>> Pati Narrates: Mexico's Baja Peninsula.

800 miles of beautiful scenery.

You know about the incredible beaches.

The border culture in Tijuana.

Vacation paradise in Los Cabos!

But have you heard of wine country?

Valle de Guadalupe, the heart of Baja's wine industry.

One of Mexico's most up-and-coming tourist destinations, and for a good reason!

Inventive new hotels, exciting new wineries and a thriving food scene.

The meat is just insane!

In my kitchen, my take on that Baja wine region experience.

A Slow-roasted Adobo Ajo Comino Chicken.

An Arugula and Avocado Salad with Chunky Date and Walnut Vinaigrette.

And for dessert, a sweet and tangy Mango-lime Tart.

It's so delightful!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Today we're gonna talk about Mexico's wine, and when I think of the thriving Mexican wine country in the Baja Peninsula, my mind just goes to all the earthy flavors that I tasted there.

So I wanna make an Ajo Comino Chicken.

We're gonna make the adobo for the chicken, and I think that this adobo, the ajo comino adobo, is one of the simplest that you find in Mexico.

I have here 4 ancho chiles, and I'll drop them right here in the sauce pan, and I'll combine them with these chipotle morita chiles.

Then I'm gonna cover them with water, bring this to a simmer and cook these for 10 - 11 minutes just until the chiles rehydrate and plump up.

So I have a 4 pound chicken, and it's whole because I'm so excited to show you how to cut up a chicken!

You're paying almost double when you buy an already cut up chicken, and you will feel so resourceful and empowered in your own kitchen, so I'm gonna teach you.

Cut through the skin, here's a chicken thigh, and then you'll just follow the lead of the chicken, because the chicken is gonna show you the way, see?

You need to find the fat lines, which is telling you where you need to cut.

You'll crack that bone.

That is exactly where you need to cut!

How simple was that?

Now we're gonna go with the wings.

You feel where the bone ridges are, and that's where you're gonna go in with a knife.

Cutting chickens is a big deal in my family because the one thing my grandmother taught my mom was to find, kill, pluck and clean a chicken because as a survivor of the Second World War, she thought it was necessary for my mom to know how to survive.

So she taught my mom and I learned from my mom.

So this is the other beautiful chicken wing.

Now I just need to separate the breast from the backbone with kitchen shears, and save that back bone to make a delicious chicken stock.

You have the whole chicken breast, and we wanna cut these in two.

You're gonna find this bone right here.

Tap it with your knife a little to make a dent.

Go to the other side, press on it.

Okay, so now the bone cracks right in the middle, and then you can simply just cut through it.

We already have the thighs with the drumstick, but I wanna cut that into individual pieces too.

I need to wash my hands, and then continue making the ajo comino adobo.

Here I have my chiles that have rehydrated.

A 1/2 cup of that cooking liquid which we love, look at the color.

1/3 cup of olive oil, and this is why ajo comino has that name, because this adobo has a load of garlic and cumin, not ground cumin but cumin seeds.

So I'm adding 15 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds and 2 teaspoons of salt.

Puree this until completely smooth.

That smells delicious 'cause it smells like garlic, cumin and dried chiles which I love.

Making this reminds me of some Sundays growing up in Mexico when I was a little girl 'cause when my mom didn't want to cook, which was usually on Sundays, we would go to this rotisserie chicken chain, and they had two kinds of chicken.

One which was a traditional rotisserie chicken, and the other kind was the adobo chicken which of course was the most fun to get.

I'm gonna add some oil to my baking sheet and rub the adobo all over the chicken pieces 'cause we want the adobo to be everywhere.

We're putting it skin side down.

We want that skin to get a nice char on the bottom first, and then to get a really nice roast on top.

I have my oven at 450 degrees, and I'll roast my chicken in there for 15 minutes.

Pati: Mexico's Baja Peninsula has so much to offer.

Beautiful beaches, adventure, long stretches of open road with incredible scenery, an embarrassment of riches.

Add one destination to the list: wine country.

About an hour and a half South of Tijuana, you'll find Valle de Guadalupe, the breathtaking backdrop for Mexico's up-and-coming wine scene.

There are over 100 wineries here each with their own unique take on the experience.

and one of the wineries that started it all is Monte Xanic.

Hans Backhoff continues the Mexican wine revolution started by his father.

So I've been dying to come to Monte Xanic for so many years.

I want to know how wine got to this region and why it's so big just now.

>> Everything started with the Spanish invasion in Mexico.

They started developing all the missions - >> Right, but they needed wine!

>> Exactly.

It wasn't until the mid-1900s that they started producing wine on a larger scale.

At the end of the 80s, Monte Xanic was born, it was Monte Xanic that started the revolution in premium wines in Mexico.

30 years ago nobody came here.

>> Right, you were drinking wine by yourself (laughs) >> Yes!

The tasting rooms were free, I'd just have people come in, and people are coming for the experience.

