- [Sara] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by USA Rice, and by- - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was started when I was a child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta, and now I transmit it to all the guests.

It's something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(light music) ♪ Inside out ♪ Got it figured out ♪ I'm feeling good ♪ And it feels good to feel good ♪ - [Announcer] Sunsweet Amazin Prunes and Prune Juice.

(upbeat music) - Come on down to my taco party.

That's right, it's Taco Tuesday every night of the week when you make these tacos with a twist.

I'm gonna make them even more exciting by using duck meat.

Woo, this smells so wonderful.

What's a deconstructed taco?

A nacho in a cheesy, gooey pie.

I am making nacho pie today.

And who doesn't like nacho pie?

And guess what?

All the ingredients are right here in my pantry.

I'm gonna cook from the pantry.

In Miami, a taco that is a mashup of Latin American cuisines, from food blogger Patty Ruiz.

- [Patty] We're gonna make a Cuban dish, chicken vaca frita.

- [Sara] Okay.

- And we're gonna build my little twist.

Instead of using beef, I'm gonna make it with chicken.

- Oh.

- [Patty] And then we'll make a mango salsa with a little bit of avocado, and that way, we're gonna make it as authentic as we can.

- Oh, this is so beautiful.

Was it good?

You be the judge.

This is so good.

The mango, the avocado, the jalapeno.

- So good.

- The citrus, fantastic.

Taco or nacho.

If it's in a tortilla, we've got it today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(upbeat music) I am making nacho pie today, and who doesn't like nacho pie?

And guess what?

All the ingredients are right here in my pantry.

I'm gonna cook from the pantry.

So, you know nacho pie starts with tortilla chips, and most people have a bag in the cupboard.

And we're gonna use about five ounces, which I have right here.

That's all you need for this recipe.

But we have to make the filling.

So let me get going on that.

(light music) And we're gonna start with a little bit of oil.

Again, grape seed oil.

You know, generally, when I'm going Mediterranean, I use extra virgin olive oil, and when I'm going in any other country, any other place, I'll use flavorless oil, also known as grape seed oil.

So we're just gonna heat that up.

I've already sliced an onion.

This is about a cup and a half.

Gonna get these going in here.

And then a pepper.

(pan sizzling) And we're just gonna soften them up.

And I'm gonna season as we go.

I don't wanna add too much salt, because I'm gonna be adding a lot of ingredients from the cupboard, and most packaged ingredients are pretty high in sodium.

While those cook, I'm gonna open up a can of black beans, and I need to drain them.

I'm gonna get a little water in here, too.

I'm gonna rinse 'em.

But what's great about beans is they have wonderful protein.

Between this and the cheese we're gonna add, we're gonna have some protein that will fill up everybody's bellies and make them happy.

Especially the vegetarians.

Oh, did I mention this is vegetarian?

(pan sizzling) Okay, these need to get a little more wilted before I start adding everything else.

All right, let me get my corn out here.

Just one box.

See, you notice we're using the package sizes that are appropriate, too.

And we'll add that in just a minute.

And let me just take off the lids of my other ingredients.

Here we have salsa.

We need a 16 ounce jar.

And then here we have, this is the tomato vegetable juice.

We need about a cup and a quarter.

Okay, let me wilt this up.

This is getting somewhere here.

(pan sizzling) Okay, in go our beans.

Here comes the corn, and we're gonna add it right from the frozen state.

Of course, if it was summertime and you had fresh corn, you could add that, too.

That would be wonderful.

(pan sizzling) And then we need our salsa, and our tomato vegetable juice.

And if you didn't have tomato vegetable juice, you could add some tomato sauce.

That would be fine.

And we really just need to heat this up a little bit, and let it simmer.

Let me get my cheese.

Now, we're using a pepper jack cheese, because I sort of wanna keep in the, I don't know, sort of Tex-Mex mode.

Couple tricks about grating cheese.

You know how you're grating the cheese and it sticks to the grater?

So we're gonna just give it a little bit of a oil, which will help to keep it from sticking too much.

And we also, I just threw it in the freezer a little bit.

We need about two cups of this cheese.

and you know how it sticks and gets all gummy?

And if it's harder, it'll grate more easily.

All right.

(light music) All right, this looks wonderful.

I'm gonna take a tiny taste.

See how quick and easy this?

(pan sizzling) Wonderful.

Yum.

Ooh, that was good salsa.

