La Vida Loca

I'm going on new territory today, y'all

Mexican chef Patty Henich is here, and we're living la vida loca, y'all

Mmm. With crispy fried tacos and salsa verde. Mmm. A Mexican white rice that we're going to top with fried plantains

is going to leave us speechless. Mmm. And then I'm going to show Patty how to fry ice cream

and it's going to be delicious. This precious girl right here is named Patty Hinnage

Did I do it? You did it, Paula. She's got an accent, y'all

Paula, I told my boys I'm coming. They're so excited that I'm here

And I was telling my friend, they love Paula's show. They love her cooking

The thing they love the most is her accent. And my friend said, they don't think you got an accent

Y'all, Patty was telling me that she's got three little boys, nine, seven, and two

And you involve them in the kitchen, don't you? They love cooking

Which is wonderful. And I hear one of the things that they love to cook with you, Patty, are these crispy fried tacos in salsa verde

So the first thing we have to do is pull four cups of the chicken breast that we boiled along with the garlic and salt

Paula, let me tell you. For the chicken, we're going to make a tomato salsa

Okay. But to accompany the tacos, we're going to make a green salsa, salsa verde

And we're going to use the tomatillos. Salsa for, okay. A salsa verde. We're going to use the tomatillos

Are you familiar with the tomatillos? You know, I am familiar with them, Patty, but I have to say I've never cooked with them

Oh, Paula, let me tell you about the tomatillos. I want you to tell me everything. Okay

Tomatillos, they're not so attractive when you look at them. Well, I think they're beautiful

They have this skin that's papery, tends to be dusty, and then the tomatillos tend to be waxy and a little bit sticky

and they smell. She said waxy, y'all. It's waxy, and they're smooshy

We're going to use a pound and a half. We're going to cook them in water

Bring them to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Okay. Okay? And then you know they're ready, Paula

because they change from this loud, shiny green color to these sort of, you know, it's a mild, quiet green

And they're mushy. They're mushy. They're not hot. They're mushy. They're mushy. Normal mushyness

They're not hot, are they? No. Not hot at all. No. No

We're going to put them in the blender. I'm just going to pull them out with my hands, OK

Yeah. And we're not going to pour the water in there. This is going to be super mild, Paula

I'll tell you. What kind of pepper is this? This is a serrano. It's a serrano chili

Serrano? Serrano. The flavor is very concentrated. It's very spicy. And this is a jalapeño

Oh, okay. It's much milder. You can substitute whichever one you find. This is milder than that

It is. Life is funny that way. And you can add as much chili as you want

We're going to add just a little bit of the serrano. Okay. And we're going to need about a cup of this fresh cilantro

Just a tip of the serrano chili. And then we're adding one garlic clove as well

Paula, can you help me feel the garlic clove too? I absolutely can, honey. Okay, so..

I'll do anything you want me to. Thank you. It's a pleasure to cook with you, Paula

No, the pleasure's mine. You're like the cutest thing. Okay, so I don't need to chop this

No, we're just going to add... And how about that? Is the cilantro all right? Yeah, but can we chop it a little bit more

Absolutely. And then I'm going to add about a teaspoon of salt in here. Okay

Okay, and then we're just going to puree this. Where do you puree, Paula, in your blender

Okay, right there. There. So we're going to puree until smooth. And we're going to need about a cup of chopped onion

In Mexico, we used the blender so much, Paula. Once, my blender, the motor got burned

And so I called the customer service, and I said, hey, my blender, the motor got burned, and they said

Well, ma'am, you're going to have to send it to a repair center in Ohio

I said, Ohio? But you know they're kidding me. I'm not going to send my baby to Ohio

In Mexico, we have these little repair shops everywhere. Every neighborhood has one

What you did? I packed the blender up. My husband came back from work, and I said, Danny, I'm going to see my mother

So I went to Mexico, came back a couple days later, and had my blender already nice and fixed

They have an assigned seat on the counter. When you're done with all of your cooking, you clean your blender, you put your pajamas, and you put a pajama on the blender

Bola, I brought you one. Where is it? Oh, come on. I did, I did, Bola

Come on. I did. We have these blender covers. So look. Some have faces and little, like, vegetables

Isn't that cute? This is my blender pajamas Oh I love it All right here we go Does it fix Oh no Yes That a little bite Look night No

Night-night! My blender's put on a little weight. Your blender's up! Now we're going to dump it in the mocajete, Paula. Okay

Now we're going to add like a cup of onion, and then we're going to add..

