-Feeling a little uninspired in the kitchen?

We've all been there, but I'm here to help...

Here we go.

...with three new recipes, each one inspired by my travels through the state of Sonora.

These are simple recipes that are sure to bring smiles to your kitchen table any night of the week.

First, I'm taking pescado zarandeado off the beach and straight into your oven... Look at how moist that is.

-Looks crazy good.

-...a hearty, flavor-packed gallina pinta stew...

It's a full meal in a bowl.

...and a new favorite in our family, dirty rice with clams.

This is the part that I love the most.

Ooh!

In Sonora, I'm visiting the popular beach destination Puerto Penasco, where some new chef friends are showing me what they love most about Sonora.

I'm learning so many new things today.

It's all super satisfying and super Sonoran.

-[ Singing in Spanish ] ♪ ♪ -"Pati's Mexican Table" is made possible by... ♪ -La Costeña.

♪ -♪ Avocados from Mexico ♪ -Fud brand meats -- traditional Mexican flavor.

-Stand Together -- helping every person rise.

More information at StandTogether.org.

-BanCoppel -- your recipe for sending money to Mexico.

-Mahatma rice lets you unite ingredients and flavors.

Mahatma rice unites.

-Divine Flavor.

♪ -Norson.

-Today, we're making three super-Sonoran dishes, but they're not just three dishes.

Each one of them is a meal in itself.

And we're gonna start with pescado zarandeado.

Pescado zarandeado is a fish that's typically brought in fresh from the sea.

It's like the catch of the day.

And it's very hard to make at home because you don't have the beach.

I don't have the zaranda, which is that flat iron grilling basket, which is where the name "pescado zarandeado" comes from.

But I've adapted the recipe so that you can make it in the oven.

Now, the pescado zarandeado experience is something that you get throughout Mexico's coasts, and there are different marinades.

I was really, really smitten with the marinades that they use in the coasts of Sonora.

So we're gonna start with two ripe tomatoes.

And then I'm gonna grab a whole head of garlic, four Anaheim chilies.

Add an onion to these.

What we're doing to these ingredients is I'm really trying to intensify the flavor so we get to that rustic feel of the pescado zarandeado at the beach.

So I'm gonna put these under the broiler.

Now we're gonna make the base of the marinade.

I'm adding 1/2 cup of freshly-squeezed lime juice, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 6 tablespoons of yellow mustard, and I have 1/4 cup of Mexican crema and 1/2 cup of mayo.

And this is something that really surprised me when I first traveled to the Sinaloa, Sonora region -- how much people love adding mayo and cheese to their seafood and fish dishes.

It's kind of crazy.

And in the beginning, I was surprised, and then I completely understood why -- because this creamy marinade, when you're broiling or grilling the fish, it makes it stay really, really moist.

♪ I am adding butter, 2 teaspoons of salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

♪ Oh, perfect, you guys.

By roasting, we're giving these ingredients no choice but to give us all that they've got.

So we're gonna take these chilies verdes, that you know as Anaheim.

And I'm gonna put them in this plastic bag to really make them sweat.

My mom usually grabs a kitchen towel to make them sweat even more, and these will take just a few minutes.

And then I'm adding all the onion.

I'm removing the peel from the roasted garlic.

I'm going to use this bowl that has a little bit of water.

And look at how easy this is.

Gonna coarsely chop and add to my blender.

♪ Look at this, you guys.

I mean, this is yummy.

Mmm!

The mustard, the soy, the lime, the mayo, the cream, it's already bringing me to, like, that seaside experience.

So, I'm gonna puree this until completely smooth.

♪ You may think this is a ton, which it is.

It's a ton of marinade.

But I am making a whole entire fish.

Mmm.

Mmm!

Mmm!

It's just like everything you want in a creamy dressing.

Now, this really makes me feel like I'm at the beach because I have a whole huachinango.

Here I'm using a whole red snapper.

This is about six to seven pounds.

Split it right in the middle.

I'm going to add a lot of this marinade.

I'm reserving, like, a third of it to coat a raw vegetable, kind of a slaw, that we're making.

You think that you're putting too much, you need to add a little bit more.

