Rancho Gordo: Experiments from my mostly New World kitchen and gardens

We'll be closing at 2pm PST on New Year's Eve.

Bean Art: Virgen de Guadalupe

We have some great workers here at Rancho Gordo from Napa Valley Support Services. They help with the bean weighing, bagging and general production. The program also has an arts project, the Brown Street Gallery, and for our opening a few weeks ago, they produced this amazing portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe using Rancho Gordo beans!

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw it. It's just beautiful and it's impossible not to appreciate how many hours of work went into it.

It's going to the frame shop next week so it'll be out of commission for part of January but I hope you come by and see it in person sooner than later. We've learned that florescent lights and UV rays make the beans darker so the sooner we get this into a protected frame, the better!

Hey! It's Christmas Time!

Did you notice?

We're open here at Rancho Gordo Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 11am to 5:30 p.m. and on Christmas Eve we'll close at 2pm.

We will be closed on Saturday, the 26th.

On Tuesday and Thursday, Elizabeth and I will be at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Markets from 10am to 2pm, both days. I'll have The Book to sell, but if I won't be offended if you bought it elsewhere and want me to sign it. You'll just have to deal with me complaining (really bragging!) about how my hand hurts from signing so many books this season.

You Say Posole, I Say Pozole

I was going to post about the tradition of making a posole for Christmas Eve. For me, it's easy, delicious and a nice contrast to the inevitably debauched  feast that awaits us the next day. An article on Serious Eats sidetracked me.

The posole recipe looks great but the ingredient list contains "1 pound dried white flint corn" with no other instructions for treating the corn. Posole is hominy, pure and simple. The corn has been treated by soaking it in cal and then rinsed. In the southwest, there is a dried flint corn that has been treated like this and in English, we call it Prepared Hominy and in Mexico it's known as nixtamal. We sell Prepared Hominy.

My recipe for Posole Verde is here.

Just to confuse things, in America, the corn and the finished dish are called posole. In Mexico, only the finished dish is called pozole.

In the southwest, you can buy posole dried (as I describe above), frozen or canned. You can also buy friend flint corn but you'll need to treat it, which isn't hard. In Mexico, the dried, treated hominy (or nixtamal) isn't available, or at least I've never seen it.

My guess is that the author isn't aware of how regional the prepared hominy is or maybe she's not even aware that she's using it. Regarding making nixtamal, she writes, "Doing this is more important for making tamales and tortillas by hand, but not so much for corn soups. I don't find that the skin makes an unpleasant addition to the texture, and the kernels do bloom by themselves with stewing." If you look at the photo of the corn, it's clearly nixtamal, without the skin.

It's all may seem a little confusing but it's nothing compared to grits in the south. You get some great debates on that subject. Is it simply coarse polenta or is it hominy?

Honey Beans

One of my favorite books is Frank X. Tolbert's A Bowl of Red, a tribute to Texas chili. He of course insists on bean-less chili. I understand but I still like a few mixed in. It doesn't need to be that thick mass like the mess you find in cans. But to each his own. 

Despite his chili stance, Señor Tolbert is a huge pinto bean fan. In fact, he has a recipe of sorts for Honey beans. He says you should cook the pintos as normal, trading two or three spoonfuls of honey for salt pork. You cook until tender and serve with hot buttered corn bread, and covered with more honey.

I would have thought that the honey would harden the beans but maybe I'm wrong.

Another sweet bean treat was the pinto bean pie from the now defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery. I wish I had the recipe.

Look Lovely, Be Lovely

We're busy packing orders, eating Butter Cream donuts and chugging coffee. The place is a scene. But for a few moments, before the Open House on Saturday, Rancho Gordo looked great and I wanted to show you some photos.

We're Open

This lovely piece is by an exciting new artist, 8-year old Nico Sando. His preferred medium is beans on cardboard but with his latest work, he's incorporated crimson popcorn, surely a comment on the Mexican saying, Sin Maiz no hay pais (or Without corn there is no country). Or could it be a thinly veiled barb at NAFTA and US trade agreements? Or perhaps it's simply his insight into man's inhumanity to man. Whatever way, I'm sure you'll join me in welcoming this exciting young talent to the art scene.

