With Love, Meghan (2025 s01e06 Episode Script

[birds chirping]
[upbeat soul music playing]
Should we make some breakfast?
In the morning when you wake up ♪
And the sunlight comes around ♪
I love feeding people.
I think it's--
It's probably my love language.
So tonight, I'm hosting a group of friends
for one of our regular game nights,
and I've decided to set up a taco bar
for us to enjoy as we play.
He saw the fridge door open and said
it must be his cue to eat something.
So, before we start
prepping for today's guest,
I was thinking
of a little nourishment to start the day.
Surely that feeling will grow ♪
But only if you let it flow ♪
So I'm gonna make myself
a little avocado toast.
But you gotta smile
Oh, yeah ♪
Take time to just be present.
Sink into the good stuff,
the delicious stuff.
Et voilà.
Mm, so good.
You gotta smile ♪
Oh, you gotta smile ♪
It's the easiest thing
In the world to do ♪
[Michael]
I am so not mad at that breakfast.
[Meghan] Mm!
Now I'm gonna make you
an amazing sandwich.
A manwich.
Oh yeah
I'm always gonna make it alright ♪
[sizzling]
Hey, but you know what? ♪
[Meghan] Mm!
You gotta smile ♪
Oh yeah, smile ♪
Alright, everybody.
All the world will have to… ♪
[Michael] Mm!
[Meghan] The only thing
better than eating food
is making food for someone
and watching them eat it with delight.
Easiest thing in the world ♪
[Michael] Oh my God.
[chuckles] It's good, isn't it?
Upside down ♪
And be all smiles ♪
[music fades]
[jazzy music playing]
All right.
When you go to the grocery store,
sometimes you can get things
that are beautiful
and things that are really affordable.
These are carnations.
How do we make carnations
look stunning and high-end?
By adding them with other flowers.
So let's see what we can do.
You could get a bouquet
at the grocery store. They're pre-made.
You don't need to feel like
you have to take that arrangement home
and just put it in a vase as is.
That's how someone did it.
That's not how you have to do it.
But what's within that pre-made set
still has a lot of potential to be
something a little bit more elevated.
So, let's deconstruct it and reinvent it
and have some gorgeous blooms
for tonight's game night.
So, this is going to be
the same idea as anchoring.
You could use tape. Washi tape is great.
If you don't have washi tape,
[whispers] you can use Scotch tape.
You're going to create
a little grid for yourself.
And it's going to anchor your florals.
They stay in certain areas,
and then you still get a nice effect.
So there's nothing fancy about this,
but it's going to be helpful.
My girlfriends are coming over.
We have all started to learn mah-jongg
together in the past few months.
Mah-jongg started in China in the 1800s,
and we play a version
called American mah-jongg.
What I've come
to really love about mah-jongg,
the game itself is really fun,
but what was so great
was the idea of learning something new
with your friends, together,
and then recognizing that
the mah-jongg becomes the background
of the expansion of friendship.
It's the feeling of community.
I mean, it's really--
It's become special for us. We're all
at such different chapters in our lives.
It's amazing that it's just
as meaningful for me
as it is for Victoria,
or Tracy, or Jennifer.
We all really like it.
[Michael] It does not look
like a store-bought bouquet.
Beautiful bouquet.
Carnations.
That backup singer,
she could be the star of this show.
Well, the boss keeps yelling
Says the work's not like before ♪
Well, the boss keeps yelling
Says the work's not like before ♪
So, game night with the girls,
whoever hosted at their house
makes sure that everyone is fed.
I thought instead
of just ordering food in,
that I could make
some fun bites for all of us.
So I found this great local chef,
and he's going to help me put together
a taco bar with chicken tinga
and fresh ceviche.
I love Mexican food. I'm from LA.
It is such a huge part of our culture
and our understanding
of growing up in such a diverse area.
I think, with Mexican food,
there's so many different iterations
of what it can look like.
And plantain chips dipped in guacamole.
So we can have a healthier chip option.
Sounds pretty good to me.
[doo-wop music plays]
So we're chopping plantains
to make the plantain chips.
We're going to do enough
for two sheet pans lined with parchment.
Pretty straightforward.