>> Pati: Valle de Guadalupe is booming right now.

To keep up with the demand, wineries here are thinking outside the box offering innovative new lodging experiences.

Some hotels seem to hang on the cliffs while others offer a more an outdoorsy experience.

All this is new.

>> We were probably below 6 wineries at the end of the 1980s, and now we're more than 150 wineries in the region.

>> That's incredible.

Has it been a struggle to tell people you can eat fabulous Mexican food with wine?

>> At the beginning I think it was a challenge.

If you think about it, it makes sense.

You're talking about a mole, just imagine having a sparkling wine with it which has a nice acidity, maybe helps with that creamy texture to break it a bit, it just makes sense.

>> He's really good.

You're making me hungry.

(laughs) Pati: As if I needed anymore convincing, Hans has invited me to a traditional harvest feast prepared by his mom Leti.

Mmm!

Mhmm.

>> Hans salud!

Salud Isabella!

>> Ooh wow.

>> It's a wine that really expresses the best of Mexico.

So you get that nice fresh acidity combined with the tannins which is present but not dominating.

>> Thank you for opening your doors and sharing your beautiful wines!

>> Cheers!

>> Salud.

>> Salud!

>> So after 15 minutes I'm reducing the heat to 375 degrees and flipping the chicken pieces, and you can see how, oh!

The adobo is starting to brown.

I'm just gonna pour a cup of chicken broth on the bottom of the baking sheet and place it back in anywhere from 45 - 50 minutes until there's barely any clear juices coming out of the chicken if you poke it with a knife.

To compliment that chicken I want something bright and light, so I'm making a Mango-Lime Tart.

First I'll make the crust, and I have here 1.5 cups of crumbled until very fine Maria Cookies - you know the Maria Cookies, and if you don't find them, you can use graham crackers.

A 1/2 cup of unsalted butter that I already melted, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt to balance all the flavors and make the sweet shine even more, and then we're just gonna mix this.

It looks a little dry now, but once I turn it onto the tart pan you'll see it's not so dry.

It's gonna harden when I bake it in the oven now, but when you bite it, it breaks into tiny little crumbles and will have this soft creamy tart on top, so the combination is gonna be really delightful.

I'll put it in the oven which is at 350 degrees anywhere from 10 - 12 minutes, until it starts to brown on top.

Now I'm gonna make the tart filling.

It's gonna have mango, and this is my favorite kind.

These mangoes are called "ataulfo " in Mexico, but they also go by champagne or sweet mangoes.

I love these mangoes because they're not fibrous at all, they're much meatier and for some reason I feel like the contrast between tart and sweet that the mango inherently has gets even stronger in these mangoes.

Gorgeous!

You don't wanna just cut the cheeks and throw away the pit, look at what you would be wasting!

I need about 1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice.

Then the tart of the mango will go "mmm" with the tart lime, and we're pureeing it together.

(blender whirs) Now I'll go get my crust and let it cool.

It smells like dessert already.

It smells so delicious, buttery, like Maria Cookies!

Now I'm adding a can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/4 cup of sugar, 3 egg yolks which will make it even more creamy, and then we'll puree this until completely smooth.

(blender whirs) And this is my tart filling which was so easy to do!

Look at the color, it is so happy.

Now spreading it a little, and then I'll put it back in the oven, which is still at 350 degrees, anywhere from 25 - 30 minutes just until it sets.

I am going to make the most delicious and tropical coconut whipped cream to top that mango-lime tart, it'll be such a delicious combination!

I have 1/4 cup of cream of coconut, and I'm gonna temper it with a couple tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, and I want to do this as a first step because I don't want the whipped cream to have clumps of the cream of coconut.

What the cream of coconut will do to that whipped cream is not only give it a delicious tropical beachy taste, but it will also stabilize the whipped cream.

I'll add the rest of the whipped cream, and I'll use a hand mixer to whip it until it holds nice, steady stiff peaks.

I'm giving it all the speed it's got.

Let's see - I think that's good!

See it's holding its peaks.

Now I'll put it in the fridge so it stays nice and cold.

My tart has been in the oven for 20 minutes, so I'll take it out so it can cool a little, then it'll go in the fridge for about an hour so it can be nice and chilled.

>> Pati: There's something exciting going on here in the Valle de Guadalupe.

Food and wine.

Land and sea.

Tradition and innovation all working together, creating magic.

This energy is attracting some of the brightest chefs from the best restaurants in the world.

Rising star Chef David Castro is a local boy who has worked with renowned chefs in Mexico, Denmark and New York, but was drawn back home to create something new.

We're here at Bruma which is one of the most up-and-coming wineries in the Guadalupe Valley, and I'm here with Chef David.

Everybody's now hearing "Oh, the Guadalupe Valley!

The wines!"

And I'm just thinking "The food, food!"

That's one piece of meat!

>> That's one piece of meat.

So this comes from Mexicali.

We get the whole rack, then we dry it here in house for 5 weeks.

