, but they're also large, so we can get that picadillo in there.
01:59Our first step will be to peel these and roast these.
02:02So I have the broiler set up, six inches from the broiler, and we're just going to slide these in
02:06and let them brown and char on the first side, which will take four to six minutes.
02:10Okay, great.
02:12Check our peppers.
02:13Mmm.
02:14Smells great.
02:14Oh, smells fantastic.
02:15Great. So we've got char on the first side.
02:17I'm just going to flip these over, get char on the second side.
02:20Okay.
02:20We don't want to cook these too, too long.
02:22We just want to char them really quickly.
02:25Check on the second side of our chilies.
02:28And we are looking good.
02:30Yeah.
02:30Good color there.
02:31Good color.
02:32Look perfect.
02:34Oh, smells so good too.
02:36Now I'm just going to transfer these over to this other tray here.
02:39Now normally when you're roasting peppers, the procedure is to cover them, right?
02:43To help steam, help get that skin to remove easily.
02:47Right.
02:47But we're actually going to skip that step.
02:49We're just going to let these cool on the counter on a tray.
02:51And the reason is, is that we don't want to continue to cook the peppers.
02:54We want to keep them firm.
02:56We want them malleable enough to peel them, but not overcooked.
03:00So when we stuff them, they get all shredded and fall apart.
03:02Okay.
03:03Makes sense.
03:03So while those are cooling, we're going to start on the savory aromatics to our picadillo.
03:08And we're actually going to use the broiler again.
03:09So I'm going to take two plum tomatoes, eight ounces of tomatillos that have been peeled and
03:16rinsed.
03:20I have a half of a white onion that's been quartered.
03:24One jalapeno and three garlic cloves that are unpeeled.
03:29Now we're going to go back under the broiler.
03:31We want to get char on these, just like we did with the peppers, because it's going to
03:35add a lot of kind of smokiness to that picadillo.
03:40Excellent.
03:41So I'm going to let those broil, turning them every four minutes or so until they're
03:45browned on all sides, which will take about 12 minutes.
03:47Perfect.
03:48It's been 12 minutes.
03:49We can check on our aromatics.
03:51Oh, smells great again.
03:53Yeah.
03:53Look at all that great charring.
03:55It's going to be great in our sauce.
03:59So those need to cool down for a little bit.
04:01While that is happening, we can focus on our poblanos.
04:05They've been cooling for 10 minutes, and now we can take the skins off and de-seed them.
04:09Just start with a paring knife in my fingers and just kind of peel back that skin.
04:14It should come off really easily.
04:16That was beautiful.
04:17That was impressive.
04:18Now we want to leave the stem on that.
04:20That's part of the presentation, but we need to get all the seeds out.
04:24So I'm just going to take a paring knife, start right at the top, and go down almost
04:30to the end, about a half an inch from the end.
04:32I'm just going to open that up.
04:37I'm going to take a pair of scissors and just kind of snip that seed portion off, and
04:41then take a spoon, scrape out any of those bits in there.
04:45So just get rid of that.
04:48By the time I'm done peeling those, those veggies should be cool, and then we can focus
04:52on our picadillo.
04:53Lovely.
04:54Our eight chilies are peeled and seeded.
04:57They'll look beautiful.
04:58They're going to be ready for stuffing, but we can leave those aside for the minute.
05:02Okay.
05:02And then focus on our picadillo.
05:04So the vegetables are now cool enough, and I can peel them and get them into our blender.
05:08So we have our garlic, and it's really easy to peel this because the clove has shrunk in
05:14here, so you can just kind of pull it back and just pull that little clove out, and that
05:19goes right in our blender.
05:20Very nice.
05:21I'll take the top off our jalapeno.
05:23We don't want to chop that.
05:26And then I'm also going to take the root end off of these onion pieces, and then I can
05:32just take a pair of tongs and take our tomatillos, and that goes in there, and our two tomatoes.
05:40Okay.
05:41Veggies in there.
05:42A couple more things to add.
