>> Pati Narrates: My travels in the Baja Peninsula have been a series of exciting adventures and memorable firsts.

Four-wheeling.

Swimming with whale sharks.

New food experiences.

Woah!

Mmm.

I'm dying.

And today, two more firsts for me.

I've never seen them, like, in their habitat!

Sea urchins right from the beach.

And deep sea fishing.

First of all, you have to teach me how to fish 'cause I'm clueless.

We're in Los Cabos, one of the greatest fishing destinations in Mexico.

I'm very antsy, I don't know if fishing is for me.

In my kitchen, I'm a little better with the whole patience thing.

Risotto is all about timing.

I'm making a velvety, creamy, sweet and spicy Butternut Squash Risotto.

And inspired by that fishing adventure, a tender Flounder covered with a Crunchy Guajillo, Almond and Garlic Topping.

And for a sweet and smooth ending, Chocolate Jericalla with a Blackberry Coulis.

Mmm!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Pati: If you've been to the Baja Peninsula, or even if you've thought of going, chances are you've heard of Los Cabos.

All the way down at the bottom of the Peninsula, Los Cabos is one of Mexico's most popular destinations, and why not?

It's easy to get to, it's got the all-inclusive and luxury resorts we all love, and just look at the beauty of the deep blue bay!

One of the big draws here is fishing.

How would you describe the fishing here?

>> I compare a little bit with the South of Italy for example because South of Italy is a lot of tuna, and here it's a lot of tuna as well.

You don't need sometimes to go very deep in the sea because they come very close to the coast.

>> Port Baja makes it easy!

>> Yeah.

>> Pati: I'm spending the day with Guillermo Gomez, an executive chef in Los Cabos to get the full Cabo experience.

I've seen photos of Cabo in the 1960s and there's barely anything.

>> Yes, it was only the beach, a few palapas.

>> Like a little - yeah!

The evolution into the Cabo you see today really started in the 60s when a small group of wealthy Americans started coming for the Marlin fishing.

Word spread that Cabo was home to some of the best sport fishing in North America, hotels, restaurants and mega resorts followed.

So what are we hoping to find today?

First of all you have to teach me how to fish 'cause I'm clueless.

Right over your hip?

Oh I see, okay.

>> (Pati laughs) I'm gonna fall in the water.

What's your favorite fresh fish preparation?

>> The top seller dish is Corvina, a familiar fish, and we do it in salt crust.

We put some orange and lemon slices, and then we do the salt, but we leave two parts of the fish open so you can get a little bit of the salt inside.

>> We better catch some fish 'cause I wanna try that!

>> Oh definitely yes.

>> Oh wait, did we catch something?

>> No, it's our fish.

>> I'm very antsy, I don't know if fishing is for me.

>> Cara is the producer, and Cara doesn't do really well on boats.

>> No.

>> How are you doing Cara?

>> You know what really doesn't help motion sickness?

>> Yeah?

>> Talking about it.

>> I know!

(laughs) >> So you feel a little bit sick now - >> Yeah.

>> Then you get off the boat you feel - you did it!

Yay, yay!

(Pati gasps) Wow!

>> Very good looking.

>> Wow, yeah!

Super nice catch.

>> Lunch!

(laughs) >> Yay!

That was pretty amazing.

>> In a little bit I'm gonna make a super simple and tasty flounder inspired by that fishing trip in Cabo, and to go with that, a creamy, rich, to die for risotto.

But first, my sweet tooth is feeling a little left out.

I have a dessert that goes with absolutely everything!

It is creamy, rich, so chocolatey, and it is also very light, and it is called Jericalla.

Jericalla is like a cross between a flan and a light custard.

It's a very popular dessert that you find mostly in Jalisco, in Mexico, but its popularity has spread everywhere, and you know where you can find fabulous jericalla?

You won't believe this.

In gas stations.

I know, it's crazy, I know, but in Mexican gas stations you find a lot of really good stuff.

You can find them in all flavors, mostly vanilla or cinnamon, but at home here we are super chocoholics, so I wanted to make a jericalla that is very chocolatey so that is what we're gonna do.

I have 8-ounces of chocolate.

I have a double boiler with water under here that's simmering over medium heat, so I'm just adding the chocolate in there.

This dessert goes with absolutely everything because it is just very light and refreshing, and even though it's creamy and yolk based it's just smooth and a really nice refreshing ending to any meal.

Then I have 5 cups of milk.

I'll add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.

I have a stick of canela, or true cinnamon, and I'll let this come to a gentle simmer.

Meanwhile I'll start making my custard base which has 9 egg yolks, 1 cup of sugar, pinch of salt.

So you need to whisk this for "60 Mississippis".

As I tell my boys, you can also whisk it for "60 Popocatepetls", which is a famous volcano near my hometown in Mexico City.

Both Mississippi and Popocatepetl are beautiful words.

The chocolate is completely melted.

My milk is also ready, and you can see how it created that thin film on top.

