-Mandolin, shmandolin.
I'm the human mandolin.
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♪♪
Hola, mi gente.
I'm Aarón Sánchez.
I'm a chef and author
of this new book which is
a memoir which is called
"Where I Come From: Life Lessons
from a Latino Chef."
And today I'm really
stoked about
preparing one of the recipes
that's featured in this book --
Tio Mario's, my uncle,
famous chili Colorado.
And every time
that I would travel
and be on the road
for an extensive period of time,
I would call him
and on my way home,
I would please say,
"Can you make me
that chili Colorado?"
'Cause there's nothing
like being away
and having that beautiful smell
of those toasted chiles
in that braise kind of
beckoning you into the door.
So we're gonna go ahead
and make the chili Colorado.
Now, when you think of the word
"chili,"
you're thinking maybe, you know,
a diced beef chili
that hails from Texas, right,
that sometimes has beans in it.
You know, the whole nine yards.
But this is literally
a braise of beef,
and it's something
that is very traditional
to the northern part of Mexico
where my where I'm from
and where our family's from.
It starts with the idea
of peeling chiles.
I have some guajillo chiles.
I have the pasilla chile.
And then the chile ancho,
which is one of my favorites
that has that smoky essence.
So I'm gonna just remove
the seeds of the guajillos.
If you didn't have a chance
to have chile guajillo,
you can always go with,
like, a little New Mexican red.
That's also another option.
Then I'm going to work
with some chile árbol.
Now, these chile árbol, the word
"árbol" means tree.
So they hang off
this little kind of --
these little miniature trees.
The best way I can sort
of kind of associate it
with is like a Cayenne.
Reason that I'm using these
four different chiles
is 'cause they all serve
their own purpose.
The chile ancho, that's going to
impart a smokiness.
The chile pasilla is really
there to add some sweetness
and a little bit
of that bracing heat.
The chile guajillo was used used
primarily to give it color,
and then the chile árbol
is where you just get that heat.
So now that I have
all these chiles,
I'm going to put them here
on a cast iron skillet.
You want to toss these chiles
because you had to think
of these chiles
as they're dormant, right?
They need to be reinvigorated,
and they need to wake up
a little bit.
Same thing with with dry spices
and whole spices.
You've got to toast them
to release their essential oils
and really bring out
their flavor.
And then we're going to
soak them in stock
to make them pliable.
And that's really going to help
when we start to puree these.
It's going to render some smoke.
It might kind of
make you cough, but...
You kind of build
a resistance to this
if you've been doing it
a long time.
I'm gonna add them into
this boiling stock,
and then I'll take just
this little bowl.
And then at that point,
you're good.
And let it do its thing.
But in the interim, start
to get all the prep ready
for the actual chili Colorado.
So you can do this with pork,
or you can use short rib,
which I have here.
You're going to braise this
for about two and a half hours,
so you want it
to have a good amount
of fat and marbling,
so as it cooks,
it doesn't basically turn to --
wither away did nothing.
So going to cut these into some
manageable pieces.
Now we're going to
start to sear this
and really start
to bring together
a lot of those initial flavors.
As my pot is getting nice and
hot, start to season this meat.
I like to do like this ahead
of time in a bowl.
'Cause then I'm assured
that I'm going to have that
even distribution of salt
and pepper.
I put a little bit of oil.
Why do I put oil?
'Cause it allows for that
seasoning to adhere.
'Cause you lose about 60 percent
of your salt and pepper
on steaks
'cause you don't have a little
medium to allow that seasoning
to stick and adhere.
And I'm being very generous
with that salt, guys. Okay?
'Cause this beef is going
to need a lot of it.
Fresh cracked pepper.
Get in there.
Then I'm going to start
to sear this in batches.
-So you want to make sure
that all of that beef
is in direct contact
so the heating surface,
and I'm just gonna
let it do its thing.
So to this,
I'm gonna chop some onion.
I'm gonna add
some red bell pepper.