And the sign is true! We are open and finally full on committed to our little retail venture. Tonight is our open house and you are invited. We're expecting a big turnout but the rain is supposed to be nasty, so who knows? We'll have more bean art, churros and chocolate atole, delicious wine from Miner Family Winery and of course beans!

In addition to the beans, we now proudly have our own hand-carved molcajetes, bean pots and cazuelas, among other things. These aren't available from our mail order so you'll need to make the pleasant trek to Napa to see them in person.

Rancho Gordo
1924 Yajome St
Napa CA 94559
707/259-1935

Open Monday-Friday from 11:00am to 5:30 pm
Saturday 11am to 5:00pm

A New Mexican Oregano: Oreja de Raton

We're swamped with your holiday orders so blogging has taken a back seat to day to day business, but I wanted to show you what's coming in sometime over the next few days.

It's an indigenous Mexican oregano called Rat's Ear. Unlike the more common Mexican oregano, it doesn't have a citrus flavor. Instead, it's really earthy. A lot of times when we cook Mexican food stateside, it's very good but there's something unidentifiable missing and I suspect it's herbs like this that make a dish go from good to stellar.

I'll post back when it's available.

Good Mother Stallard

You probably know, but I wanted to remind you that we have Good Mother Stallards back. With maybe the exception of Runner Cannellini, their absence from our stock has been the most painful.

They're great for so many reasons but I think it's their "pot likker" that gets me the most.

Sour Prickly Pears (Xoconostle) in Napa!

Ever since my first taste of xoconostle in Guanajuato many years ago, I've been a little sad that I haven't been able to grow or find them here in California. I tried to grow them but it didn't work. I'd almost given up.

Then one day, the heavens decided to smile on me and introduced me to my new food friend, Noel, and with very little sleuthing, he discovered them here in Napa.

When Noel brought me my stash, I quickly fainted. When I came to, I ran from work and went home and tried to recreate a salsa my friends in Mexico had taught me. First the xoconostle were roasted in their skin. I may have gone too far but the charring never reached the flesh of the fruit. I also roasted garlic and briefly toasted some guajillo chiles, all on the comal. I reconstituted the chiles in water and then blended all of the ingredients with some salt in the blender, adding a little water to help the blades move.

It made a delicious salsa. The xoconostle adds a meaty fruitiness that can't be replicated without them. First job for the sauce was to doctor up a poached egg on beans. It worked!

Fun with Duck Fat

(One more forom the archives before my holiday ends!)

Several people have told me about how nice popcorn is cooked with duck fat rather than regular oil. I'd been using olive oil and feeling pretty indulgent but this takes the cake.

Use about a teaspoonful for a big bowl of popcorn and you won't need butter. I have one of those fun crank stove-top popcorn makers and this works quite well. A little salt and all is good!

While the duck fat was easy to reach, I made breakfast by frying boiled, cubed potatoes in a wee but of duck fat, along with a minced red onion and garlic. I topped these potatoes with two poached eggs and some strips (rajas) of poblano chiles that had been charred and skinned. It was a rather good morning!

Turkey Enchiladas

(Another "encore presentation" until I get back from Texas. - Steve)

Every year it seems like Turkey Curry is the featured after-Thanksgiving recipe in most of the newspapers. I suspect most of us just pick at the turkey until it's finished. My mother was famous for her Turkey-Rice Soup. Famous? Maybe not, but we all loved it.

I made enchiladas last night with some leftover chile sauce from my breakfast chilaquiles. The tortillas were dipped first in hot corn oil until soft, then in the chile sauce. Inside I rolled some boiled potatoes (from Little Farms in West Marin), some of the turkey and some chopped raw onion. The enchiladas were topped off with more chile sauce.

The recipe for a chile sauce is here.