Now I turn off the heat, I'll let it cool a little, and now we have the 3 things that we prepared very simply that now just need to come together.

We have here the egg yolks that need to be combined with the melted chocolate, and the melted chocolate is still a little hot, so we need to add it very slowly so as to temper my egg yolk mixture.

This dessert makes me think of deep Mexican culinary traditions because you know Mexicans, we love our chocolate, and chocolate originated in Mexico, you're welcome world.

You can see how thick it is now, but we're gonna make it light again.

Remove the cinnamon sticks from the milk, and then again, really slowly, I'm gonna temper again my egg yolk chocolate mixture.

You know what it smells like?

Chocolate Caliente, like Mexican hot chocolate, and the amazing thing is that we're gonna end up with a creamy custard dessert that tastes like Mexican hot chocolate.

The jericallas are not going to fluff up, so you can fill the ramekins almost to the top.

Just gonna pour enough water to get half way up the height of the ramekins, and what this does is help the jericallas cook with even temperature and humidity.

I have my oven at 350 degrees and I'll cook my jericallas for 40 minutes.

With this chocolate jericalla, I wanted to make something bright and a little bit acidic to top, so I'm gonna make a blackberry coulis.

I have 2 cups of blackberries, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 10 leaves of this mint which comes from my garden, and then we'll just puree this until completely smooth.

(blender whirs) So now I'm gonna strain into the bowl to have a super smooth blackberry coulis that doesn't have all the blackberry seeds because the jericalla is so creamy, light and smooth, I want a topping that is just as soft and delicate.

Now I'm going to squeeze just a teaspoon of lime juice to give it just a little more acidity.

Mmm.

Perfect.

So my blackberry coulis is ready, I'll put it in the fridge so it's nice and chilled to serve on top of my jericalla.

>> Pati: I'm spending a day in Los Cabos with Guillermo Gomez.

Our patience out at sea paid off, and to the delight of our seasick producer Cara, we're back on land heading to cook our catch of the day.

But our adventure isn't over yet.

Woah!

>> So it's full of sea urchins.

>> (Pati gasps) >> But (laughs) - >> I've never seen them in their habitat!

I'm so excited right now, I'm so excited!

(Pati laughs) Sea urchins are one of the world's most exquisite delicacies, and we're surrounded by them!

>> They filter the water, so sometimes they push the water out.

They have a nice mineral taste.

>> You don't want to step on any of these, you just want to eat many of these.

(laughs) >> We're going to put the whole fish over the rocks that we were heating with some charcoal.

We will make a little seasoning on the fire, leeks, lemongrass.

>> All these come from your gardens.

>> Exactly.

We are on the beach, we are cooking very rustic.

>> But I love rustic!

>> We'll put some leeks.

Put a little salt in the middle.

>> Okay.

>> And then we put some lemongrass and also some citrus.

>> So an orange, a lemon.

>> Okay!

>> Super.

>> We leave it in there.

So now I'll take the sea urchins, open them here.

>> You're going around?

>> Exactly.

Now we make sure we take all the sand out.

>> So you only eat the yellow?

>> Exactly, the eggs.

>> Okay, this one goes with a little bit of - >> Lemon.

Salt.

>> Mmm.

>> Nice flavor.

>> You know what it reminds me of a bit?

Like the aftertaste of chicken liver, or foie gras but with the sea taste.

>> Yeah.

Okay, so now some tacos?

>> Yeah!

>> I have little toppings for the tacos, so we have the beach braised vegetables.

The parsnip, carrot, leeks also.

>> The edible plate is ready.

Oh no!

How moist.

>> A little bit of carrot.

This is a salsa macha.

>> Okay.

>> Mmm.

Mmm!

It's just all the different pieces but of the same group of flavors.

The fish is just again so fresh.

>> You taste also the citrus that we put inside, and that was helping a lot.

>> Totally Baja.

>> My chocolate jericallas are ready, and this is how you know that they're ready.

So you see the top is set, but when I go like that, they jiggle a little.

They are most delicious when chilled, so I'll let them cool, and then put them in the fridge.

I'm making a Butternut Squash and Chipotle Risotto.

Creamy, sweet, spicy, irresistible.

I already cut most of a 2 - 3 pound butternut squash into a 1/4 inch dice, they don't have to be perfect.

I'm gonna add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt.

1 teaspoon of chipotle chile powder, and this is very different from just chile powder.

Chile powder has no personality!

Who knows what chiles they throw in that generic chile powder?

I'm gonna roast the squash because I want it to cook intensely under the heat so it gets really soft, because I want the squash to make my risotto even creamier.

I have the oven at 400 degrees and I'm gonna roast it for 20 - 25 minutes.

For my risotto base, I'll combine some leeks and some white onion.

Before I chop I can start heating my oil.

So that was 1/4 cup of olive oil, and it'll start to heat.

1.5 cups of finely chopped white onion.

I have 1/2 a leek here.

