Summer (Jul - Sept) 2024 COTM: Pati Jinich Quarter

This is the reporting thread for Pati Jinich Quarter. The books included in this selection are PATI’S MEXICAN TABLE, TREASURES OF THE MEXICAN TABLE, and MEXICAN TODAY.

mexican-today

patis-mexican-table

treasures-of-the-mexican-table

To report on a recipe, put the recipe title in ALL CAPS, followed by the name of the book and the page number if you have it. Because we are reporting on multiple books in one thread, including the book title is important. If you are the first to report on a recipe, post your report as a reply to this post. If someone else has already reported on the recipe, please post your report as a reply to that person’s comment.

We encourage you to mention the ingredients in the recipe and give a summary of the method in your own words. Out of respect for the author’s copyright, we ask that you do not copy a recipe verbatim. Pictures are always welcome, but by no means required.

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Adding her website

https://patijinich.com/

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Thanks, Saragama, for adding the website as an option. I do not have any of the books at present but enjoy Pati’s various tv shows and YouTube channels.

I made the Picadillo Empanadas linked here using ground pork which is one of the options mentioned in the recipe. I was going for a specific taste memory - the empanadas made by one of my mom’s friends when I was growing up. To that end, I should have used beef and a few more raisins but the pork ones were delicious and gobbled up by the fam.

Empanadas

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I also made Pati’s boiled tomatillo salsa which was from the website. I think it was the first time I made a boiled salsa rather than a roasted one. I was going to roast but really didn’t want to heat up the kitchen for a fairly small batch of tomatillos. Anyway, this version was great and will be my new standard.

Boiled tomatillo salsa

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These potato and chorizo tacos popped up when @tcamp pointed me to the website, and are now high on my list (using vegetarian chorizo so my mom can eat them):

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MEXICAN FRITTATA WITH POBLANOS, POTATOES, AND FETA from Pati’s Mexican Table, page 100

Over the weekend, I was thumbing through the recipes in the COTM cookbooks and bookmarking recipes that I am interested in. I came across this recipe and had all of the ingredients on hand. This was good.

The recipe is here:

It is the same as the one in the book except it uses queso fresco and the book uses feta.

I made a couple of changes. I made 1/4 of the recipe in a 6” cast iron pan so that I could have a single serving. I also read on EYB that one of the reviewers had problems with underdone potatoes. The recipe has you boil diced potatoes for 5 minutes and then you finish by sauteing them for 6 to 8 minutes. I hate underdone potatoes so I boiled my potatoes until they were done before sauteing.

I made this twice. The first time I stirred it too much and it was more like scrambled eggs. The next day, I stirred more gently and it was more frittata like.

It isn’t very photogenic. My eggs were on the small side so there was a lot more filling than egg.

My local library branch is closed for 10 weeks for renovation. Just before my branch closed, I went in and picked up two of Pati Jinich’s books. It was a very nice surprise when I found out that they are not due back until October 1 because of the renovation! I’m looking forward to being able to cook from these for the whole COTM period.

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I followed in your footsteps. That tomatillo salsa is outstanding! Super way to use a bunch of tomatillos I froze from our CSA share back in the fall.

Before I made this, I had not truly experienced what a tomatillo salsa can be. The step of cooking the salsa coaxed out an amazing umami aroma and flavor that I have never gotten from tomatillos before. Or maybe it was that the tomatillos were locally grown? Either way, thank you.

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MEXICAN MEATBALLS with MINT and CHIPOTLE from Pati’s Mexican Table, page 153

This recipe on her website is basically the same as what is in the book. https://patijinich.com/dreaming_of_julios_albondigas/
One variation is the book states you can either use 2 lbs of ripe tomatoes or 5 cups canned tomato puree. I used canned crushed tomatoes and used an immersion blender to make into a sauce.

These were very good and quite filling. The recipe calls for 1.5 lbs of ground turkey and serves 6. I made 2/3 a recipe with a lb of ground turkey for 4 very generous servings. The meatballs contain rice and they were fairly light when cooked. My meatballs were quite wet. I was sure they would fall apart in the pot but they held together well.

There is a lot of sauce and some rice or bread would be nice to soak it up. They’d make a goof Mexican style meatball sub. I thought the mint was very subtle. I think these would freeze well.

Photo below. I was supposed to garnish with extra mint, but forgot.
IMG_3113

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GREEN BEANS with ORANGE and PISTACHIOS from Pati’s Mexican Table, page 207

I thought these were excellent. The garlic, citrus and pistachio really jazzed up the green beans. I would definitely make these again.

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in skillet. Cook 1/4 cup chopped onion for 2 min. Add 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook 1 min. Add 1 lb trimmed green beans (1” pieces), 1/2 tsp salt, and some black pepper. Cook 5 to 6 min.

Add 1/2 cup orange juice and 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and cook another 6 to 8 min, stirring occasionally. To serve, top with 3 Tbsp toasted pistachios.

IMG_3114

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I’m glad you tried/liked it. I’ve always believed roasted tomatillos made a better salsa but my mind is now changed. Better in the heat of summer anyway!

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I’m kinda in a comfort food mood today, so I will be making this, but with chicken thighs and shrimp. I plan on enriching some previously made chicken broth with the shells and heads from my shrimp:

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Thanks for the link, sounds delish…

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Here’s the finished pozole:

This is a very worthwhile recipe to make and eat! The instructions are in the link upthread. The shrimp heads and bodies did indeed add a lot of great flavor (but this would be perfectly fine with just chicken as written). I added the shrimps themselves in the last five minutes of cooking. Really looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow!