You really want this dish to be entirely coated.

This is a really creamy, mayo-heavy dish, but you're gonna see how delicious it gets.

So, I have my oven at 450.

And because I have a whole fish here, I think it's gonna be like 35 minutes.

♪ I'm gonna make vegetable slaw to dress the fish tacos with, and I'm going to use a yellow bell, a red bell, and a green bell.

I'm just gonna use half of an onion.

We're gonna use this creamy dressing with the raw vegetables.

It really tastes like a combination between your most favorite creamy Caesar and, like, a green goddess but even better.

♪ This is so delicious- and irresistible-looking.

You know that the fish is cooked if you can flake the meat.

Some scallions.

And I can add a little bit of cilantro, too.

And I have my corn tortillas.

You could do flour tortillas if you wanted to, but the zarandeado is traditionally eaten with corn tortillas.

Mmm!

-This looks crazy.

-Doesn't this look ridiculous?

-It's like a dinosaur.

-I know.

[ Chuckles ] Okay, so, look at how moist that is.

Is that ridiculous?

-Looks crazy good.

-Te gusta los pimientos?

You like the peppers?

-Mm-hmm.

-And then, wait for the hot sauce.

[ Inhales sharply ] -You want more, right?

-Yeah.

-You want a lot more.

-Yeah.

Okay.

Mmm.

-It's so good.

-Mmm.

It has so much flavor, but the fish has the opportunity to shine.

Like, it's moist, and you can taste the red snapper.

It has salsa inglesa.

-Oh, mustard, that's what I taste.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Yeah, mayo, mustard.

-It's super creamy.

-Mm.

-Definitely not spicy.

It's really savory.

-Mnh-mnh.

-So it is one super-Sonoran zarandeado fish.

-Right up at the top corner of the Sea of Cortez, you'll find one of the top tourist destinations of Sonora -- Puerto Penasco.

Once a sleepy fishing village, hotels now line the beach, and visitors come from all over Mexico and the U.S. For a truly local look at this seafood destination, some of the best chefs in town offered to give me a tour of the market.

♪ Whoa!

Okay.

That feeds your entire neighborhood.

Oh, this is gorgeous!

I love shrimp!

[ Men conversing in Spanish ] They're all saying, if you get this quality of gigantic shrimp, don't chop it.

Eat it whole.

My new chef friends and I are picking up ingredients for a feast, and from the looks of this market, it's going to be delicious.

All of these chefs are doing this get-together for themselves, what they like to eat, and I've been invited in, so I'm very excited 'cause I don't know what we're eating.

Okay.

It's the queen clam.

Salsa Mexicana, which is pico de gallo -- tomato, onion, cilantro.

Oh, so they need the shape like a Hershey's kiss.

Clam kiss.

-Clam kiss.

♪ -This is, like, a very unexpected combination.

Really so delicious -- creamy, juicy, chewy.

They all came to Puerto Penasco from different parts of Mexico.

So, what brought you here?

[ Speaks Spanish ] -Work.

-Work.

-[ Speaks Spanish ] [ Laughter ] -I love that.

He says it's an open space.

You can do new things here.

These chefs all work at different restaurants in town, and whenever they get together, they try to one-up each other with new recipes, all inspired by Sonoran ingredients.

-Totoaba.

Okay.

This is like the fish that has not only defined the region but why Puerto Penasco became Puerto Penasco in the first place, right?

Uh-huh.

Okay.

Okay.

♪ Mmm!

[ Men conversing in Spanish ] Mm-hmm.

Mmm!

A little bit like swordfish, a little bit like tuna.

Very firm and very meaty.

-Si.

-Okay.

People love clam.

Mm-hmm.

My forest.

[ Both laugh ] ♪ Mmm!

The shrimp, you know what it feels and tastes like?

It's like a shrimp pâté.

You guys eat really well when you get together.

I hope we repeat it again.

♪ -Now we're gonna make another super-Sonoran dish, which is called gallina pinta.

Gallina pinta translates to "multi-colored speckled hen."

And I just find the name adorable.

And it's an incredibly hearty stew.

So we have a whole chicken cut up into individual pieces, we have a bunch of fresh cilantro with the leaves and the stems.

