- Please don't take any skills from me
because I'm not someone you should be looking
up to when it comes to cooking.
(soft instrumental music)
Hey guys, I'm Carolina,
and today is a pretty exciting day.
I'm gonna be making family recipes for 24 hours.
These have been passed down.
These are all recipes that I've gathered
from like different people from my family.
I'm someone who is such a nostalgic person,
so for me to be making family recipes,
I feel like I am getting closer to my family
and learning a little bit more about them,
and especially right now when
I can't really be with them all the time.
It's comforting.
This morning we're gonna start on Gorditas,
not only Gorditas,
I'm gonna be making Salsa de Chile Serrano.
I've grown a new found love for
that because I used to not like really spicy things.
And like all of a sudden,
one day I was like, you know what?
Bring on the salsa.
For lunch,
I'm going to be making Tostadas,
home made Tostadas.
And by homemade I mean,
I'm grabbing some tortillas from the supermarket,
bring them over here,
and I am putting those puppies on the pan.
Super excited about that.
I'm also gonna be making Agua de Jamaica,
which, such a staple in my family home.
We're a little in between lunch and dinner.
We're gonna be making my grandfather,
may he rest in peace, (blows kiss)
Ostiones Ahumados.
Smoked oyster dish, sounds kind of nasty,
but let me tell you, it hits so hard.
Like I literally love this appetizer.
For dinner, courtesy of my kina,
hey girl,
and we're making Chiles Rellenos.
This is my favorite food in the entire world,
and my grandma without a doubt,
whenever she knows that I'm gonna come over,
she's always making Chiles Rellenos for me.
So, I have to make it in her honor.
And then, for dessert,
we're gonna be making the best Flan De Nuez
that I have ever had in my life.
Shall we head to the kitchen?
I guess, hey, come with.
Also, just for the sake that my grandma might
be watching this,
I'm gonna put on the apron that she gave me.
'Cause we don't wanna get these clothes dirty.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Let's get started.
So I have my comal here,
my grandma told me to use aluminum foil on it,
just so like the tomato
and the pepper don't get stuck when you're making it.
I'm gonna grab three tomatoes
and then I'm gonna grab one Chiles Rellenos.
Here's a thing about getting recipes from my grandparents,
is they don't measure anything.
They just kind of like feel it out,
and I'm a little crazy.
So, I would like to have measurements whenever I cook,
but in this situation I cannot.
I'm also gonna add a piece of garlic to roast
and that's gonna give it a little bit extra flavor.
My grandma also said
that we have to kind of keep turning it,
so see how it's like fried right here.
We have to keep turning it,
so it's like that on all sides.
And then we're gonna put it in the blender.
I wish you can smell the aroma
that is happening right now,
it smells so good.
So good.
This is kind of what the color should look
like at the end, it should be like this on all sides.
(upbeat instrumental music)
We're gonna take a little bit of salt,
like literally just like a little bit.
Again, my grandma doesn't use measurements.
So, I don't know what I'm supposed to be using.
Watch your ears.
(blender whirring)
(upbeat instrumental music)
We're gonna give it a little taste.
It's very tomatoey,
has like a slight hint of the pepper,
but the garlic in this, (blows kiss)
so good.
So for the Gorditas you need instant corn flour.
I have a half cup of that,
I have a cup of water,
this one with water we're just
gonna add in moderation to see,
'cause we don't want it to be too liquidy
or like not liquid enough 'cause then it starts to crumble.
And we have some salt
that we're also gonna add in moderation.
(upbeat instrumental music)
The fun thing about Gorditas is you can use your hands.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Also we're just gonna add a little bit of salt.
(upbeat instrumental music)
I have my masa here, ready to go,
I'm gonna make into little Gorditas,
and I have my comal that's been pre heated right now,
so we can add that on there.
Let's get them popping.
(upbeat instrumental music)
This is like my Gordita looks like.
Thick, we like 'em thick.
(comal sizzling)
Oof, we are getting there.
I wanna say this Gorditas done,
it's very toasty on outside,
it's golden brown.
I'm just waiting for this guy to be a little golden brownie.
So while the other guys getting all toasty woasty.
That was disgusting,
I hated that I said that.
I'm gonna show you guys how I prepare my Gordita,
so I've cut it in half,
and what I like to do is I put butter in first.
I put a little bit of butter
and then I go ahead and I top it with,
the sauce that I just made,
and then some cream mexicana,
which I like absolutely love.
So I'm gonna FaceTime my dad right now
and show him what I've done.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Dad] Wow!
(presenter laughs)
(dad speaks in a foreign language)
Yeah,
(speaks in a foreign language)
are you jealous?
- [Dad] Yeah, that's really good.
Send me some in an Uber.
- I'll think about it.