That looks like a cup, doesn't it? And then we're going to add like a half a cup of cilantro

That probably looks like about what I did. And then we're going to stir it up

So this we're going to use to eat with the crispy tacos we're going to make for d'Ola

Now we're going to make a second salsa. And this salsa we're going to use to finish off that chicken that we already cooked and shredded

Now we have here two pounds of skinned Roma tomatoes that we've cooked until they were soft, y'all

Just into the blender, we're going to put the tomatoes. And then we're going to add two whole cloves

Two whole cloves. Smells good. Oh, it smells yummy, doesn't it? And then we're going to add about eight peppercorns. Okay

Eight. About eight. And then we're going to add a garlic clove

Okey-doke. I've got some onion down here. Is it going in the blender, Patty

So it's going in the blender. About a half a cup. Okay, half a cup

We're going to add some salt. Okay. You know, like a teaspoon or something. Uh-huh

Do you have a salt preference? Well, I like to use kosher or a tea salt

I like kosher, too. You, too. Yeah. Yes. So we're going to... There

Puree. Puree it onto a spoon. We're going to get this fire going

And then we're going to add about two or three tablespoons of corn oil or safflower oil

Okie doke. Paula, can you pour in the sauce? All right, where are we going to pour these

So we're going to pour these here. Right into the oven. Right into the oven. I love it. It's going to jump, Paula

It's going to jump. Like to jump. Yeah. Ooh, that looks like a marinara sauce almost

And then we're going to cook this with the chicken. Okay. Can you help me, Paula

Yes, I can help you, Patty. We got all the chicken. Beautiful

And we're going to add a couple of bay leaves. Okay. We know that this is going to be ready when the sauce is going to change to a deep red color, and it's going to thicken a little

Mm-hmm. Now we talking, sister. Coming up, y'all, we're gonna get started on Patty's Mexican white rice

and we're frying up those crispy tacos. That's perfect. Oh, perfect. And then later, have you ever seen ice cream go into a deep fryer

Well, stick around, y'all. Hey, y'all, we're back. And I have got the cutest little girl

She's not a little girl. She's got three children. but she looks like a little girl

She's precious. Her name is Patty. She's from Mexico, and she is the real deal, y'all

So, Paula, we're going to start to make a Mexican white rice

Okay, and we're going to top that with fried plantains. So here we have, like, three tablespoons of oil

and we have two cups of white rice, long or extra long

Okay, it looks like it's been par-cooked or something. No, we just soaked it with hot water

Oh, you washed it. Oh, okay. That's why it looks that way. Yeah, so soak it like for five minutes

Okay. And then drain it. We're going to let all these grains get covered in the oil

And we're going to add some chopped onion. It's about a half a cup of an onion

And we're going to start cooking it with the rice. Now, Paula, can you help me stir a little

I can help you. I'll stir. But you know when the rice is ready, when the rice changes from sort of a boring grayish white to a milky, shiny, deep white

Then you add the stock. So I think it's ready. It looks deep and white

Let me pour this stock. Okay, yeah, you pour and let me... Now, are you using just a box stock

This is freshly made four cups of chicken stock. We're going to add some celery

Okay, you're not adding much. and then we're gonna add one stalk and then... Now, did we salt

that water? One spring. We need to add some salt. And a sprig of..

A sprig of fresh parsley. Okay, just dump it in there. So then we're adding a tablespoon

of lime juice and one whole serrano chili pepper. We're just gonna add it in and I'll tell you, Paula..

I love doing this! I'll tell you, Paula, when the rice is ready, everybody wants to eat that

chili because it gets the flavor from the lime juice and the stock and the parsley and the celery

This is a heck of a good chili I love it And just look at that beautiful pot of rice And this is starting to simmer Paula so we going to put the lid on Put the lid on it We going to put the lid on So now we have the chicken here cooking and we waited until the sauce got really deep

a really deep bread, and it's thick, and now we're going to add three quarter cups of cream

I see you've got a measuring cup, but I think I'm just going to go for it

Then you go for it. How's that? That looks like about three quarters. Yeah

I was serious. You know I was serious. I know you are. And about a quarter cup of breadcrumbs

Okay, and these are just a store-bought breadcrumb, and that's going to bind it

This is going to bind it together, y'all. You'll give it a nice, thick consistency

Yes. So, now, I see that you have out one of my favorite pans

You've got out my hoe cake pan. Now, are we going to heat these

So, we're going to heat these tortillas? My mother used to cook lace hoe cakes every meal

So can we fit two or three on that pan? So yeah, I think we can fit like three

And we're going to heat the tortillas off. If you don't heat them first, they're going to break

So Paula, it's so funny that you say that your mother gave this to you

You know I brought my comal, which is this one over there. Let me show you

This pan? Yeah. It is a cast iron plate. It's hot. Yeah

How grand is this, y'all? It is. And we use it to make tortillas

and we use it to roast and charred tomatoes, tomatillos, and garlic

So these my mother gave to me when I got married. And I'll tell you, Paula

comales for Mexicans are a very personal thing because you keep them for a lifetime

I love this. Yeah, I love my comales. Everywhere I go, Paula, I take it with me

Those are hot enough, right? Right. And let's fill them up. Okay, Patty

Ooh, I can smell the corn, y'all. We can fill them up right here. Okay

We're just going to fill these tortillas, y'all, with a tablespoon or two of that creamy chicken

Roll them up, close them with a toothpick, and they're all ready to fry

In our corn oil that we have at 350 degrees until they're golden brown

Beautiful. If you were going to fry these in your pan at home, how much oil would you put in

You need enough oil, depending on how big your pan is, to have about an inch of oil