We're gonna put these in the oven
at 350 for about ten minutes,
then give them a flip,
another ten minutes and they're done.
Strong peel.
That is a protected plantain.
This is like a mama's grip on a baby.
Don't you go there.
Okay.
So the plantain
should just be a little bit underripe
so it doesn't lose its firmness.
Let's give them some nice seasoning.
A little drizzle of olive oil.
I love the flavor of cumin.
I think it gives a nice smoky quality.
So let's add a little bit of that.
Mm! [inhales] Immediately.
[whispers] Immediately,
I can smell that. I love it.
Tiny, tiny bit of chili lime salt.
Each of us gals have a different palate,
but that to me is great.
These are just
going to be laid out in one layer.
Just don't want them overlapping.
Okay. So that's good.
We'll get these in the oven.
Great.
Chef Ramon is coming,
which I'm really excited about.
He's a great local chef.
He has incredible Mexican cuisine.
So I'm excited to make
some delicious food with him.
Let's freshen up first.
Oh, I don't blame her for leaving me ♪
High and dry without a goodbye ♪
And that's when
I crossed over the borderline ♪
And I lost… ♪
-[Meghan] Hi.
-Hi, how are you?
-Oh, I'm good. So nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you. Of course.
-It's gonna be fun.
-Thank you.
So let me make you a coffee first.
You like, um, iced Americano I hear?
[Ramon] Sure.
I don't know if you understand
my love of Mexican cuisine
and how you've elevated it,
but still taste that real depth of flavor.
You know, like,
I eat it all the time, so I forget.
When people tell me, like,
"Oh, your food is so good,"
then I'm like, "Oh, thank you so much."
-Cheers. [in Spanish] Salud.
-Cheers.
[Ramon] Mm. Really good. Thank you.
My girlfriends
are coming over for game night.
-Oh, fun.
-Yes.
And I thought it's always easy to do
some sort of, like, taco bar,
so people can mix and match.
I made some plantain chips yesterday.
But even how do we elevate the flavors?
How do we make a ceviche
even brighter, better?
-Yeah.
-And I thought,
-who's local that can help me?
-[chuckles]
-Yeah. Fun.
-So I'm thrilled that you're here.
So tell me, tell me where we even jump in.
-[Ramon] We're going to make some tinga.
-[Meghan] It's tinga time.
So tinga is,
it's a little bit of soul food.
It's a great dish that it's easy to learn.
[Meghan] Almost like a stew, right?
Just chicken,
this great smoky tomato sauce.
-Exactly.
-I'll get us some chicken. Chicken breast?
Uh, we're going to do chicken breast.
We're going to grab a little water.
And while I'm in the fridge,
is there anything else?
Carrots, celery, onions.
Anything you can, uh,
you can make a great broth.
Okay.
-[Ramon] A teaspoon of salt.
-Mm-hm.
[Ramon] And we leave it there
for about 35 minutes or so.
Great. So onion, celery, carrots,
just a typical mirepoix.
Yeah. Since we are going
to strain this broth, like,
I usually just cut it in half. So, like,
the flavor goes into our stock.
We can add those vegetables too,
or chicken.
Yeah, perfect. Yeah, there you go.
It's interesting. So it really
is the base of just making a stock.
Mm-hm. While that's going,
we're going to make our tinga sauce.
Great. This is what I really
want to learn how to make.
[Ramon] Tinga is always tomatoes, right?
We can do like ten or so tomatoes.
One thing that I like to remove
is a little bit of this part.
-The core part.
-Yeah, the core part.
Then we're doing garlic.
I have some onion here.
In Mexico, if you go to a traditional
taquería in Mexico City, for instance,
half of it is onion. But it's a way to…
-Sure, yeah, you can stretch that meal.
-[chuckles]
[Ramon] Okay, so right now
we're going to roast our tomatoes.
[Meghan] Mm!
We're going to do a little of spices.
-One thing I like to do is toast herbs.
-[Meghan] Toast them first.
We can do oregano,
we can do a little bay leaf.
Do you have a little cumin?
[Meghan] Yes.
Well, it's also easy, I think,
if people don't have fresh herbs,
to know that you can really
activate the flavor in it
by just giving them a little heat and
toasting them up and it'll bring it out.