Yeah, he just asked if I could send these by Uber,
'cause he thinks they look good.
So I think I won.
(bell chimes)
I put a lot of cream on this one. (moans)
The garlic from the salsa exploded in my mouth,
and that's all I wanted, really.
I would give myself like 7 out of 10.
(upbeat instrumental music)
It's lunchtime you guys,
I'm excited for lunch,
we're gonna be making Tostadas con Nopales Jamon,
Crema, Nopales.
I'm also gonna be making Agua de Jamaica,
that's hibiscus tea,
for those who don't know what that is.
So these are the ingredients for the Tostadas.
This is the Nopales, my salsa, some ham.
So, when I make Tostadas I like to use tortillas,
especially the ones that are fresh from the supermarket,
'cause they're already kind of warm.
So I toast those on my comal.
I have onion and I have crema mexicana.
So, one of the ingredients that I'm using is Nopales,
which is cactus,
you know what a cactus is,
it has spikes on it.
I don't trust myself,
taking care of all that spike situation,
it's espinas,
so I thankfully found these at a supermarket
that they already have 'em without espinas.
So I'm just gonna rinse these,
and I'm gonna put them in boiling water until
they're like a little bit tender and a little bit loose,
we're gonna put some onions in there,
some garlic, just to give it some nice little flavors.
And then we're gonna, while that's boiling,
I'll make the Agua de Jamaica.
So I'm gonna add one cup of hibiscus flowers.
This is my one third cup,
so I'm gonna use three of these.
(packet rustling)
And then I have my three cups of water.
Then we're gonna set this on high
because we want it to boil.
We saw the Nopales boiling,
it's been like seven minutes,
and I put it on low when it started boiling,
so it's simmers for seven minutes.
So now we're gonna be adding the sugar.
So I just got a little bit
of like half of a third cup,
so it's not completely one cup.
So after you add the sugar and it's all mixed,
you have to let it like cool.
Just drained my Nepoles,
now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start on the Tostadas.
So I have my clean comal
and I have my tortillas here
that I'm just gonna make a little crunchy.
So this is what my Tostadas,
my tortillas turned Tostadas look like now.
Did flip 'em by hand,
so call me a Latino mom.
So I have my jar of ice
and I'm gonna do this over the sink
because I don't trust myself.
Remember when I said I don't trust myself,
is 'cause I spilled but it's fine.
So let me try it,
let me grab my straw just to test it.
(ice blocks clinking in the mug)
It's very sweet, but we can always add more water.
So I diluted and I think I'm supposed to do that.
So I have my Tostada here
and I'm gonna start by adding some crema.
We're gonna add some ham to it.
And here I have my Nepoles that I've strained.
So I'm just gonna take a spoon
and I'm just gonna scoop it on there,
without grabbing like the onion or the garlic,
'cause that was just there to season it
while it was boiling.
And then I'm going to add my salsa on top.
So that's gonna give it a good kick of flavor.
And this is what my Tostado looks like.
(upbeat instrumental music)
(Tostada crunches)
(speaking foreign language)
I loved it.
Having a fresh tortilla and then turning it into a Tostada,
I feel like makes everything taste so much better.
So good.
Nepoles tastes great.
I'm really giving myself a 9 out of 10 on this meal.
Okay, I got my mum on the phone.
- What did you think of the food?
- [Mum] I think it looks nice,
perfect for the summer.
- And my Agua de Jamaica?
- [Mum] Your Agua de Jamica looks delicious.
- Thank you, it is.
(upbeat instrumental music)
This next recipe is like a little appetizer before dinner
that we're gonna make.
It's my grandfather's oyster appetizer recipe
that he makes,
it's smoked oysters, they are so good.
My grandfather, he actually passed away about 20 years ago.
I'm gonna chop everything up.
With the oysters you have to drain them,
and then put 'em in the bowl,
and I'll show you guys how to do it.
Once they're all drained,
this is what they look like.
They don't look appetizing,
except for the oysters in here.
Now I'm gonna cut up avocado
and put lemon, and tomato,
and onion in it.
So this is what it looks like in the final,
I know it doesn't look super appetizing,
but it tastes delicious.
So you just like grab some chips and eat it.
So that's what I'm gonna do.
Bottoms up.
(upbeat instrumental music)
It's so good.
I'm making Chiles Rellenos for dinner,
but, I'm also gonna be making Flan de Nuez at the same time,
because, Flan de Nuez takes about an hour to make.
So while that's being done,
I can work on Chiles Rellenos.
Two eggs for this little container,
we're gonna do half of La Lechera,
we're gonna do a cup of nuts,
and then some milk.
(gentle guitar music)
While the water's boiling,
we have our little flan container.