Cascabel chile sauce

Hola, comrades! I'm in Texas with my oldest son to see NASA, Fonda San Miguel and a bunch of old friends so I'm offering you an "encore presentation" of this post, which is double speak for recycling old posts so that I can go on a holiday. I don't think you'll mind this week, though.
-Steve

This is one of the easiest salsas imaginable. It's nutty and has a very mild heat. I've been putting it in a squeeze bottle and smothering my eggs with it. Last night I used it with a little beer to de-glaze a pan that had turkey cutlets frying in it earlier.

Take about 10 cascabel chiles and remove the stems and seeds, reserving the seeds. Toast on a hot comal or grill until gently toasted. Don't let them burn or they will be bitter and inedible but if you don't toast them they will have a raw, unpleasant taste. Remove the toasted chiles and place them in a blender jar. Now toast the reserved seeds until brown. Add these to the jar, along with 2 cloves of garlic, a little salt and about 3/4 cup of water. Blend well, adding more water if needed. Allow to stand for a few minutes so it can thicken up. You can add a little water if it's too thick. It's that simple.

More Shots from the Missions

More scenes from a good Sunday.

Holiday Shopping

I'm almost embarrassed to mention it this early, but I did want to warn you that our cut off date for Christmas shopping is December 15. You can order after that, but at your own peril. We can always try and help you ship overnight but keep in mind that beans are heavy and the cost to send them express is just short of insane.

I haven't even started thinking about it but I know there are many of you who are much more organized and I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Missions, Bean Pots and a Road Trip

My youngest son and I have decided to take road trips to visit all the old missions in California. It was a whim at one point but now we've started and our adventure has begun.

This last weekend we hit Mission San Jose (which oddly enough isn't in San Jose, but nearby Fremont), Mission San Rafael and Mission San Francisco de Solano in Sonoma. He's only 8 but he has a good eye for photos and he's an excellent dining companion, once he remembers to eat with his mouth closed.

As a 4th grader in the California school system, my joy was building a sugar cube mission with my father. We chose San Juan Capistrano and I'm pretty sure my results were a little sad but I've always had some kind of connection to these beautiful buildings with olive trees and figs. In my day, we were taught that the Indians were happy go lucky assistants to the missionaries. I'm glad Nico knows the beauty of the missions is a double edged sword.

With our last stop being Sonoma, we of course had to visit the Bram shop and be tempted by the clay pots and infectious enthusiasm of Ash and Shelley.

It seems I wasn't able to go away empty handed! You just want to rub the belly of this pot and you know good beans are coming.

They don't have many and it's not on the web, so I think you'll need to call them if you want one for yourself.

Shrimp Soup with Mexican Vanilla

Not long ago I bought an interesting and beautiful book called La Vainilla Mexicana (Mexican Vanilla). One of the more interesting soups involved shrimp and vanilla and as soon as I read about it I knew I had to make it.

I didn't have time to translate the directions so I just made a soup using the ingredients and it was a thing of glory.

I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil and then added a chopped bunch of epazote, one rehydrated dried chipotle chile, and 1 chopped tomato. After they were cooked, I blended them in the blender with a little water and then returned the liquid to a soup pot (clay, natch). I added some chicken stock and when it was hot, I added about a pound of shrimp and a capful of our own Mexican vanilla extract. The shrimp cooked within minutes and I have to say it was a really wonderful dish. 

Remember that our vanilla was sourced by vanilla guru Patricia Rain and contains no funny business, as some Mexican extracts can. Vanilla is a Mexican orchid so it's fitting that the best should come from New Spain.

I'm all ears if you have other savory ideas for vanilla. This was inspiring.

Heritage Beans at Rancho Luna

I look back over this year and I can count seven trips to Mexico! What a lucky fellow I am! One of the highlights was surely a magical weekend at Dianne Kushner's Casa Luna in San Miguel de Allende. Dianne runs what must be one the most beautiful places to stay in town and now she has an incredible ranch that sees a lot of weddings, parties and cooking classes.