I'm putting half of my tortilla chips in the bottom of a lightly oiled casserole dish.

Then I'm gonna add a cup of cheese to my filling.

And then, we're gonna dump all of this on top of our tortilla chips.

Let me just get this sideways so I can do this neatly.

Let me smooth it out a tiny bit.

All right, the rest of the chips, decoratively on top, a pattern, so it looks like you spent hours working on it.

There we go.

And our cheese, finally, on top.

Now, we've preheated the oven to 375, and we're gonna put it in the oven for 30 minutes, until it's all bubbly and melted.

(light music) And while that's baking, I'm gonna go get together all the toppings, all the fixings.

(light music) Ooh, look at how yummy bubbly that is.

(dish sizzling) Boy, this'll make everybody happy.

And I've got all the perfect (speaking foreign language).

Here we go.

So, to top it off, I'll let everybody serve themselves, and then take a little lime wedge, maybe a little sour cream, maybe some cilantro, and on the side we have a Mexican coleslaw.

Perfect drink would be a beer, of course.

And so there you have it, nacho pie from the pantry.

Perfect for the big game.

(upbeat music) (light music) Tacos are the perfect thing for a weeknight meal, and they're great for entertaining, as well, but I'm gonna make them even more exciting by using duck meat.

Now depending on where you live, you might be able to find duck in your supermarket, sometimes in the freezer section, but if not, you can order it online, there's all kinds of duck products.

And today what we're using for our duck tacos is a half roast duck.

Here we have the half rotisserie duck out of the package.

And you can just heat it up, there's instructions in the back of the package, very simple.

Or you can use it as we have here, we shred it, and then we're gonna add some taco seasoning.

So let me tell you about my taco seasoning.

I'm gonna make my own.

You can use that little package that comes in those pre-made kits, but I like to make my own.

So here we've got a half a teaspoon of garlic powder, half a teaspoon of chili powder, half a teaspoon of onion powder, quarter teaspoon of coarse salt, and an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne.

And we're just gonna throw into the mix a half a teaspoon of oregano, and just mix this all up.

And then we're gonna cook it in the pan very briefly and just flavor up the duck.

Let me heat up a little bit of oil.

You can just use, well, you can use whatever oil you want, but because we're heading sort of the Mexican route, I'm just gonna go with vegetable oil.

And then we're gonna add our spices, and we're gonna add them to the oil, and what happens is they sort of come alive.

Dried spices need a little help, need a little heat, a little oil, that's great.

And then, ooh, you should smell it.

I gotta be careful, 'cause there's cayenne in there.

All right, our shredded duck.

(pan sizzling) There we go.

Need about two and a half cup.s And a little bit of water.

You could also use chicken broth, if you wanted.

And this is just to spread the whole spice mix around and nicely flavor.

Oh wow.

Woo, this smells so wonderful.

So let me talk to you about duck, 'cause there's lots of misconceptions, and the biggest one is that it's just really fatty.

Well, yeah, there's fat in the skin, but if you remove the skin, that meat, that duck meat, is as lean as white meat chicken.

The other thing you should know is that duck is really very healthy.

It has more iron than many cuts of red meat.

And you know, a lot of people think that duck is gamey.

Well, there's many different breeds of duck, but the one that we're working with here, which is called Peking duck, it's also known as Long Island Duck, is very mild in flavor.

Just really tasty, totally un-gamey.

My kids love it.

All right, I'm gonna put a lid on and let this just heat up for about three minutes.

We're just getting all the spice flavorings in there, 'cause the duck was already completely cooked, so it's just melding it all.

All right, come on down to my taco party.

We had these taco shells.

We just follow the instruction on the back of the package to heat them up.

And I've made a little bit of my refried bean mix, which is very low calorie, I don't use all the fat that you normally do, so this is really quite healthy.

And it's right on this website, you can find it.

It's so simple.

Okay, so now I'm gonna start assembling.

And what you can do is put all these things out, we'll talk about them in a minute, and let people make their own tacos.

I like the refried beans, so I'm gonna start with those in the bottom.

And this is sort of a glue, will hold the duck in.

(light music) All right, now I'm gonna set up my tacos.

I think I'll go for the straight up salsa.

I'll do a little cheese.

Let me see, sour cream next.

And finally, some shredded lettuce.

Sour cream will act as glue.

So duck taco, something fun, different, and tasty for a weeknight meal.