I'm gonna add some carrot,
and of course garlic.
So the idea is you just want
to really kind of sear it
on one side.
And the reason I like to do that
is because one side,
you have that crust
which adds texture and flavor.
But on the other side,
'cause it's kind of raw,
it allows that broth
in the chili
to really do its thing
and get in there.
All right. So now
I have all of that,
which are my foundation flavors.
The meat looks fantastic.
Gonna remove all of that.
And then I'm gonna start
to go in with the aromatics.
And to this, a little bit
more oil.
Okay? You don't want to rush
this process here, guys.
You really want
to take your time
and make sure that those
vegetables break down.
Now that that's cooking,
I'm going to add
a couple bay leaves,
hojas de laurel, right?
Very important.
When you add spices,
you've got to remember
that these spices
have been ground -- preground.
That's why I like to add them
to this initial stage
of the foundation flavors
to kind of really draw out
some of its flavor.
Cumin.
I have some Mexican cinnamon.
Canela. It's called Ceylon.
I have some Mexican oregano.
As this is cooking,
I want to really be conscious
of when I add my meat back.
'Cause you don't want to do it
too soon
where all these aromatics
haven't had the chance
to break down
and those spices to bloom.
So I'm happy where
the aromatics are at.
I'm going to add the meat back
into the actual pot.
And all those juices
that have leached out,
that's also going
in there for sure.
Make sure everything's nice
and incorporated.
-Stock. You can use beef broth.
You can use chicken broth.
Even vegetable,
whatever you have available.
And then now, I'm going to dress
the chile puree
that's really going to give
this a lot of character
and really
what makes it delicious.
I'm going to take all of
that liquid and the chiles.
And I'm going to puree that.
Okay?
♪♪
I'm going to add
all of that chili puree,
along with the stock,
the aromatics.
I'm going to give it
a nice little stir.
What you want to do
is you want to let this
come up to a simmer,
and then we're
going to cover it,
and then we're gonna put it
in the oven to braise.
So I'm gonna go about 375
for about two and a half hours.
♪♪
And then we should
be good to go.
So next,
I'm going to be making the rice
that's going to accompany
the chili Colorado.
-I have some white onion here.
This will start to be
some of those foundation flavors
of the actual rice.
And what I love about this rice
is that it's fragrant.
It's going to be a perfect foil
for all that sauce or caldo
that comes
from the chili Colorado.
I'll be using
some long grain rice.
Take some garlic, as well.
I like to always, always
use fresh garlic.
Don't ever buy
that pre-peel stuff.
I actually like a little bit
of salt, too, on my my garlic.
That kind of releases
some of that liquid
and allows it to break down
and mince a little bit more.
So I kind of just combine
my onions and my garlic,
and then to this,
I have some tomatoes,
which is from
the Vice "Munchies" garden.
And never remove the seeds
from a beautiful tomato.
That pulp is where
all the magic happens.
In a nice pot, I'm going to add
some good blended oil.
You can use canola, grapeseed,
whatever you have.
So I'm going to add
short grain rice
that's that's been
kind of rinsed a little bit.
Kind of release those starches,
and the idea here is
you want to just really allow
the bran or the outer part
of the kernels of rice
to kind of pop
and to be able
to absorb that broth.
And the idea here
is you want to kind of get it
a little golden brown
and a little nutty.
So as that starts to toast,
add the onion.
Then I'll put a little bit
of salt right at the beginning.
I'll also add some
of that tomatoes, the broth.
Some I'm gonna do basically
a two to one ratio, right?
You can cook this,
obviously, on the stove top,
let it cook low and slow,
and then just do its thing
there.
Or another little technique is
you can actually take it up
to this stage
and then cover with a lid
and bake it.
The actual pot is being
attacked by heat from all over,
so it allows that rice to cook
a little bit more evenly.
I would not put it into the oven
until it actually
comes up to a boil or a simmer.
Very important.
I like to do mine at 375.