I was at Rancho Luna for a big pig cookoff with Dianne's friends but after a tour of the ranch and meeting some of the gardeners (who are producing some incredible organic vegetables), we arranged to plant some of the rarer beans from the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project and see if they could adapt to Rancho Luna. 

We planted some cream-colored runners among the established heirloom corn Dianne had growing.

The hope is that she'll have a crop she can save seed from and start a tradition of bean-growing at Rancho Luna. We ate the leftover seed as part of the big luncheon at the ranch and we all agreed their flavor was worth preserving.

Above you can see me with the Xoxoc kids, Gabriel, Yunuen and Antonio. We'd been traveling a lot this summer and it was a real treat to rest awhile in the lap of luxury at Casa Luna.

My beloved Ruth Alegria was there to prepare what appears to be some magical pork!

Making a xoconostle salsa.

After dinner, we talked a little bit about our dishes and I of course went on about the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project. In the photo above, I'm volunteering Yunuen to explain Xoxoc's unique work with the sour prickly pears, xoconostle, and she is clearly thrilled that I have caught her unprepared. She did great, despite my ambush! 

In addition to us, Casa Luna hosted the hummingbird nest above. I've never seen anything like it.

I hope you get to experience Dianne's hospitality at Casa Luna sooner than later. Her sense of style is legendary and in addition to a flair for decorating, she has an incredible eye for textiles and personally I think she should do a book on her collection. She's also incredibly fun.

Judy Witts Francini is bringing Italy to Mexico for a special series of classe at Casa Luna in January. More information.

(The photos are from Ruth, the Xoxoc kids, and me)

Rancho Gordo Store Update

So we've been quietly open for awhile now but it's time to really open the stores and embrace the retail world. Right? Right!

Starting immediately, we're open on Saturdays from 11am to 5pm. And during the week you can shop from 11am until 5:30 pm. We may expand these hours but let's not rush things!

Save the Date: We'll be having an open house at Rancho Gordo on December the 12th.

Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Food is located just north of downtown Napa at 1924 Yajome Street (at Jackson, near Lincoln).

Tunas

This weekend's harvest. Just because!

Zuppa Alla Frantoiana o Ribollita

Online pal Nicole Krakora writes with what looks to be an amazing ribollita recipe:

As promised, here is the recipe that I use as a starting point.  I jotted it down while we were making it in Tuscany, so I usually just use the measurements listed as a guide and sometimes add more or less of items depending on my mood.  I also look at the market and add whatever other vegetables are in season (peas, parsnips, etc.).  The basic idea is to make a bean broth and add a variety of vegetables to make a hearty dish.

 

Also, I usually double the beans called for in the recipe.  Then I pass ½ of the beans and liquid through a food mill and leave the other ½ whole so there are whole beans in the soup as well.  Borlotti beans are traditional for this dish, but I like to make a blend of whatever meaty beans I have on hand to shake things up a bit.

 

I also add a rind from some Parmigiano-reggiano to the soup pot to add some additional depth of flavor.

 

Use the very best quality olive oil you can find, since you will be drizzling it into the soup when you serve it.

 

This is a really hearty soup and is just so flavorful.   It freezes very well.  Buon appetito!!

Zuppa Alla Frantoiana o Ribollita

Olive Presser’s Soup (Ribollita)

(Recipe by Sandra Lotti – Toscana Saporita cooking school, Italy)

 

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 medium carrots, minced

2 celery stalks, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 medium onions, minced

2 leeks, white part only, minced

10 fresh sage leaves

8 leaves Swiss chard, stalks removed and roughly chopped

1 small head savoy cabbage, roughly chopped

10 leaves black kale, stalks removed and roughly chopped

6 ounces canned Italian (San Marzano) plum tomatoes, shredded and with liquid reserved

2 celery stalks, diced

2 small carrots, diced

2 small zucchini, diced

1 bulb fennel, diced

1 cup freshly shelled peas (if available)

2 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

3 leaves fresh basil

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

2 pounds butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cut into small chunks

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

salt and fresh ground black pepper

2 pounds dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight, drained and cooked in water along with 1 clove garlic, 1 red onion, and fresh sage, add salt after beans are tender

freshly ground nutmeg

slices of peasant style bread

very best quality extra virgin olive oil

Parmigiano-reggiano cheese

 

1. Cook beans in water with 1 clove garlic, 1 red onion and fresh sage until tender.  Add salt to taste.  Set aside.

 

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy-gauge pot over low heat.  Add the minced carrot, celery, onion, garlic, leeks, and sage, and cook, stirring frequently until translucent, about 10 minutes.  This is your base (or soffritto).