I think sometimes people don't know what to do with leeks.

You can use them with onions or instead of onions.

So this makes about 1.5 cups.

1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

1/2 a cup of water, because by adding the water, they're gonna soften even more.

Now all the water has evaporated, and come 'cause you can see the oil glistening in the bottom of the pan and all around the vegetables, and that's what you want.

Risotto is all about timing, and dancing with the different ingredients.

I want these vegetables to be a velvety, silky base that will blend into the risotto and make it even creamier.

Risotto is all about making it creamy.

Now I want my 2 cups of arborio rice that I have here to get coated in that now vegetable flavored oil.

What this is gonna do is cover the rice kernels with that tasty oil, and that will give them a protective layer that will help them absorb the liquid slowly so they retain not only their shape and form, but also their flavor.

Now I need to add 1 cup of wine, and I'm adding a cup of dry white wine.

We wanna balance the acidity of the wine with the starchiness of the rice.

I'm gonna keep on cooking for another minute until the wine evaporates.

I'm gonna check my butternut squash.

And look at the color!

I mean, I could eat these like this, guess where?

In a tortilla.

So I now need to start adding my chicken broth and my butternut squash in batches.

I'm adding some now with the broth so it cooks along with the risotto and becomes even creamier, and then I'm gonna add some near the end so I also have nice bites of that butternut squash.

You need to add the broth which should be hot and simmering to the risotto a couple ladles at a time, 'cause you want the broth to be absorbed by the rice very slowly so the rice absorbs the broth at the same time as the rice releases its starch, which is what makes the risotto creamy.

The risotto, to be an incredible al dente but creamy risotto, needs to have these steps.

So when you finish cooking risotto, you always need to add something that's creamy and buttery to make it even more creamy and buttery, so aside from adding some butter, I'll mix 1 cup of mascarpone.

So this risotto is not gonna be creamy, it's gonna be ridiculously creamy.

1 tablespoon of maple syrup which will enhance the sweetness from the butternut squash, 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce from the chipotles in adobo sauce.

This chipotle is very different from the ground, dried chipotle we added to the butternut squash.

It is sweeter, it has a lot of tomato flavor in it and more spices.

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Smooth, creamy and not spicy, just with a little hint of the chipotle, and that maple syrup and yum!

I'll reduce the heat and keep an eye on the risotto.

My chocolate jericallas have cooled, and now I'll put them in the fridge.

I couldn't put them in the refrigerator right away because if you put hot stuff in your refrigerator, it raises the temperature of everything else in the fridge, and you don't want your food to ruin.

And to go with my creamy risotto, I'm making an Almond, Guajillo and Garlic Flounder.

So I have my skillet, which is non-stick, at medium-high heat, and I'll add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and I'll season my flounder with a little bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Then what this fish will go with, 2 guajillo chiles.

Because these guajillo chiles weren't toasted or rehydrated, they're just easier to cut with scissors.

I think that's good.

The flounder is very delicate, so you only need to cook it for 1 - 2 minutes per side, and on the second side, even less time than the first side.

I love the flounder because it's light and flakey.

And then to that oil and butter, 15 garlic cloves, and the guajillo chiles which are now going to fry a little and rehydrate in the oil.

1/3 cup of slivered almonds.

You can see how the guajillo chiles are toasting.

And this goes right on top of the fish.

My risotto looks ready.

Now is the moment when you turn it off!

And then I'll chop some epazote.

And some cilantro.

The lime is for my fish because you must, must, must squeeze fresh lime juice on this fish.

Then I'm gonna finish my risotto.

2 tablespoons of butter.

Ah, the butter is loving that butternut squash, and then the creamy mascarpone.

How creamy is this gonna be?

Beyond creamy.

But the rice is al dente, so you get the creamy and the al dente, which is what you wanna get with risotto.

1/2 a cup of grated cotija cheese just to garnish because it's gonna be beautiful and even more tasty.

The epazote and cilantro that I just chopped.

Mmm, mmm!

The fish is so light, I'm crunching into the garlic, almonds and guajillo at the same time, and it is just fantastic.

You see the color of the risotto with the butternut squash.

Mmm.

It's just so creamy and delicious!

And it has even more sweetness, but in a savory way because of the spiced up butternut squash.

Really happy with how this is playing together!

This is like a sophisticated, beautiful version of Mexican food, which is what you find in Los Cabos.

So my jericalla has chilled, and I'm gonna add some of the blackberry coulis on top.

A few blackberries.

A few mint leaves.

So pretty!

And now we're gonna eat all that pretty.

Ooh, so soft.

Mmm.

I can taste the strong flavor of chocolate, the high acidic notes of the blackberry, but it's surprisingly light so it's a delicious contrast.

A really fabulous meal that reminds me of the sophistication that I found in the Cabo area, and the sophistication paired with incredible taste.

>> Pati Narrates: For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit PatiJinich.com, and connect!

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest @PatiJinich.