You know, the kids love these tacos, Paula, because they're such a pleasure to bite into

They're crunchy and they have this really comforting feeling. I am so sold on this

That looks perfect. That's perfect, perfect. So bring them up. Oh, perfect

Mmm. Mmm. Yes. Ah. Look at that. Oh, we gotta eat those

Oh. And we're gonna put that green salsa on them. Coming up, y'all, we're frying plantains

to finish up our Mexican white rice. So look at these colors

They're beautiful. Look at this. And later, we're keeping that fryer working for our fried

ice cream, y'all. Hey, y'all, we're back. We've taken a quick little trip to Mexico

Actually, we brought Mexico to us, y'all. I'm in the kitchen with Patty

and she's cooking up some wonderful things for us. And now she's fixing to show me and you how to cook plantains

because that is another thing that I don't do. So we use a lot of fried plantains to top white rice

Oh, my goodness. Is this not too ripe? I see it juicy, juicy

It's juicy. You know, plantains are firmer and they're starchier, and we always cook them before we eat them

So, Paula, will you help me peel them and slice them? I will help you peel them. See, they're starchier

They're firmer than a banana. Yeah. And look how ugly it looked on the outside

It looked black. It looked mushy. But on the inside, they're perfect, Paula

We're going to slice them like about a quarter inch. Okie doke

Kind of on the diagonal. On the diagonal. Okay, so about a quarter of an inch

And then we're going to fry them in corn or safflower oil

Okay. That's been heating up for about eight minutes or so. And we have like a quarter of an inch of oil

Uh-huh, uh-huh. Just going to put them in. This is simple. Very simple, Paula

We're going to fry them for about two minutes. Okay. And you know that they're ready when the edges start to brown, and they develop a crust in the bottom

They're nice and crusty, and they start getting mushy, but a nice kind of mushy in the middle

So we give it like a minute. Come on, get me a fork, Al

Yeah, oh, that's better. So I can kind of fork it. Oh, see that beautiful sun

Yes, I see it. So look at this color. They're beautiful. Look at these

Look, y'all. So Paula, I'm gonna start putting the rice on that plate over there

Okay, darling. I keep watching these These plantains are simply beautiful So we gonna put the plantains when they ready we gonna put them right on top well I think they ready

they look beautiful say we just lay it on the right just lay it on the right

rice and all the smooshy ones too. I love smooshy. This is a very, very popular way to eat rice in Mexico

I would never have thought this. So should we try it, Paula? Okay. Do you have some sour cream

Honey, I... She doesn't know me all that well, does she? Of course I've got sour cream, honey

I'll be right back. Okay, I knew I had some. Just spoon some on top

Oh, you got a big ol' dollop of sour cream. Mmm. Is it good

Mmm. Mm-hmm. The rice is hot, has so much flavor, and the plantains are smooshy and sweet

And the sour, Paula, it's a warm of a combination. You can eat this with the tacos, too

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm

Mm. This is so good, Joan. Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm-hmm

Mm. Now we really get it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm

Mmm! Ha ha ha ha! Coming up, I'm gonna be adding something sweet

to this Mexican fiesta. Fried ice cream, y'all. Bon appetit. Mmm. Let's might as well throw in a little French too

I'm going to fry you up some ice cream. Oh, Paula. That is out of this world delicious

This is so simple. All we have done is scooped out us balls of vanilla ice cream

We've got a little cubed cereal that I've crushed up, and we're going to just put enough in our bowl to coat our ice cream balls

We're going to get us some egg whites, and we just need four of these

If you would be doing this, I'm going to go to the freezer

Okay. And I'm going to get out the balls that we've got prepped

Perfect. Vanilla is so nice. But you know what? I eat a lot of sugar-free ice cream

And it's a way that I can enjoy that bowl of ice cream at night without feeling terribly guilty

So we're just going to beat this up. And we've got our fryer on like, gosh, close to 375

So we're just going to whisk these up, Patty. And then we're going to take our balls

We're going to run them through the egg white. I'll come help you. Okay

And then we're going to drop them in our crumbs. And if you want a really crispy one, y'all, do it twice

And then we're going to slip them back in the freezer for about two more hours

because just the little bit of handling we did with them, the warmth from our hands softens it

Now, I've got these that's been in the freezer for a couple of hours. They're ready to go, and we're just going to slowly lower these

Now, I'm going to do them all pretty quickly, honey, because we've got to eat at the same time

Now, we're not going to want to fry these for very long. So how long do you fry them for

Like one minute. One minute. You see that ice cream already starting to melt

I'm going to take those up, and I'm going to drop them over here

Now, the only thing left to do is to put them in a bowl

top them with cinnamon, honey, fresh cream, and a little mint. Bon appetit

Let's might as well throw in a little French, too. Do you love it

Mmm. Mmm. I love it, Paul. It's so crispy. And the ice cream is still frozen

Mm-hmm. Thank you, Patty. Ooh. You're precious. We send y'all best dishes, y'all, whether it's Mexican or Southern, from our hearts and kitchen to yours

To your kitchen. Best dishes, y'all. Ha-ha