05:43I have two teaspoons of chipotle chili, a little heat, a little smokiness.
05:49I also have two teaspoons of fresh oregano.
05:51Love the flavor.
05:55One and a quarter teaspoons of table salts, one teaspoon of cinnamon, and a quarter teaspoon
06:03of clove.
06:04Just a little bit of those sweet spices, but they're really going to come out in the end.
06:07It's really a lovely flavor.
06:09And a quarter teaspoon of ground cumin.
06:12Oh, lovely.
06:13So I'm going to put the lid on.
06:14I'm going to blend this for one to two minutes until that sauce is really smooth.
06:18Okay.
06:23It's been two minutes.
06:25We can check our sauce.
06:27It's looking pretty good.
06:29Oh, beautifully smooth.
06:31And I can smell the char.
06:33Oh, my goodness.
06:34That's great.
06:35Okay.
06:36So that is our sauce, and now we can turn to the stove where we'll start cooking our meat.
06:40Okay.
06:40I have one tablespoon of lard that's been heating in the skillet over medium-high heat.
06:45You can use vegetable oil if you want to, but we're making the picadillo with pork,
06:48so why not use lard and kind of double down on that pork flavor?
06:52You don't have to sell me.
06:54So I'm just going to add this to the skillet.
06:58One pound of pork.
07:00I'm going to add a half teaspoon of salt.
07:03So I'm going to press this into an even layer.
07:05The idea is that we're going to create a nice surface area that's going to brown and get
07:09some of those caramelized flavors in there.
07:14It looks good.
07:15So we're going to let that go without stirring for two minutes until we start to see some
07:19browning around the edge.
07:20Okay.
07:21It's been two minutes, and you can start to see some browning around the edges there.
07:25So I'm just going to continually stir this with my spatula, breaking that pork up into
07:29quarter-inch pieces until there's no longer pink.
07:31It's been a couple minutes, and you can see that the pork is no longer pink.
07:35I'm just kind of running through that and make sure we don't have any large pieces of pork
07:39in there.
07:40So now I'm going to add a quarter cup of dry sherry.
07:44That dry sherry is going to add caramel-y, nutty flavor.
07:48And what we're looking for is that sherry to reduce down to almost nothing.
07:52So we want the pan almost dry before we go to the next step.
07:56Okay, that sherry has reduced down, and I'll just take our tomato and tomatillo mixture.
08:04Oh, you can smell that cinnamon and clove come out.
08:08Incredible.
08:09Okay, so this is all mixed in, and we've gotten this up to a simmer.
08:14So what I'm going to do, I'm going to turn this down, and we want to maintain a gentle simmer.
08:18We want to reduce that tomato tomatillo sauce down so it's coating the pork.
08:23We'll know it's done when we take a spatula, drag it through, and that trail that it leaves,
08:27it won't fill back in.
08:28Okay.
08:30Picadillo has been simmering over here for 10 minutes, and you can see that trail as I drag
08:35that through, nothing is going to fill in there.
08:38So we've built up a lot of kind of savory flavors in here.
08:41Now we can get to the sweet elements in this, which I really love about this picadillo.
08:45So I'm going to add one bossed pear cut into quarter-inch pieces.
08:49One peach, same thing.
08:50We've cut that into quarter-inch pieces, peeled it.
08:53I have a third cup of raisins.
08:56I'm also going to add some salty element with some sliced green olives.
09:01That's a third of a cup.
09:03Some texture with some pine nuts.
09:06That's a third of a cup.
09:07I have a quarter cup of fresh parsley.
09:10Gorgeous.
09:11And then a half teaspoon of lemon zest.
09:15And two tablespoons of lemon juice.
09:18Wow.
09:18For some tartness.
09:19Yeah, so we have all the flavors.
09:21We have the savoriness of the pork, the sweetness of the fruit, salty from the olives, texture
09:27from the pine nuts, and some tartness from that lemon.
09:30A lot of traditional recipes will continue to cook this and cook that fruit into there.