[ Singsong voice ]
Perfection.
Turn this down just a scooch.
And that should take about
15 or 20 minutes.
So our chili Colorado's
been cooking for about
two and a half to three hours.
It's beautiful, tender,
melt in your mouth.
I'm going to remove
that chili Colorado
and start to assemble
the burritos.
Oh, my. Here we go.
Look at that. Tell me that
that is not an invitation
to eat right there, my friends.
We'll take some broth and sauce,
and I'm just going to lay that
on the bottom
of this baking dish.
Now the reason being
is I want this
to kind of be the base
for, in essence,
this little burrito casserole,
if you will.
And that's going to
kind of anchor everything.
So this step is not
very traditional.
Be honest.
This is more something
that you do when you're cooking
for a large family
or for a group setting because
it just -- Traditionally,
in Juárez, you just have
a chili Colorado burrito
and that would be it.
So baking it here
is sort of my own
little addition.
It's something I like to do
for my family.
I was brought up by
if it's something that has beef,
you use flour tortillas.
Because flour tortillas
are more prevalent the north
where there's more beef.
So we're going to do
is we're going to take
a nice amount
of the chili Colorado.
We're going to start
to form the burritos.
So I have a nice
little foundation layer.
I have this rice.
Then I'm gonna just let that
blanket the chili Colorado.
Then I'm going to kind
of roll this in like that,
cover the edges,
and then kind of ensure
that it's all in there.
You could take some of this
and let it take just the ends
and cut them off
and then that goes right
in here, guys.
And trust me, when you serve
this for your guests,
you're making lots and lots
of people happy with this one.
Okay? It's just so much fun.
So delicious.
And I just roll.
Roll, roll, roll.
Now that I've assembled
the burritos
and have them in this casserole,
what I'm going to do
is take a little bit more
of that residual sauce
and give it a little bit more
love, a little bit of amorrrr.
So I have that sauce
hitting the bottom part
of this casserole,
and then also on the top.
-Yes, indeed.
You got to talk to your food,
man.
Get up in there, dude.
Check in with it.
You know what I'm saying?
Now to this, I'm gonna take
shredded cheese here.
Use whatever you want, you know?
And the idea being is we're
going to just bake this
and let it just be that accent.
So this is more of an American
touch, obviously.
You can use queso blanco
or queso Oaxaca,
but this is kind of my nod
to, like, Taco Tuesdays
here in this country.
I want to give a little love
to my American brethren.
So now this is going
to go in the oven
for about 15 minutes
till that cheese bubbles
and kind of
has a little crust on top,
and then we're ready to serve.
Now we're going to remove it
and get down to business.
Look how gorgeous that is.
Man!
So a couple finishing touches.
Gonna add a little bit
of radish.
I'm gonna just put it like that.
Almost like little scales.
I like that.
-And then to this,
I'll some cilantro.
Just a nice little rough chop.
And this is, like,
just those finishing touches
that just take it to
that next level. Okay?
Just to finish,
some cotija cheese.
Now this is kind of like that --
I call it the seasoning cheese
because it has a good sharpness
and the nice salt content to it.
And there you go.
Here's a beautiful chili
Colorado burrito casserole.
I finished it with
some cotija cheese,
cilantro, and radish,
and this is my favorite part --
when I get to taste the fruits
of all my labor.
Mmm!
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm!
Mmm! Mmm!
I should do this for a living.
That's absolutely delicious.
That beef has --
it's broken down. It's tender.
All of those chiles are
in perfect balance and harmony.
They're not competing
with one another.
And I love the little salty
component of the cotija cheese
on top, some freshness with
radish and the cilantro.
It's just hitting
on many different cylinders,
and it's just a bite
that takes me back home.
And this recipe right here,
Tio's Famous Chili Colorado
Burritos,
is in my new book, my memoir,
"Where I Come From: Life Lessons
from a Latino Chef."
Also, if you want to find out
more information and the recipe,
click the link below.
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