>> Pati: Once the Tomahawk steak is cut, David prepares it simply with salt.

>> And then we can take it to the grill outside.

>> Not a bad place to cook.

>> Yeah, it's not bad.

>> This is so privileged!

But this is not just another pretty view.

The Guadalupe Valley provides the grapes to make the world class wines, and the vegetables that we'll eat with that amazing Tomahawk steak.

I'm a fan of The Flintstones, did you ever watch that?

>> Of course!

>> I feel like I'm right there.

>> So we're gonna remove the bone, slice our meat.

>> Okay.

Can I - >> Yes!

>> Mmm!

David uses his fine dining skills to craft some very Mexican accompaniments for the steak.

Grilled fennel bulb sits on a puree of pumpkin seeds and garden greens.

Charred cabbage is served with a mole created with chilhuacle chiles and cabbage puree.

Add some refried beans and you have the components for a very refined carne asada.

>> Mmm, mmm!

The meat is just insane.

You're so confident about your food and it's because it's so good!

You should be so proud!

You're creating something new, and if a cuisine is not updated, freshened up or new things aren't added, then the cuisine gets stale so I think you're doing it with a lot of respect and innovation so you're expanding.

>> To innovate, you need to respect and know about the product, and at the end it's something the guests will enjoy and hopefully remember for a lifetime.

Salud.

>> Thank you so much!

Thank you for your time.

>> Thank you.

>> You know what there's a lot of in the Baja Peninsula?

Dates and nuts and olive oil, so I thought of pairing all those together to make a delicious salad and I succeeded in something I found really yummy so I want to share it with you.

We'll start in a different way with this vinaigrette, I'll heat 1/2 a cup of olive oil, just 1/4 cup of vegetable oil because I don't want the vinaigrette to have an overpowering taste from the olive oil, 6 garlic cloves with the skin on that will slowly cook, toast and soften in the oil.

Then I'll add some chiles de arbol.

We'll let the garlic and chiles cook in here between 8 - 10 minutes until the chiles de arbol have toasted and the garlic has browned.

I have my pan here over low heat, it's pre-heated and I'll add 2/3 cups of walnuts.

I find toasting the walnuts makes them crunchier and it just boosts their flavor.

I'll dice my dates.

It is a very Mediterranean inspired salad but Mex-Med, you know?

The walnuts are nice and toasted, and we didn't let them burn.

Coarsely chop them 'cause I wanna bite on those chunks.

The garlic is now soft and the chiles are toasted so I'll remove this from the heat.

First of all, I'll add a couple sprigs of fresh oregano.

Their flavor will release in the oil and they'll cook.

I'm removing the garlic cloves so I can peel their skin off.

We'll add everything else right here in the blender jar, and I'll add 1/3 cup of sherry vinegar which is more bold than your typical wine vinegar.

Just 1/4 teaspoon of dijon mustard.

We'll add everything that was in here.

1 teaspoon of salt.

Then I'll peel these garlic cloves that already cooked in the oil, and you can see how they softened.

It's incredible how much the garlic can change when you roast it like this, its sweetness comes out.

It's sort of a wild vinaigrette but a super yummy one, very unconventional.

Here we go.

(blender whirs) So I'll pour all the vinaigrette in here because we're using it all.

I'm adding the chopped walnuts and dates.

You could make your vinaigrette ahead of time, and what'll happen is the dates and walnuts will get irresistibly chewy, but it's also delicious like this.

I'll add arugula, a diced avocado, mmm, mmm.

And some queso fresco.

It's been about 45 minutes and my chicken must be ready, so I'm gonna take it out of the oven.

Smells so delicious!

This is my ajo comino, and it can be yours too when you make it at home.

I'm gonna build my plate.

You're gonna taste with me, okay?

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

It's the perfect adobo rotisserie chicken.

So think about the rotisserie chicken you love the most and add a layer of Mexican chile seasoning, that's what you have here.

Mmm.

It's creamy, the dates give it that nice sweetness, the crunch of the walnut, it is like the perfect dinner combination.

Some of the elements I have here were exactly like those meals we used to have.

We used to buy everything, get home, put the rotisserie chicken in the middle of the table and everybody just dove right in.

Cut the pieces of chicken, avocado.

You want a lot of pickled jalapeños, as many potato chips as you can fit in there.

This was our Sunday dinner when I was Juju's age.

Mmm.

Mhmm!

So delicious.

This is what you do - you make your ajo comino chicken, you make the salad, you make enough chicken to have leftovers, you eat it for lunch, or the next day you make these tacos.

But if you're me, you make the tacos right away.

So the tart and cream are both chilled.

I'm gonna add the coconut whipped cream right on top, and these colors are making me so happy!

Look how gorgeous this is.

Mmm!

Mmm!

It is so light and refreshing.

This whole meal is my take on my experiences in Mexico's wine country, and Mexican food just never ceases to amaze me.

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

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