09:34But we're actually going to cut the heat now, and we're going to let the fruit soften with
09:38the residual heat.
09:39What we really like is to kind of keep those pieces of fruit with a little bit of texture.
09:44So when you eat it, you get these little pops of sweetness.
09:47It's a great way, and it kind of contrasts with the savoriness of the pork.
09:50Lovely.
09:50So that's going to sit for 10 minutes and let that fruit soften.
09:53While that happens, we can focus on our nogata sauce.
09:57Fabulous.
09:58So nogata is a walnut sauce, and it starts with Mexican crema.
10:03So we have one and a half cups of Mexican crema in here.
10:06Crema, cultured dairy product, much like sour cream.
10:10It's, I think, a little bit more tangy, more savory, a little salty.
10:14Adds a lot of flavor.
10:15A little thinner, too.
10:16A little thinner.
10:16And I'm also going to add one and a half cups of walnuts.
10:21So in that goes.
10:23I'm also going to add two ounces of goat cheese.
10:26We like the body that the goat cheese adds.
10:29Tanginess, too.
10:30Pour a cup of water.
10:31Just loosen that up to make it blend easier.
10:34I have one tablespoon of honey for just a little bit of sweetness.
10:40One teaspoon of dry sherry.
10:43Kind of mimic the sherry flavor in our picadillo.
10:46Great.
10:46A quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
10:50And a quarter teaspoon of table salt.
10:54So I'm just going to put a lid on this.
10:55We're going to let this blend until really smooth.
10:58One to two minutes.
10:58And I'll go in with a spatula to make sure that we get the sides.
11:01We want this really, really smooth and creamy.
11:08Picadillo has been sitting for ten minutes, and that fruit has softened slightly.
11:12Ready to stuff our peppers.
11:13I have one cup of measure here, but we're only going to use three quarters of a cup of filling
11:18in here.
11:18Okay.
11:21Kind of eyeball three quarters of a cup.
11:25I'm just going to open up our chili.
11:28Spoon that in ever so gently.
11:33Okay.
11:33Now that I have the three quarter cup in there, you can kind of go back and shape these a
11:37little bit.
11:38So it looks like a perfect little chili.
11:41A perfect pepper.
11:42Beautiful.
11:43You know, with this slit is on the top here, you can kind of roll that over.
11:49Chilis are all stuffed and ready to eat.
11:51Well done.
11:52Well done.
11:52They look nice, don't they?
11:53Yes, they look great.
11:54You're happy.
11:54So I'm just going to take a spatula and I'll put one on your plate.
12:01And one for me.
12:04Now we have the green.
12:06Right.
12:06Now we're going to move on to the white, which is our nogata sauce.
12:09Because it's the Mexican flag.
12:10That's right.
12:11We're going back to that.
12:11Okay.
12:12So I'm going to pour about a half cup of sauce on this.
12:16Look at that sauce.
12:17Really smooth.
12:18Really creamy.
12:19That is like porcelain.
12:21And now for the red.
12:23For our flag.
12:24I have some pomegranate.
12:25How fun is that?
12:28And the final garnish.
12:30Some parsley leaves.
12:31Reinforce that green color.
12:32It's 100% a celebration dish here.
12:36I mean, look at the care put into this.
12:42I've got to admire it for a hot minute here.
12:44No, you don't want to eat it, do you?
12:46That's not true.
12:47Defeat for the eyes.
12:54All right.
12:55The poblano cut nicely.
12:57Getting a little bit of picadillo in there.
13:01Oh, my.
13:03I'm going to need a minute.
13:05That picadillo is amazing, isn't it?
13:07That is.
13:08All the flavors going on.
13:10Love it.
13:11The briny olives.
13:12And you get the little pops of fruit from the peach and the pear.
13:15The spices in there.
13:17That little bit of chipotle.
13:20Perking it up.
13:21But it had what?
13:22Cumin.
13:22It had some clove.
13:23Cinnamon.
13:24Cinnamon.
13:24Cinnamon's really prominent.