(light music) (taco shell crunching) (upbeat music) Miami is a melting pot of so many Latin cultures, and so is its food.

And nothing says Florida like seafood.

Garcia's was started by 11 fishing brothers from Cuba.

You can still find mama and her sons manning the fish counter.

Out back, I watched fishing boats pull up as I tucked into pricey, but tasty stone crabs, the signature seafood of Miami.

(upbeat music) This is also the place to find the Cuban burger hybrid.

The frita, pure deliciousness on a bun.

It's a spiced chopped beef patty topped with mounds of crispy potato fries, and a super secret sauce.

There are hot debates over the best frita joint, EL Rey, Cuban Guys, or El Mago de la Fritas.

- What makes makes my father and El Mago special is his consistency, his love.

He's always here from morning to end.

I don't know the recipe, it's only made by him.

He's here every day.

(light music) - No surprise, food blogger Patty Ruiz of The Mad Table likes to mix South Florida flavors with classics, like pavlovas with dulce de leche, lamb chops with chimi-verde sauce, Instant Pot Cuban black bean soup, or vaca frita, a Cuban home recipe of shredded beef that's crisp fried with onions.

Delicious, but it takes hours to make, so Patty invited me to her Miami waterside home to learn a weeknight friendly version.

So what are we making today?

- So we're gonna make a Cuban dish, chicken vaca frita.

- Okay.

- And we're gonna build my spin, my little twist.

Instead of using beef, I'm gonna make it with chicken.

- Oh.

- And then we'll make a black bean sauce, a mango salsa with a little bit of avocado, and that way we're gonna make it as authentic as we can.

- Yum.

(light music) So what's the first step here?

- So we're gonna start off with the mojo.

First, I'm gonna add two teaspoons of salt.

- [Sara] And you're using an actual mortar and pestle.

- I am.

- Boy, that's good for the muscles, the arm muscles.

- (chuckling) It is.

Now I'm adding a half teaspoon of peppercorn and 10 cloves of fresh garlic.

- [Sara] Oh, and lots of garlic.

- [Patty] And lots of fresh garlic.

- [Sara] No kissing tonight.

- And I'm gonna mash it all with my mortar and pestle.

- [Sara] So tell me, what is mojo?

- So mojo is a traditional Cuban marinade.

You can use it as a dipping sauce, you can use it on sandwiches, you can use it for meat.

And in this case, we're going to pour it over the shredded chicken.

- [Sara] The shredded chicken.

- For our chicken vaca frita.

- [Sara] Terrific.

You think it's ready?

It looks good.

- [Patty] I think so.

- [Sara] Okay.

- So now what we're gonna do is we're gonna transfer everything into this bowl, and add the rest of our ingredients.

(light music) And a teaspoon of dried oregano.

- [Sara] Is that traditional?

- [Patty] Yes.

- [Sara] Mm-hmm.

- And three quarter cup of fresh lime juice.

- Don't even think about getting that bottled stuff.

I mean, we're in Florida, you need the fresh stuff.

- [Patty] To that, I'm adding half a cup of fresh orange juice.

- [Sara] I could see that would have many uses.

- [Patty] Oh, definitely.

- [Sara] You can put it on all sorts of things, yeah.

- And now we wanna slowly stream in three tablespoons of olive oil.

- [Sara] Is is that what you would use in Cuba?

- [Patty] Absolutely, yes.

And now we've got a traditional Cuban mojo.

- Okay, we'll pour it on here.

- Yes.

- [Sara] Oh, that's so pretty.

- [Patty] Isn't that beautiful?

- [Sara] This feels very healthy.

- [Patty] Yes.

And tons of flavor.

- And this was cooked chicken that we shredded?

- Yes, cooked chicken.

- So you could use rotisserie chicken.

- You could, absolutely.

- [Sara] Okay.

And now, we would like to set this aside, right?

- If you have time, absolutely.

- Okay.

So we'll just set it aside while we make our other ingredients.

So what's next?

- So next we can start with our fresh mango salsa.

- [Sara] What would you like me to do?

- Can you cut up a small avocado, please?

- So this is the traditional Mexican Hass avocado?

- Yes.

- Okay.

I am gonna show you a safe way to cut up an avocado, okay?

'Cause most people do it in the air, and then go like that with the pit.

You feel very macho, but if you miss, it's bad news.

So I learned this from the California avocado folks.

Down the avocado.

And then you go around.