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MACARONI WITH CHIPOTLE CHICKEN - Mexican Today

This is a really easy baked pasta. First you make the sauce. There is an option for either fresh or canned tomatoes, and I used canned, which is the simpler version. You put the tomatoes in a blender with some garlic, onion, salt, pepper, chipotle en adobo and some of the sauce from the latter. Purée. You are supposed to sprinkle boneless, skinless chicken thighs with oregano, salt, and pepper, and sear in a casserole. I used Daring chicken here. You then remove the “chicken” to a bowl, add some more oil and fry the pasta, as you would for fideos. You then add the sauce to the frying pasta and cook it down until it thickens. Stir in chicken broth, and nestle the chicken pieces in the pasta. Cook covered for 25 minutes. You then uncover, top with cheese, and transfer to an oven to finish cooking and melt the cheese. There is supposed to be an avocado garnish, but I skipped it. This was easy to make and quite good, in a homey sort of way. I would make it again.

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TAMAL CASSEROLE WITH CHICKEN AND SALSA VERDE - Mexican Today

This is a simple layering of masa, cooked chicken, and tomatillo sauce. For the masa, you start by beating some lard or vegetable shortening, then beat in salt and a tiny bit of broth, then baking powder, then add masa harina and broth by turns until it is all incorporated and you have a fluffy masa. The tomatillo sauce is about the same as the one described upthread. For the chicken, I used Daring, and gave it a quick sear in a skillet before using in the casserole. You put down a layer of masa first, then you mix the chicken into the salsa and layer it over the masa. You put another masa layer on top, cover the dish with foil, and bake for 50 minutes. You then remove the foil, add a little more salsa on top and the cheese, and bake uncovered to melt the cheese.

This is good and simple to make. The recipe in the book says it serves 10-12, so I made a half recipe. While we liked this, I have to say I prefer an enchilada casserole, and if I wanted to make this again, I would probably convert it. It would be even easier and I think I’d like it even more.

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MEXICAN PIZZA WITH POBLANO RAJAS, CORN, AND ZUCCHINI - Mexican Today

Pizza is a go-to dinner for me when I’m super busy. It takes time to make the crust, but it’s mostly hands off. I make my flour mix in big batches, so prepping the dough goes really fast. This recipe looked like a good way to shake up my pizza with some new flavors. I didn’t look at the crust recipe at all, and instead used my own gluten-free formula. So this write up is just about the sauce and toppings. The sauce is the basic pizza sauce from page 200. You sauté some onion until it starts to brown, stir in garlic, then add tomatoes (I used canned, pulsed in the blender). Add some Mexican oregano and salt. You are supposed to simmer covered, until the sauce is thick and dark red. Once again, I ask myself how a sauce is supposed to reduce with a lid on the pot, especially in 5 minutes?! I cooked uncovered for longer, and in hindsight, wish I’d let it reduce a bit more. The sauce was very tasty, though, would have been great on enchiladas as is, just needed to be more concentrated for pizza.

For your toppings, you char the skin off a poblano and cut it into strips. Shave ribbons of zucchini. Cut some corn kernels or thaw frozen. Slice some red onion. Put the veg in a bowl with some salt, olive oil, and lemon juice and let sit for a while. When it is time to put the toppings on the pizza, you will remove any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl.

You are supposed to par-bake the crust, then add the toppings. I have to admit I stopped reading the recipe after I prepared the toppings, so I didn’t see that instruction until later. It’s not a bad idea given the thin sauce and the vegetables that will sweat out water, but I didn’t do it. I sauced and topped the raw dough, and baked for 27 minutes in my Breville convection oven. This worked fine, and the crust was not soggy as I was afraid it might be.

I liked this pizza and will do some kind of variation on it again. The sauce, being thinner than ideal for a pizza, got a little lost between the crust and the toppings, so I definitely want a more concentrated sauce next time.

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GREEN RICE / ARROZ VERDE
Pati’s Mexican Table

When I did an ingredient search for spinach on her website, this didn’t come up, but then I checked EYB and there it was.

It’s an easy and delicious dish — rice is cooked with some seasonings, a green sauce is made from spinach, cilantro, aromatics, and spices, and the two are combined before serving.

I used frozen, chopped spinach instead of baby spinach, so I tweaked the method to suit. I sautéed the spinach with aromatics and seasonings, cooked rice (using 1/3 proportion of quinoa) without any seasonings, and combined everything without pureeing (only the cilantro was pureed).

Really tasty! I could eat a pot of it just like this, but I made it as an accompaniment for roasted salmon.

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I’m mulling over this Mexican-style gravlax recipe and wondering what the cilantro is going to taste like after a few days :thinking:

Thinking I might save the cilantro sauce as a topping for service instead to keep it fresh-tasting.

Open to thoughts.

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Just circling back to say this was really good – the flavors settled in by the time I ate it, and the salmon I ate alongside needed nothing more than s&p because the rice was so flavorful.

Was thinking that I could have added a can of beans (chickpeas or other white) to make it a complete meal, or stirred in chicken (or cooked it with the rice) – reminds me of an Arroz Verde recipe from a Rick Bayless COTM, but this was more intensely flavored with more of everything.

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I think the cilantro would add a significant flavor to the rub.