13:26I also like the fact that the poblano and the sauce have a little bit of bitterness to them.
13:31And it kind of rounds out the savory and sweet components in that picadillo.
13:35This is a masterpiece here.
13:37It's colorful.
13:38It's complex.
13:39It's celebratory.
13:40It's everything that you want.
13:41Every bite gets better.
13:42Yeah.
13:43You have more bites to go.
13:44Do you have more bites to go?
13:46Keith, thank you so much for showing this to us.
13:48Welcome.
13:49Well, if you'd like to make this grand dish, it starts by using the broiler to char poblanos,
13:55tomatoes, tomatillos, and aromatics.
13:57Stir fruit, olives, and nuts into the hot picadillo mixture to gently soften their texture.
14:02Use a blender to make the nogada with crema, honey, and walnuts.
14:06And spoon that luxurious sauce over the filled chilies right before serving.
14:10So from America's Test Kitchen, this beautiful product of Mexican pride, chilies in nogada.
14:18Double batch.
14:20Of a picadillo?
14:21Of everything.
14:28When you watch our shows, you hear this line all the time.
14:32We know it's ready because it's shimmering.
14:33You can see it shimmers as soon as it hits the pan.
14:36Our oil is shimmering here.
14:38It's one of our favorite visual indicators because when the oil shimmers,
14:42it means it's hot enough to saute.
14:44And then you hear that sizzle.
14:46Half a cup of onion.
14:47Oh, yeah.
14:48But why does shimmering mean it's hot enough?
14:50And why don't we do this with water?
14:52Check this out.
14:53In this glass pot, I have regular vegetable oil at around 325 degrees.
14:58Watch what happens when I pour in room temperature oil that I've dyed dark blue.
15:03The colder blue oil is more dense, so it sits on the bottom.
15:06When we turn on the heat, we start to see convection currents, where the blue oil rises up as it
15:11heats.
15:12The differing densities of the cool and hot oil refract light differently,
15:16so that as the currents swirl through each other, it's visible to the naked eye.
15:20Now, this is what produces that shimmering appearance.
15:23We don't use this visual indicator with water because it is less viscous and quickly mixes when heated up.
15:29Fortunately, water comes with another built-in temperature indicator.
15:32I think they call it boiling?
15:33Let's see what's going on.
15:39Let's see what's going on.
15:39Let's see what's going on.
15:40Tacos Gobernador, or Governor's Tacos, is the house special at the Los Arcos restaurant in Mazatlan.
15:47It's said that the chef created this recipe years ago when the governor of Sinaloa came to visit,
15:52and he wanted to create something special.
15:54Since then, this recipe has taken on a life of its own, and Elle's going to show us how to
15:58make it.
15:59That's right. Tacos Gobindor is a shrimp and vegetable taco from the Baja region of Mexico, and it's quickly toasted
16:05in a skillet.
16:06Okay.
16:07But first, we have to do a little prep.
16:08Yeah, always.
16:09Yep, and we're going to start with peppers.
16:11Okay.
16:12All right? First, we're going to start with the poblano pepper. It's a very flavorful pepper, but not spicy.
16:17Yeah.
16:17Yep, so I'm going to just seed it and core it. I'm just going to cut this into two-inch
16:25matchsticks.
16:27We'll just cut these in half.
16:30Nicely done.
16:30Thank you. All right, now I'm going to do the same with this serrano pepper because I don't like a
16:35spicy taco, but if you like it, a little spicy, you can leave in the ribs and the seeds.
16:39Okay.
16:43All right, since this pepper packs a little bit more heat, I'm going to mince it instead.
16:49All right, I'm just going to add it to the bowl with our poblanos.
16:53Okay, now that we have the peppers done, I think we can start heating up the skillet.
16:56Oh, wow.
16:56So we have a 12-inch non-stick skillet with one tablespoon of butter here.
17:01Okay, what level heat?
17:02Medium.
17:03You got it.
17:04So I have here one pound of medium shrimp with the tails off.
17:08I've chopped them into bite-sized pieces.