So I've now got the cut that way.

I turned it a quarter turn, and I'm gonna do it again.

'Cause this is the whole point is getting that pit out is a little fraught, but when you do this, the pit just pops.

Oops.

- [Patty] Oh, wow.

- Yeah, there we go.

- I love that.

- Isn't that cool?

- That's awesome.

- You know, these are the little things that make us so happy.

Tell me what else goes into the salsa.

- [Patty] Okay, so we're gonna start with three ripe, fresh mangoes diced.

- [Sara] That looks yummy.

I love mango.

It may be my favorite fruit.

- And then I'm gonna add the quarter cup of diced red onion.

Love the color- - Yes.

- Of the red onion with the mango.

- [Sara] Uh-huh, uh-huh.

- Here I have a half chopped red bell pepper, and I'm gonna put it in here.

- Do you know what I do with the red onion sometimes is I soak it in ice and water for 20 minutes, which takes out that bite and the bad breathiness that they bring to a dish.

- [Patty] That's brilliant.

- [Sara] Yeah.

- I like that.

I've got some diced jalapeno.

A half jalapeno, seeded and minced.

- It looks like you took out the seeds and the ribs.

- Yes, absolutely.

- Is that 'cause you thought that I was not a spicy girl.

or you just don't like the seeds and the ribs?

- Well, we're gonna have some crushed red pepper as well, so it could be a little too much heat.

- [Sara] You know, I'm at a stage where I just love a lot of heat.

- [Patty] A half teaspoon of ground cumin.

- This is gonna be delicious.

Got so many of my favorite ingredients.

Should I go ahead and just put the avocado in?

- Yes, I think so.

Okay, and I'm gonna add extra red pepper since you want eat.

- Okay.

That is gorgeous right there.

- [Patty] It's beautiful.

I'm so excited, I can't wait.

I'm gonna add a quarter cup chopped fresh cilantro.

Here we go, all of it.

- And if somebody hates cilantro?

- You can use parsley, mint.

Fresh mint would be wonderful, yes.

- Mint would be delicious in there, yes, absolutely.

- [Patty] Okay, and then, Sara, can you please squeeze a half of a fresh orange and a half of a fresh lime?

(light music) - [Sara] Oh, yummy.

I love citrus, I have to say.

- [Patty] It's a game-changer.

- It is, it just brightens things up.

Okay.

Yeah, oranges, we're in Florida, of course we gotta do something with oranges.

- Yeah, and I like the combination of the lime and the orange.

That's it.

And a little olive oil.

- [Sara] Okay.

- [Patty] Just a little drizzle.

- I'm learning.

- All right.

- Put this right here.

- And we did put some salt in there, too.

I remember.

Oh, this is so beautiful.

- [Patty] Isn't it?

- Ooh.

Does this benefit from sitting for a little while, or do you pretty much wanna eat this right away?

I mean, I wanna eat it right now, but- - You can let it sit, yeah.

- [Patty] Either way, I mean, if you can wait a few minutes, you can let it sit, just so the flavors meld.

- [Sara] Come together, yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

Now we can go onto the onions.

- Okay, so how do you want me to slice this?

- [Patty] So if you can slice them into half moons.

- [Sara] Half moons?

- [Patty] Yes.

- [Sara] So don't follow the ribs?

- No, please.

- Okay, now why half moons?

That's so interesting.

- I think it just goes better to have smaller pieces of onions.

- So this is chicken vaca frita?

- Chicken vaca frita.

- [Sara] And is it normally done with chicken?

- Traditionally, it's done with beef.

- Huh.

- But it takes a little longer when you make it with beef.

- Right.

- And with chicken, you can easily make it a weeknight meal.

- We're using a already cooked chicken.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- [Sara] So rotisserie chicken, or some chicken you've cooked before.

- [Patty] Right.

- I see that.

So it's just a lot faster.

With the beef, what cut would you use?

- You can use a chuck or a flank.

- Oh, how thick do you want 'em?

- [Patty] Slice 'em thin.

- [Sara] Thin.

- [Patty] Yeah.

- [Sara] Okay, so about like that?

- [Patty] Yes, that's perfect.

- [Sara] And now we fry it up.

- [Patty] So, you wanna cook your onions first.

And I like using the same skillet- - [Sara] Why not?

- That we used to cook the onions, 'cause it's got all that flavor.

I'm gonna pour some oil in our hot pan.

