In 'Familia,' Emmy-nominated chef Marcela Valladolid shares her take on Mexican dishes

Host Deepa Fernandes speaks with Emmy-nominated, former Food Network personality Marcela Valladolid about her new cookbook "Familia: 125 Foolproof Mexican Recipes to Feed Your People."

The cookbook arose out of an online cooking class that Marcela and her sister Carina gave during the pandemic.

By Marcela Valladolid

This salsa is hot from the chile de árbol. If you’re new to salsas and spice, this salsa might not be for you…yet. You’ll get there! Even though I give you a range of using from five to fifteen chiles, even five is still pretty hot. I developed this recipe for Sopes (page 59), but it can be a table salsa like any other.

Serves 6

Bring a medium saucepan (make sure it’s big enough for all the ingredients) of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add everything, except the olive oil and salt, and bring to a boil again. Lower the heat to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until all the tomatoes are cooked. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the solid ingredients to a blender (discard any liquid from the pan). Add the oil and blend until smooth. Season the salsa to taste with salt and serve.

Just darn good chicken. A straightforward recipe that solves the weeknight dinner dilemma. The magic here is in the salsa; fresh arugula makes all the difference. I have massive amounts growing in the garden and it goes in my soups, my sandwiches, my pasta, and now even in my salsa. It’s just so peppery and good.

Serves 4

Pollo con papas 

Arugula salsa verde

For the pollo con papas, preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the potatoes in a baking dish large enough to hold the chicken. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with your favorite seasoning. Place the spatchcocked chicken, cut side down, on the potatoes. Place pats of butter under the skin of chicken, all over. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add more seasoning (or just salt and black pepper) and scatter the lime slices all over. Place the halved garlic in the pan, buried in the potatoes.

Roast, basting the chicken with pan juices at least three times while cooking, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F at the thigh, about 50 minutes. If the chicken is not cooked through but beginning to brown, loosely cover the breast with a piece of foil.

Combine all the salsa ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve with the roasted chicken.

Frijoles machacados (smashed beans) are a version of refried beans that are much lighter on the fat than the traditional dish, which uses lard. Instead, these use a little butter and olive oil. But if you don’t want to make frijoles de la olla and then the machacados because they take forever, I get it. I’m not going to tell anybody if you substitute a can of refried beans for your sopes. Makes about 2 cups

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the serrano, garlic, and dehydrated onion and cook until the chile begins to brown, about1 minute. Add the beans and chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, frequently mashing only the beans until they become a paste, about 10 minutes. Add more chicken broth or bean cooking liquid, if desired. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Remove and discard the chile, and serve.

Frijoles de la olla is a base recipe for Mexican cuisine, and you must learn to make this to consider yourself any sort of Mexican cook. They are the base for refried beans or frijoles machacados.

There are so many different things you can do with frijoles dela olla, including serve them just as they are, in a soup bowl, with traditional garnishes: crema Mexicana, cilantro, chopped white onion, a ton of flaky sea salt, and if you ask my mom, a drizzle of olive oil. Makes about 6 cups of beans

Combine the drained beans, garlic, onion, and bay leaves in a medium pot. Add 8 cups of water. Do not add salt to the water! Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours. Add more HOT water if the beans are absorbing too much liquid. The beans should be soupy when done, with plenty of liquid remaining. Season the cooked beans with salt and pepper to taste.

The beans can be prepared 5 days ahead. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate. Bring to a boil to reheat before serving.

Excerpted from "Familia" by Marcela Valladolid. Copyright © 2023 by Marcela Valladolid. Photographs by Isabella Martinez-Funcke. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.