17:10I'm just going to finish off these last few shrimp.
17:16All right.
17:17All right.
17:17Ooh.
17:19This pan is ready.
17:20It's ready to go.
17:21So are we.
17:22So we're going to go ahead and add our shrimp to the pan.
17:25Now, this cooks really quickly, only about two minutes.
17:29We want the shrimp to be opaque.
17:30As soon as they turn opaque, they're done.
17:33Look at all that liquid that comes out.
17:35I imagine that would make a really soggy taco, which is the worst.
17:39It's the worst.
17:40Yeah.
17:40It's the worst.
17:40And I'm glad you mentioned that because these are now done.
17:43And so I'm going to take them off the heat.
17:44And I'm going to actually drain this juice out of the shrimp because we don't want soggy tacos.
17:51All right.
17:51So the shrimp is done.
17:52It's draining.
17:53I'm going to add to this pan another two tablespoons of butter over medium heat.
17:58Can you crank that heat for me?
17:59You got it.
18:00And now we're going to start to cook our vegetables.
18:04All right.
18:05So this is ready.
18:06This little foamy.
18:07I'm going to go in with our peppers and also one onion sliced in.
18:12Okay.
18:13So this is going to take about six to eight minutes because it takes a little longer for
18:16the vegetables to get that textural, cohesive bite that we're looking for.
18:22All right.
18:23So it's been about eight minutes and the vegetables have softened and started to brown.
18:27So we're ready to start building that flavor profile that is synonymous with the Baja region
18:31of Mexico.
18:32And that starts with two minced cloves of garlic, one teaspoon of Mexican oregano,
18:41a half a teaspoon of cumin, a half a teaspoon of coriander, and a half a teaspoon of table salt.
18:52So this only needs to go for about a minute, right?
18:55Just to get that.
18:56There it is.
18:57The aroma.
18:58Let that aroma.
18:59Let the spices bloom.
19:01All right.
19:02These are two plum tomatoes, just cored and chopped very fine.
19:06It only takes about four to five minutes for the juices from these tomatoes to evaporate.
19:10Pretty quick.
19:13We've cooked out all the juices from the tomatoes here.
19:16It looks really flavorful.
19:18Governor is a lucky guy.
19:19All right.
19:20I'm going to take this off the heat and I'm going to add a third cup of chopped cilantro.
19:24This is going to add some earthiness to our tacos.
19:29And I'm going to just transfer it to a bowl.
19:32All right.
19:34And we are now ready to add our shrimp.
19:37Okay.
19:38Look at all that.
19:39That would have made a very wet taco.
19:41Yeah.
19:42So we don't even need those juices.
19:43All we need is this good shrimp here.
19:46I'm going to give our vegetables and shrimp a mix.
19:50That looks lovely.
19:51Let me just give a little salt and pepper to taste.
19:54All right.
19:57All right.
19:57It's time to start building our tacos gubernador.
19:59Are you excited?
20:00I am, actually.
20:01Okay.
20:01You are the governor today.
20:02Oh, I like it.
20:03So we're starting with eight six-inch corn tortillas that I have wrapped in a damp towel and microwaved for
20:0930 seconds.
20:10Aha.
20:10This keeps our tortillas pliable and easy to work with.
20:13Yes.
20:14Okay.
20:14We have a little steam in there.
20:15Oh, I like it.
20:16All right.
20:17So I'm going to build one.
20:18I'm going to show you how it's done.
20:19And then we'll work together and make some more.
20:21Okay.
20:22All right.
20:22So I'm going to brush the bottom side with a little oil.
20:27That's nice.
20:28All right.
20:29Flip it over.
20:29And I'm going to add a quarter cup of Oaxaca cheese.
20:32Now, if you didn't have Oaxaca cheese, you could substitute Monterey Jack?
20:35Absolutely.
20:36All right.
20:37And I'm filling the bottom.
20:37But I'm leaving about an eighth of an inch around the edge of the taco.
20:41Okay.