I have four cloves of garlic that I peeled.

And then I'm gonna add the biggest of the chili verde.

In a normal caldo de pollo in the central part of Mexico, Mexico City, the chicken is cooked with onion, carrots, garlics, bay leaves.

Then here comes the gallina pinto, and this has just these very few ingredients.

And I used to think that because it has fewer ingredients than my regular caldo de pollo, that it would be less flavorful.

But I was wrong, wrong, wrong, because this is so incredibly flavorful in a very different way.

A lesson learned -- fewer ingredients doesn't mean less taste.

So I'm adding 2 teaspoons of salt.

Once the water starts to boil, if you see that there's any foam on the surface, you can remove it.

Once it comes to a strong simmer, I'm gonna cover it partially, and I'm gonna let this cook at medium heat for about an hour.

After the meat is cooked, cooks will take all those vegetables and puree them and then add them back to the broth to make the broth much more flavorful.

But what I do to mine is that I mirror those ingredients that went into the caldo de pollo, and I roast them, and I make a seasoning sauce for it.

So, in a way, I'm transforming what would be a white pozole into a green pozole, and I love the results.

I'm gonna grab another Anaheim.

I'm gonna put these under the broiler so that they really char.

The gallina pinta has three basic things.

It has the chicken that's cooking here.

Then it has hominy that has been soaked and then cooked until the hominy blooms.

And this is the only pozole-style stew that also combines the hominy with pinto beans.

♪ My Anaheim has sweated.

Remove the skin.

♪ Add the charred onion, the garlic cloves.

I'm adding more cilantro.

I'm just breaking it in here.

So it's been about an hour.

You can see how the broth has a really light color.

Mmm!

It's, like, grassy and floral and just like a very fresh chicken broth.

I'm gonna let the chicken cool before I shred it.

I'm just gonna strain the broth in here.

I'm adding a cup of the broth.

I'm gonna puree this until completely smooth.

[ Blender whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] This is why I decided to make this extra step, because remember we have this chicken broth that already has this really nice taste?

Well, now we're going to intensify it by adding this roasted seasoning sauce.

And then you need like 1/2 pound of hominy.

And then I'm adding some of the hominy broth.

And then I'm adding 1/2 pound of pinto beans that we cooked with a white onion.

Adding about a cup of the pinto bean broth.

We're gonna bring this back to a simmer as I shred the chicken pieces.

You're gonna remove the skin and the bones.

Whenever I see boiled chicken, it makes me think about my father, because it's one of his favorite things to eat, and he used to eat it with crackers on the side.

It needs to cook for like 8 to 10 more minutes so that all of the flavors here really come together.

♪ You know, chiltepin chilies really have everything that a chili wants to have.

It has spicy heat, it has the personality, 'cause they're adorable and cute, but it really has a strong taste.

And you need to use very little to get a lot from it.

♪ How cute.

♪ [ Blows ] Mmm.

I get the chewy sweet bite from the hominy and then that earthy creaminess from the pintos, then the chiltepin combined with the lime juice.

And the broth, it's, like, very hearty.

I was gonna say a one-pot meal, but you needed to use many pots.

But it is the perfect one-bowl meal.

Mmm.

So, in thinking about all these super-Sonoran dishes and flavors, this is one that has become a family favorite.

It's a dirty rice with clams, and the rice cooks in the seasonings of Sonora and then something very surprising that people don't generally think about when they think of Sonora -- clams.

Sonorans love their shellfish.

I have a pot here that I have over medium to medium-high heat.

And I'm going to add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of butter because I'm adding leeks and onion to my vegetable base, and they love the company of butter.

Now, you really want to finely chop these vegetables because we're gonna cook them until softened.

Then we're gonna add a seasoning sauce, and then we're gonna cook the clams in here.

And all of that is gonna become the seasoning broth for the rice, and we don't want it overly chunky.

We want the vegetables to be really, really, really fine.

So I have about a cup of onion.

[ Sizzling ] A cup of leeks, a cup of red bell pepper.

Okay, maybe a little bit more.

And then a cup of carrots.

As these vegetables soften, I'm gonna make my seasoning sauce.