[Ramon] Yeah, exactly.
[Meghan] This smells so good.
[Ramon] Here we go.
So we're going to add that here.
Grind that. Yeah.
[Meghan] Who taught you this recipe?
This is a recipe
that I learned from one of my cooks.
He makes this tinga for a staff meal.
And one day,
I went to the restaurant and I tried it.
I'm like, "What's going on in here?
This is not on the menu."
-"What are you guys eating?"
-[chuckles]
And I tried it
and I actually liked it better.
Staff meals are always so much better
at a restaurant sometimes
than the one that you
actually get out at service
because it's just,
it's the feeling of community.
That's what I love so much
about cooking and eating together.
And sometimes,
when you're not overthinking a recipe,
you're just thinking intuitively.
they're probably listening to the music,
just cooking from their heart.
-I want to come for a staff meal.
-That'd be amazing.
So I think right now at this point,
we can make our sauce.
-[Meghan] Great.
-[Ramon] We need a blender.
[Meghan in singsong] That we have.
Do you have any feeling in your fingertips
after all these years in the kitchen?
-[Ramon] Yeah, I mean…
-[Meghan chuckling] A little bit?
[Ramon] So I'm just going
to put a little bit of chile.
This is about a teaspoon, right?
So, just, like about that much.
Yeah, so ancho chile, guajillo.
Guajillo is a little spicy,
so I'm going to do a little less.
[Meghan] I can always add.
-You can always add. There you go.
-I can always put some good heat in it.
[Ramon] Add a little bit of chicken stock.
[whirring]
[Ramon] So right now
we're going to sear our onions.
-[Meghan] Listo.
-[Ramon] Break them.
[sizzling]
So I'm going to do this here.
[Meghan] Mm! Woo!
See how that just lifted
all that beautiful caramelization there.
-Ooh.
-So we'll bring the chicken in here.
-Here we go.
-Ready?
Mm-hmm.
I'm going to put
a chicken here on a resting rack.
It'll cool while we shred the chicken.
Right now, like, our job is to shred it.
I usually grab two forks.
-Oh, great.
-So one fork holds it.
-The other fork pulls it.
-That's easier.
[Ramon] So while you're doing that,
I'm gonna chop a couple chipotles.
This is how I know you're a seasoned chef.
You're like,
"While you do that,
I'm just going to chop a chili."
[pop music playing]
Seems like you love cooking.
Like, you know?
I love cooking.
I love being able to make something
and be creative,
but I love feeding people.
Hm? Maybe that's a mom thing,
but even before I had kids,
I just loved the idea of being able to see
someone go, [gasps] "That's so good!"
And knowing that you were a part of that.
-Can I start to fold this in?
-Yeah, yeah. Perfect time for that.
-How much salt would you put in?
-Poquito más. There you go.
-More?
-No, I think that's good.
-Let's taste it.
-Good. Let's see how we did.
-Try one? That's great.
-Yeah.
-We'll just get in there.
-I want a piece of the chicken.
Mm! The chicken's cooked perfectly.
Mm-hmm. The saltiness of the chip,
kind of like, now mix it.
-And the corn and everything, perfect.
-All going to come together.
-Yep.
-[Meghan] Brilliant.
Mm! This will go so well
with the cocktails I'm planning.
You know it's true
That my love for you ♪
Will always be a growing concern ♪
I'm going to invest in your happiness ♪
And I want nothing in return ♪
[Meghan] I'm very fortunate to be from
a place that has an abundance of citrus.
And my home also has a lot of fruit trees.
I grew up with nothing like this.
But you can't keep up
with how much citrus you get.
So we share it with friends.
We donate it to a local food bank.
And at a certain point,
when you have beautiful citrus like this,
or if you go to the grocery store
or the farmer's market
and they have amazing blood oranges,
if you're not going
to use all of it to make juice,
a great way to preserve that flavor
is to dehydrate your citrus.
Be it blood oranges,
or limes, or navel oranges.
It can be a beautiful garnish,
but it's great in a cocktail.
Because we're having some margaritas,
let's make some blood orange citrus rings
to join this party.
Though I have a food dehydrator,
because this became a project that I was
doing more often than I thought I would…
Actually, my mom
bought it for us for Christmas.