 

3. Add the cabbage, black kale, Swiss chard, canned tomatoes and stir until well blended.  Cook for 10 minutes, covered.

 

4. Add the remainder of the ingredients, except for the salt, pepper, thyme, nutmeg and bread.  Increase the heat to medium, cover and cook 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

 

5. Meanwhile, pass the beans and their liquid through a food mill and add the mash to the soup pot.  Cook for another hour over low heat, covered.  Stir occasionally.

 

6. Check salt and pepper and season to taste.  Add freshly grated nutmeg to taste.

 

7. Serve hot over sliced peasant bread and drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil.  Garnish with shaved Parmigiano-reggiano.

 

 

Serves 4.  Leftover Ribollita can be frozen up to 2 months.

A Great Party at the Jimtown Store

Carrie Brown and staff hosted a really fine party at the Jimtown Store this last Sunday for Day of the Dead. What a hoot! Six different beans were prepared by chef Peter Brown for tasting, along with salsas and handmade tortillas. Later in the afternoon, the kitchen turned out hot chocolate and churros to accompany the sugar skull decorating. The weather, the friends and the food were all amazing.

Event: PRIMAL - Napa

PRIMAL - Napa
“Celebrating Fire Cooking, Meat and the Art of Butchering”
November 7th, 2009
 
WHAT: Taste Network presents “PRIMAL Napa”, the first annual, outdoor gathering of local butchers and chefs preparing a bounty of heritage meats over hardwood fires. Held at Chase Cellars’ Hayne Vineyards, guests will be able to explore chefs’ creations along side great California wines. The event will also feature meats and heirloom vegetables from Napa Valley’s Hudson Ranch and a multi-animal breakdown demonstration by local butchers keeping the art alive.

WHO:
Chris Cosentino, Incanto and Boccalone
Staffan Terje, Perbacco
Taylor Boetticher, Fatted Calf
Scott Boggs, Hudson Ranch
Ryan Farr, 4505 Meats
Avedano's Holly Park Market
Dave the Butcher
Star Meats Berkeley
Jeremy Fox of Ubuntu will prepare heirloom vegetables
Peter Jacobsen, Jacobsen Orchards
Magnolia Brewing and Alembic (Daniel Hyatt)
Charbay Distillers in high spirits
Rancho Gordo Beans and much more...

Wines: Chase Cellars, Terra Valentine, Hill Family Estate, Hirsch Vineyards, Frias Vineyards, Gamble Family Vineyards, Miner Wines, Erna Schein-Behrens Family Winery, Pey-Marin Vineyards, Steltzner Vineyards, Macauley Vineyard, Murphy Goode Winery, Pax Wine Cellars and Zacherle Wines.

WHEN: Saturday, November 7, 2009 3 to 9 pm

WHERE: Chase Cellars’ Hayne Vineyard - 2252 Sulphur Springs, St. Helena, CA 94574
This is an outdoor event, rain or shine, attendees should plan accordingly.

WHY: A portion of the proceeds will benefit the St. Helena Farmers’ Market and the City of Napa Fire Explorers program.

HOW: The cost is $65 per person and is open to the public. VIP tickets are $100 and include reserve wines, grilled artisan whole cheese wheels, wood-fired oysters, Allan Benton’s Bacon Bar and more. For tickets visit www.artofthebutcher.com or call 404.849.3569 for more information.