So I have about a pound of really ripe Roma tomatoes, and I have a couple of garlic cloves, and I covered it with water and cooked for about 10 minutes.

And then, I have the two Colorado chilies that re-hydrated.

The Colorado chili is used in so many things in Sonora, so when I think of super Sonoran, I think of the green chili, of course, but of it's dried version, the Colorado chili, even more.

I'm gonna add about a cup of the cooking liquid, then a generous teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of dried oregano, and then 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin, which is also very much used in Sonora.

This is really, like, such a basic seasoning mix for Sonorans.

So we're gonna puree these until completely smooth.

Here we go.

[ Blender whirring ] ♪ [ Whirring stops ] Now, I'm gonna add 2/3 cup of white wine.

If you don't want to use wine, you could also use beer.

1/2 teaspoon of salt.

And I just want to wait until there's moist vegetable mixture but not a wet vegetable mixture, which is about to happen.

I want all of the sauce.

You'll want all of the sauce, too.

I have five dozen little neck clams, which I love for many reasons -- because you can find them year-round, and you can find them in many places, and because they have a lot of briny, salty taste, and we love briny, salty taste in this house.

These clams, as they cook, their liquid and their juices are gonna come out and mix with the sauce and the softened vegetables.

I'm gonna let it sit at medium heat, and I'm gonna cover them.

They're gonna cook here for about seven to eight minutes, just until the clams open.

The clams have opened up and beautifully -- beautifully.

And it smells delicious.

You can see some of the clams started to come out of the shells, and all of those are gonna cook in the rice.

So what I want to do right now is shell like two-thirds of the clams.

Think of, like, a Mexican-style clam paella of sorts, with the flavors from Sonora.

That's what we have going on here.

I'm gonna turn the heat over to medium-high heat, and I'm going to add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

And then we're gonna do the traditional Mexican cooking technique of frying the rice in a little bit of oil before adding the cooking liquid.

So I have extra-long white rice, and I'm gonna measure about 2 cups.

We're looking for the three things that are going to let us know when it is time to add the liquid.

And that is the looks.

The rice color should have changed to a milky white.

Then the sound.

It should sound heavier, as if you were playing with sand.

And then resistance.

Like, it should be -- it should feel heavier.

Okay, so now the rice is ready.

I'm going to add 4 cups of this incredibly delicious cooking broth.

I'm going to add a cup of water because you need a little bit more liquid for this rice, because it has the clams.

And then, we're adding the clams that we shelled and the rest of the clams.

If you get clams that don't want to open, you need to discard them.

Reduce the heat to low.

These are gonna cook so fast.

It's really gonna take like 10 minutes.

Ooh!

Bring some plates.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

What do you think about having to shell the clams?

-I don't mind it.

I mean, I enjoy it more when I have to work for it, you know?

-Yeah.

I'm with you.

-It's, like, you enjoy the work.

Obviously, it's more if you're, like, actually cooking it, but... -Yeah.

[ Blows ] It's not caliente?

-Mm.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, this is really good.

-Mmm.

Mmm!

-It tastes, like, very -- not, like fishy, but it tastes like a shellfish dish.

-Mm-hmm.

-But it also just has, like, so many different things in it, it almost becomes a little sweet, you know?

-Mm-hmm.

Mm.

What you're saying I think describes the main base of the dish, which is the chili Colorado.

You get the briny from the clams, but, overall, it's like the briny clams are sitting on these chili Colorado seasoning.

-Yeah.

I mean, it definitely has a unique flavor, I think.

-So you're closing the super-Sonoran day with me.

-[ Chuckles ] -Mm.

♪ For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit PatiJinich.com.

And connect!

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

♪ -La Costeña.

♪ -♪ Avocados from Mexico ♪ -Fud brand cheese -- traditional Mexican flavor.

-Stand Together -- helping every person rise.

More information at StandTogether.org.

-BanCoppel -- your recipe for sending money to Mexico.

-Mahatma rice lets you unite ingredients and flavors.

Mahatma rice unites.

-Divine Flavor.

♪ -Norson.

-Proud to support "Pati's Mexican Table" on public television.