So we use it.
But you can put this in the oven,
just like those plantain chips
went into the oven.
But unlike plantain chips,
you're not baking these.
You're drying them out low and slow.
There's such a brightness
of flavor in this.
I don't think you need to season it.
You could certainly put
a little bit of salt on
to just bring the sweetness out.
You could also put
some of that chili lime seasoning on that
if you know it's going to go
into a spicy margarita.
You can also be a purist about it.
So let's just do a couple trays
at the same time.
These aren't just good for cocktails.
You can add them
to a charcuterie board for a pop of color,
or as a seasoning for a soup or a stew,
or, I mean, honestly,
even to infuse olive oil.
And they make a really good gift, too.
Maybe the lemon ends up being
for a great sparkling lemonade,
or a lavender lemonade cocktail,
and you put
that dehydrated citrus ring in there.
Good old navel oranges in there.
If during the holiday
you're doing a spiced cider,
you have a ring of dehydrated orange
that you can put in that.
It will make it look so beautiful.
It'll present well.
It's just adding that extra bit of decor
to the things that we eat
because we eat with our eyes first.
So we have our blood orange,
our lemon, lime, and navel oranges.
They're all gonna go
into the food dehydrator
at 130 degrees for six to eight hours.
See you later, ladies.
We'll close that up.
[beep]
I love ceviche, so we're going
to make a beautiful, fresh ceviche
-with halibut from the fish market.
-Right.
What do we do to start?
Because there's lots of elements to it.
You know, ceviche is, like,
there's so many ways of doing it.
[Meghan] And it's like you're cooking
seafood with an acid like citrus.
Exactly. And we're making
a leche de tigre.
-Ooh, tiger's milk?
-Tiger's milk from Peru.
Usually, tiger's milk
is just the lime, salt, fish.
-And this is our take on a leche de tigre.
-Mm!
-So we have some red blood oranges here.
-Mm-hm.
Uh, pixie tangerines from Ojai.
And then also we have
a little bit of yuzu here,
a juice of Japanese citrus.
It's almost like
between an orange and a tangerine.
[Meghan] Mm!
I want a little bit
of the zest of this for a sauce.
-Mm-hm.
-There's so much flavor in the skin.
So juice all of this.
[jazz music playing]
-Uh…
-Oh!
-Yep.
-[chuckles]
-You're good, you're good. You're good.
-Oh, I'm fine. Woke us all up.
[Ramon] Usually, you put
a quarter cup of each thing.
-Right now we're going to eyeball it.
-Eyeball it.
While you do that,
I'm going to slice a red onion here.
A little carrot.
I think the carrot gives it a nice color.
So now we put all our citrus.
So after this,
we're going to taste it and see.
[slams]
-What did that blender ever do to you?
-I don't know.
[Meghan] And still you're keeping it low
so that it doesn't just become mush.
[whirring]
-Gorgeous.
-[Ramon] I want to taste it.
[Meghan hums]
That's beautiful.
[Ramon] Or you can,
uh, strain this, the sauce.
[Meghan] Sure, got it.
[Ramon] And then when you do that,
I'm gonna slice some of our things
that we need for the garnishes.
I'm telling you, my right arm
is so strong from today.
[Ramon] It's a good workout.
[Meghan] I know,
this poor little neglected left arm.
What am I going to do? So the ice
in those shaved or mandoline vegetables,
it just keeps the texture intact?
Exactly. It keeps them crispy.
So right now
we have all of our components here.
And you had said to put the raw fish
in the freezer for just a couple minutes
so it slices easier.
[Ramon] Exactly.
For what we're doing today,
I think probably going
to slice it a little bit thicker
just because the halibut
tends to overcook.
-Oh, okay.
-So we're going to do that.
In the citrus,
it'll overcook because of the acid.
[Ramon] Exactly. In Peru,
they would cut their fish like this.
Right, those almost square-sized chunks.
Yeah, exactly. This is already good.
-Yes.
-We could eat it like this if we want to.
-You can help me and then add--
-Now you're speaking my language.
-You can add whatever you like.
-Okay.
That's like art. Do whatever feels,
like, natural and good, you know?
[pleasant music playing]
-If you want to put the sauce on or--
-Yeah, here we go.