- [Sara] Also, this is, it's one last pan to clean on a weeknight.

- Yes.

(upbeat music) I'm gonna transfer these onions into a bowl and use the same pan to cook the chicken, and then you'll have all that onion flavor, the onion oil on the chicken.

Make it really yummy.

- [Sara] Yes.

- They're ready now.

- I can see that.

- See how they're nice and crispy?

- They're really nice.

You were holding for that, as well as you should be.

- Yes.

So I'm gonna take 'em out, and then we're gonna combine all the ingredients together.

- Okay, so here is the chicken.

- Thank you.

- [Sara] Did you put it in with the marinade and everything?

- I try to not use the the marinade, because then it'll be too wet.

- [Sara] And won't crisp, got it.

- [Patty] Exactly.

And it'll take about five to six minutes per side.

(upbeat music) Sara, can you please chop some fresh cilantro?

- [Sara] Sure.

- [Patty] About a half a cup.

- [Sara] Okay.

(upbeat music) Jeez, that looks pretty nice.

- You see how nice and crispy it is?

- Yeah.

- That's exactly what you want.

- [Sara] Okay, so now what?

- So now I'm gonna transfer the chicken into this bowl where we have our caramelized onions.

And we're gonna give it a stir, add some fresh lime juice, and some cilantro, and- - Oh, you want me to get some lime ready here?

- Please, yes.

(light music) - All righty.

You're gonna put some salt in there, too?

- [Patty] Yes.

- [Sara] So we season it again.

Do we want a whole lime or just a half a lime?

- [Patty] Just a half.

- Mm-hmm.

Okie doke.

And then you want me to sprinkle the cilantro on top?

- Please, yes.

- Woo.

- I gotta hold onto it here, it's windy.

Okay, come back here.

Flying cilantro.

There we go.

Ooh, that looks so good.

- Today, instead of eating it with white rice, which is how you would normally eat it, we're going to char some tortillas on the grill, and we're gonna have chicken vaca frita tacos.

- [Sara] Yummy.

- So if you want, you can give it a stir, I'm gonna go ahead and start the tortillas, and then we can start assembling our tacos for lunch.

- Sounds wonderful.

I'll get the other parts.

(light music) (birds calling) Oh, boy.

Time to eat.

- So here we've got our tortillas.

- [Sara] Oh, those look wonderful.

- So what we're gonna do is start with a layer of beans.

- Mm-hmm.

I just wanna say that the recipe for the beans will be on the website.

- [Patty] Yes.

- So don't despair, you'll have all the parts of this.

- [Patty] Add a little bit of the chicken vaca frita with the caramelized onions.

- And do you want me to do the salsa?

- Yes, please.

- And then you can start setting up a second one.

- All right, thank you.

- Ooh, and we've got cerveza.

(Patty chuckling) Oh, this looks so good.

Oh, boy.

- [Patty] Oh, look at this.

- [Sara] And the cilantro and the lime.

- [Patty] Yes.

- [Sara] I love all the citrus you've put into every part of this.

- Would you like some fresh lime juice?

- Oh, yes, of course.

So here you go, here.

- Thank you.

- And here's your napkin.

Yay.

Boy, if I lived here, I'd have every single meal down there, and some cocktails.

I mean, wow.

(light music) (birds calling) Is there a particular way you should eat this?

- Oh, you can fold it like a taco or eat it like a tostada.

Ah, I'm so excited.

- I know however I eat it, I'm gonna be wearing it.

- [Patty] It's, yeah, super messy.

But you see how what a quick weeknight meal this is?

- Mm.

Mm.

Oh my god, this is so good.

- Mm, so much flavor.

- Who knew that chicken could be that exciting?

(Patty chuckling) Wow.

- The mango, the avocado, the jalapeno, so good.

- The citrus, fantastic.

Well, I wanna propose a toast to my buddy in Cuban cooking.

And thank you so much.

- Thank you, Sara.

It was so much fun.

- And your lovely home, and lovely- - Thank you.

- Are we gonna go swimming next?

- Yes, we should.

Why not?

(chuckling) - Salut.

Mm.

Mm.

Wow, so good.

Mm.

For recipes, videos, and more, go to our website, saramoulton.com.

(light music) "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by USA Rice, Sunsweet, and by- - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was started when I was a child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta, and now I transmit it to all the guests.

It's something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(light music) (gentle music) (light music) (soft music) (light music) (soft music)