20:42And then we'll do the same thing with our filling, about a quarter cup of filling, but
20:45on one side.
20:47We've done the cheese on the bottom so that the cheese can have maximum contact with the
20:52pan.
20:52Mmm.
20:53It melts.
20:53Oh, yes.
20:54Oh, yes.
20:55You know what it is.
20:56Uh-huh.
20:56Uh-huh.
20:57All right.
20:58And so we're going to move it to the pan.
21:00And then we're going to give it a fold.
21:02Cold pan.
21:03Cold pan.
21:04And then we'll keep building tacos.
21:06So four at a time?
21:07Four at a time.
21:09These look great.
21:10All right.
21:11So we're ready to cook.
21:12These are going to go on medium-high heat for two to three minutes on each side.
21:16I'm going to leave you to keep your eye on these, and I'm going to go assemble the rest
21:20of the tacos.
21:21Okay.
21:21You're leaving me in charge.
21:22You got this.
21:23Oh.
21:26You did a good job.
21:28Thanks.
21:29I knew you could.
21:30I paid very close attention.
21:31Good.
21:32Oh, look.
21:32These are ready to flip.
21:34Nice and spotty brown.
21:35Ooh.
21:35The cheese is melting.
21:37Mmm.
21:39All right.
21:40These look spectacular.
21:42They really do.
21:42So these only need another two minutes.
21:44We're going to keep them warm in the oven.
21:46Okay.
21:47And then we're going to make our next batch of tacos.
21:49Okay.
21:50These look amazing.
21:52They do.
21:53And they're done.
21:54And they're done.
21:55Yeah, they're done.
21:56And we're just going to move these to the back of our wire rack.
22:00Okay.
22:01One for me.
22:03And this beautiful one for you.
22:05Yeah, I love the lacy cheese on the outside.
22:08Mmm.
22:09These look fantastic.
22:10They do.
22:10I think we should dig in.
22:12I have some condiments.
22:14Yeah.
22:15Right?
22:15Is that a Mexican crema?
22:16It is a Mexican crema.
22:17Yum.
22:18And we have some lime wedges.
22:19I like a little lime and my favorite hot sauce.
22:22Nice.
22:22So are you a hot sauce gal?
22:24Oh, yeah.
22:25Okay.
22:25I have a collection of them at home.
22:27Oh.
22:27Different hot sauces for different dishes.
22:29I'm coming over.
22:30Yeah, you are.
22:30You're a hot girl.
22:32All right.
22:33So what's...
22:33Do you open these up to put them on?
22:35Oh, okay.
22:35You can open it up.
22:36Because we melted that cheese, it's going to seal right back up.
22:40Look at that.
22:41Yeah, that looks fantastic.
22:43Put a little crema in there for you.
22:44A little hot sauce?
22:45Oh, yeah.
22:45Yeah.
22:46Okay, and then a little lime.
22:49A little spritz of lime there for some freshness.
22:52Close this back up.
22:53Close it back up.
22:56That's pretty spectacular.
22:58The tortillas got really crisp in the skillet.
23:01I wasn't expecting that.
23:02Usually I think you have to deep fry them to get them crisp.
23:05And aren't you glad that we didn't let any of that sogginess get involved here?
23:09Yeah.
23:10And you can taste the shrimp.
23:11Because you cook them on their own with nothing.
23:14That shrimp flavor really comes through.
23:16But then you have the onions and the peppers.
23:18A little kick.
23:20Oh, these are spectacular.
23:23If you want to make these tacos from Mazatlan,
23:26start by chopping, sautéing, and draining the shrimp
23:29before combining it with the vegetables.
23:32Layer the shrimp and cheese into warmed tortillas.
23:35Then cook them in batches in a nonstick skillet.
23:38From America's Test Kitchen,
23:40a very cool recipe for Tacos Gobernador.
23:43You can find this recipe and all the recipes from this season
23:46along with our product reviews and select episodes
23:49at our website,
23:50americastestkitchen.com slash TV.
23:54Mmm.
23:55Oh, yeah.
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