-Just tell me how much you typically do.
-You can do as much as you want.
You can do it
right on the top of the fish.
[Meghan] I love the translucence
of those radishes. It presents so nicely.
-This is my favorite part, the plating.
-Right?
[Meghan] Yeah, so amazing
when food can be art.
-[Ramon] Looks so good.
-I'm excited to taste this.
-Ready?
-Yes, absolutely.
-Make sure you get a bit of everything.
-A nice balance of flavor.
-It's really about the sauce.
-Thank you! It's really about the sauce.
-Yeah.
-Okay, one bite.
-Cheers.
-Thank you.
Okay, let's go.
Mm!
-Beautiful.
-Brilliant.
-Thank you. This is incredible.
-You're very welcome.
I'm thrilled.
-Well…
-The girls are going to be so happy.
-Well done!
-Thank you.
Thank you.
And now everything's ready for my friends.
Baby, I'll always, always… ♪
-[Meghan] You look beautiful.
-[Tracy] Thanks.
Come on in. This is Tracy, everybody.
-[woman] Hi, Tracy.
-[Michael] Rolling, everybody. Hi, Tracy.
[Meghan] I made those
plantain chips yesterday.
I just put them in the oven
for ten minutes.
-Those are good.
-Yeah, you just slice them up.
I put a bit of chili lime salt on them
and called it a day.
So I don't know what time
Victoria and Jennifer are coming over.
-Okay.
-I have my maj set.
-But I think Jennifer's bringing hers.
-Yes, she is.
-Since we all like those tiles.
-Yes. Yours are pretty, though, too.
[Meghan] Have we played with your set?
I don't know.
No, not really, because Jennifer
is very much about her set.
[both giggle]
So it's a maj-- Maj drama.
-It's a maj-off.
-[laughs] It really is.
-[Meghan] You want to start on cocktails?
-[Tracy] Yes, please.
[Meghan] So we have four mason jars
because we like to drink
different things, I'm assuming.
-Yes.
-We know that Jennifer likes grapefruit.
So we'll do for her
grapefruit juice and tequila.
And then I feel like you and I
are both the same way.
We want margaritas,
lower sugar, a little bit of kick to it.
A little more than a little bit of kick.
-I just mean in terms of spiciness.
-Oh, yes. Sorry.
Yeah! [laughs] Yes, exactly.
And then Victoria, who's like,
"No, no, honey, I don't drink."
-We'll give her a classic margarita.
-She's so funny.
"I don't drink, but I'll have some."
What drinking are you talking about?
[Meghan] Here's our tequila.
-Mmm, that smells good.
-[both giggle]
And we're ready.
This is why my mah-jongg game
is never quite as strong.
So one mason jar will give each of us
a drink plus a top-up or two.
Pre-made and custom.
I'll do Victoria
because she's a little bit lightweight.
She kept winning last time, so I'm going
to really try to throw her off her game.
-Don't tell her I did this.
-[laughing] You got that.
Agave for sure for her.
A bit of triple sec for the roundness.
I love how you, like, make drinks
for all of us. It's so sweet.
Well…
-I'd just be like, "Everybody gets beer."
-"Figure it out."
I dehydrated all these citrus rings so
we can make them very precious in there.
That's so sweet.
Drop the limes in that.
She's going to need some lime juice.
So…
Aha. So cute.
-[Meghan] Easy.
-Super easy.
You have a little name tag for her?
[Meghan] I'll make our labels.
That one is "Victoria."
So her marg is ready.
Okay.
[Meghan] One down, three to go.
[upbeat music playing]
We can put one in for garnish.
-Sweet. Let me make a tag.
-Yeah, you should probably…
[Meghan] And then it's time for ours.
Now it's a party!
From here to July ♪
Down at Max's there's a real cool band ♪
The player… ♪
We have the jalapeño.
I'm going to put a few in mine.
-Okay.
-A little kick in there.
We have our lime juice.
-I'm going to throw a little…
-Yeah, beautiful.
…orange. Do you want one or no?
-[Meghan] Please.
-Okay.
[Meghan] Maybe a lime too. Why not?
[upbeat music continues]
Great. Should we try them
and see if they're good?