PROMO CODE: $10 OFF – enter “555”
 
###
 
Taste Network is a Georgia-based company delivering experiential services to the artisan wine and cheese industries. The company’s mission is to provide cultured events and education focused around artisan wine, cheese and cuisine to its clients and the public at large. They also produce COCHON 555 (5 chefs, 5 pigs and 5 winemakers), a ten city culinary tour where renowned chefs prepare heritage pigs in a head to toe competition. The tour brings together top chefs, winemakers, farmers, thought-leaders, foodies, media and the general public to promote breed diversity and whole animal utilization.  www.tastenetwork.com <http://www.tastenetwork.com/>  

Media Contact: Carolina Uribe
404-201-0796 - carolina@tastenetwork.com

website: http://www.artofthebutcher.com
FaceBook page: http://www.facebook.com/cochon555
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/artofthebutcher

Mexico Invests in Beans

I've been holding on to this item, sent to me by Mexico Bob this last summer. These last few years we've sen more and more Chinese and American beans in Mexico, which you'd think would be a little like bringing coals to Newcastle but Mexico has experienced some nasty droughts and bean consumption on the whole is down. Cheap imports are going to nudge some bean farmers right out of business. 

The Bean Congress mentioned is the very one I was at this summer in Zacatecas. At the time, I made the observation that like the US, bean producers are concentrating on making beans cheaper and easier to grow and harvest and zipidy do da is being spent on flavor.

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government plans to invest 500 million pesos (383,550 U.S. dollars) annually in training bean farmers to reduce the nation's imports, Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas said on Wednesday.

    "Via the (government-backed) Produce Foundation, we are investing around 500 million pesos a year to broadcast the knowledge that the National Food and Produce Research Agency is discovering," Cardenas said at the opening of the International Bean Congress and Fair held in the central Mexican state of Zacateacas.

    Mexico produced 1.12 million tons of beans last year. Meanwhile, imports have risen to 94,000 tons. Despite the large acreage of farmlands devoted to beans, Mexico is still far behind Brazil, the world's largest bean producer, as well as India, China and Myanmar, Cardenas observed.

    The government has also laid out a 12-point plan to help farmers, Cardenas added.

    The plan includes improving seed technology, machinery investment assistance, modernizing logistics and storage centers, and promoting consumption.

As an aside, if you have even a casual interest in things Mexican, Bob's blog is a must-read. Always thoughtful and provocative, I always feel humbled when I read his posts.

Mexico Bob blog link.

Sophie's Black Midnights

Sophie worked for us at the farmers market in San Francisco and I can easily say she was a favorite customers and staff alike. We miss her a lot. She would experiment with the beans and always come back with a story and what follows is her adventures with out black Midnight turtle beans.

I probably shouldn't speak of her in he past tense as she's thriving in the Pacific Northwest!

-Steve

I made this the other night and it was soooo good! A lovely, very simple summer dinner. I thought you might like to share it with our customers, or whatever. Sorry it's not very exact or well laid-out, I just made it up and tried to write it down later. It would have easily served 4-5 people as a main dish. We had it with grilled summer squash and fried squash blossoms stuffed w/ goat cheese and fresh basil. Yum!

Ingredients:
about 1/4 - 1/2 lb. black midnight beans, cooked + drained (in the RG manner, of course! I used lard to sauté the onion and garlic, and added bay leaf, and toasted, freshly ground cumin and chili de arbol). I'm sure other kinds of beans would work great, too.
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
about 1.5 - 2 lbs fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 chili de arbol, toasted and ground
4 ears sweet corn
juice of 1-2 limes
fresh epazote and cilantro, coarsely chopped

I marinated the shrimp and tomatoes in the lime juice and the ground spices + chili for about an hour, then put everything on bamboo skewers.

We got the BBQ going and grilled the corn (in its husks), and then the skewers of shrimp and tomatoes.

Cut the kernels off the corn cobs and mixed them with the beans, shrimp, and tomatoes, and sprinkled the whole thing with salt and the epazote & cilantro.

It was delicious, and just as good the next day, too.

"Sophie, come back!" - Steve and staff