So what we're gonna do is,
I'm gonna take some sugar,
and I'm just gonna coat the bottom of it,
so that way when you flip it over,
it has that like nice caramelized like texture to it.
And it's just a little bit to coat the pan itself,
'cause it's gonna melt.
So what my grandma does is,
you see how this pot is boiling,
we're gonna move it back here.
We're gonna take our flan pan,
and we're just gonna also put it up here
to melt the sugar.
You see how it looks,
now that it has that nice caramel color to it.
We love to see it.
Out of the lid,
and we have to make sure that these little holes
are open so that the hot water from our pot
that is cooking the flan,
doesn't get caught and doesn't get like wet and stuff.
So we're gonna leave it,
on medium heat for about an hour,
but we have to keep making sure to check
that there's still water in there.
So for Chiles Rellenos this is essentially what you need.
I have two chiles pasillas,
I have oaxacan,
two and a half tomatoes, onion,
and then some garlic that we're gonna use today.
So first things first,
we're just gonna fry these little things,
not fry but just like grill 'em a little bit.
So we're just gonna keep rotating until
just how like the tomatoes from earlier today,
they get a little bit of like black crispiness to them.
See these little black spots, we love that.
So what we're gonna do now, this is a trick.
My grandmother literally showed me how to do like,
recently, so I've never done this before.
Peel all this little black stuff off.,
we're gonna put it in a little bag.
We're gonna add a little bit of salt.
And supposedly, it's gonna like all come off.
I'm just gonna shake it.
So all the salt jinkies.
So now we're gonna make the tomato sauce
that kind of goes with the Chiles Rellenos.
(upbeat instrumental music)
I'm gonna add a little bit of salt,
when I say a little bit,
expect like a lot of salt,
because I love salt.
And then we're gonna add some oregano leaves.
We're just gonna do one little sprinkle,
'cause I don't really like oregano that much.
But, if my grandma makes it that way,
then that's how it's gotta go, you know.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Now what I'm gonna do,
is I'm gonna put this in a pan to boil
and then while that's going on,
I'm going to continue to peel the chilies,
I'm gonna add oaxacan cheese to it,
and then we're gonna add it to the pan.
And we're almost there.
We're gonna let that sit and boil for a little bit.
So like this is how the peppers came out of the bag.
A lot of it has already been been peeled off
by the salt and all I wanna know
is what kind of witchcraft is this?
So I took the seeds out from inside,
I don't think I did a very successful job.
I put the cheese in there,
I kinda stuffed this one a little more
than this, but that's fine.
So now what we're gonna do
is we're gonna grab these guys,
gonna put him in the salsa.
So I'm gonna let it boil
and then I'm gonna cover it for like 10 minutes,
and check on them.
So this is what it came out looking like,
it's not exactly how my grandma makes it.
I'm gonna call her and see what she thinks.
(speaking foreign language)
(grandma speaking foreign language)
- Gracias.
(speaking in a foreign language)
(grandma speaking in foreign language)
(presenter laughing) - [Grandma] Wow!
- Gracias.
- [Grandma] Bye! - Bye!
She said I look perfect.
She said my hair looked great, so. (claps)
(upbeat instrumental music)
Favorite meal of all time,
so I really hope I made it well.
(upbeat instrumental music)
(presenter claps)
When I tell you, this tastes so good.
This tastes so good.
Oh my God, I'm so pumped.
Let's go check on the flan.
A little water right there,
I'm just gonna soak it up with a paper towel
so it's not super liquidy.
We still have water down there which is good,
so I'm just gonna leave it in for 10 more minutes,
then it's gonna be perfect.
Okay, you guys.
It is time.
I'm literally so excited for this. (groans)
I'm also like terribly scared.
Oh no, you know what my grandma does?
She puts the plate over the flan thing.
Ah, oh my God look.
Okay, so chunks of it came out,
but you know what's important,
is it's gonna taste delicious.
Wow, I'm not saying I'm ready to be a housewife.
But this cooking that I did today, phenomenal.
I'm gonna go show my grandma.
(speaking in a foreign language)
(grandma speaking in a foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language)
Today was lovely, it was beautiful.
I feel like I really like connected
with my family today like in a special way,
the fact that I got to talk to every one of them
and like, show them my creations,
and they're like,
super excited and super proud of me,
and like it just made me super happy.
I feel a lot closer to home now being able
to make all those recipes that my grandma's make me
and my mom makes me all the time, you know,
and like just having those little pieces of them,
like here with me.
My favorite part of being
(speaks foreign language) being Latina
is like the food,
it's the culture and like, it just goes
to show that like food is a great way
to connect people, to connect family together,
and go make your grandma's food,
'cause it'll make you feel a lot better.
So, eat up, bone apple teeth.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Child] Poro like.