I think you should try yours for sure.
Movin' on ♪
-Woo!
-[laughs]
All right. So we have our beverages.
We'll put all these in the freezer
to keep them nice and chilled.
-[Tracy] Yeah.
-And then we'll get ready for the girls.
[music fades]
[Michael] I-- I've never seen you…
-Write my name?
-That's how pretty your handwriting is.
No, I've seen your handwriting.
It's great.
Oh, that I call myself Meg?
Yeah.
-Oh. Hi.
-Hi.
[laughs]
[upbeat music playing]
It should be good,
but if you want more, let us know.
Amazing.
-I know you made mine extra…
-We made it extra tame.
-So I don't win.
-[laughter]
[Meghan] Oh yeah, we tried.
We made a joke because
we're always like how Victoria says,
"Oh no, I'm not really drinking."
And then I'm like, "Margarita?"
-Sure!
-My mom's the exact same way.
"Oh, nothing for me tonight."
"Margarita?" "Okay."
-[laughter]
-Here we go. Cheers, ladies.
To the Maj squad.
-[laughter]
-There it is.
She's been waiting to say Maj Squad.
So I had Chef Ramon here,
our wonderful local chef.
And he showed me how to make
his delicious ceviche with halibut
and this chicken tinga.
-[Victoria] Wow!
-[Jennifer] Oh my God!
-[Meghan] The plantain chips I made.
-Oh, wow. And you did the flowers.
[Tracy] So pretty.
And we also made some homemade tortillas.
So it should be delicious. Just dig in.
[Jennifer] When's the cookbook coming?
I haven't thought
about something like that.
I wonder if anybody's done that,
like a Maj, you know, cookbook.
-Like game night cooking?
-Yeah, game night cooking.
-[Victoria] It's so beautiful.
-We want everyone to enjoy.
-[Jennifer] This looks amazing.
-I know. Thank you.
-Oh gosh. You're welcome.
-[Tracy] So yummy.
So good.
And it's not too spicy
and it's really tender.
[Tracy] Thank you.
Oh trust me, I was trying
to have so much heat on that.
I was like,
"No, no, keep everybody happy."
-We love your sriracha and chili and--
-I love the heat! I know, I know, I know.
[Jennifer] Could be the busiest day
and Meg's worried
about every single person's preferences,
their dietary needs…
Doesn't ceviche take a long time
because you have to cure it?
-The shortest time.
-It does?
It starts to cure so quickly
just in the acid from all the citrus.
10-15 minutes, it's already ready to eat.
-[Jennifer] I could eat 17 more of those.
-[Tracy] I know. I'm trying to refrain.
[Jennifer] That's delicious.
[Meghan in singsong]
Love is in the details.
-[Jennifer] Everything is perfection.
-And then we'll get into our game.
One bam.
[Victoria] Five bam.
[Jennifer] Four crak.
There are different categories.
Dots. What else do we see there?
-[Jennifer] Craks.
-[Meghan] Craks.
-[Jennifer] And bams.
-[Meghan] Bamboo.
And so you're trying to complete
one of those sets.
Do you remember the very first time
we played this ever? [laughs]
-We didn't know what we were doing.
-I felt like I wanted to raise my hand.
And then you become the ringer.
[cheerful music playing]
Why not? I'll take it.
-[Victoria] Woo!
-Wow.
Ah-ah-ah-ah!
You are a wild lady.
This is making me itch.
[laughter]
[Meghan] Bam bird.
Somebody asked why we like to play
mah-jongg and sort of the thought of is,
like, we get to make order out of chaos.
-[Tracy] That's true.
-[Jennifer] We're still in chaos moment.
But we're a great support system.
We're, you know, we're definitely
a cheerleading group for one another.
We're always like helping each other out.
[Meghan] And then that's why it's so fun.
And then we also get to have
lots of tasty bites and cocktails.
It's the best.
All I need is your tender lovin' ♪
That's all that matters to me ♪
All I need is your love and affection ♪
That's what's important to me ♪
I'm not searchin'
For the kind of lovin' ♪
That I was missing before ♪
I'm so happy that we found each other ♪
And I don't need any more ♪
All I need is your tender lovin' ♪
That's all that matters to me ♪
[music fades]