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

Random Shots

Veracruz

Women's Folk Arts in Berkeley and Sonoma

My friend Peggy Stein and her family import all sorts of off-beat treasures from Mexico into the US but I think her most important work is with lead-free pottery, making things better for both the consumer and worker. She's also curated a show of crafts that is worth your attention, especially if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The details follow.

(This is a photo of my friend Chabela and it has nothing to do with the event but it's a nice shot and she's one of those strong Mexican women who hold things together and i felt she needed a little time in the spotlight.)

 

"EN LAS MANOS DE LAS MUJERES"-- presented by Mexico By Hand.

Join us for a very special  Mexican Folk Art and Fine Crafts exhibit and video presentation of award-winning Purepecha craftswomen of Michoacán, whose talent and creativity is changing the role of women in their families and communities. The artisans’ stories are compelling, as they reveal their personal struggles living in traditional villages where historically women are valued less than men. Come meet artists, Martina Navarro and Herlinda Morales and see their amazing work!
All of the crafts by these amazing artists is for sale: Candelabras, lacquerware plates, decorated clay pots, painted clay figures, woven rebozos, embroidered blouses and pillows and more!
Traditional Mexican food and beverages will be available for purchase. Do your holiday shopping and support women artisans at the same time!
Two days, two locations:
Saturday, Dec. 3rd- 10am to 4pm in Berkeley
Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)

Sunday, Dec.4th- Noon to 4pm in Sonoma
Sonoma Community Center, 276 East Napa St.

Please join us, spread the word and share with friends & family!

Also visit Mexico By Hand, Peggy's site.

Playing with Fire: Polenta and Beans from the Fireplace

It's been freezing here in the Napa Valley and the fireplace has been very busy. My Inner Puritan can't enjoy the fireplace without thinking I'm not worthy and I should at least find another use for the flames.

I'd made the Good Mother Stallard Beans the night before. I just added some garlic, onion, and olive oil to the bean and water and put the clay pot on top of the wood-burning stove. As the fire dwindled, I put the put inside, resting on the embers.

Last night, as I was about to go to bed, I remembered polenta. I used three cups of water and 1 cup of polenta with a dab of butter. I whisked them together until somewhat combined and the placed the pot, with lid, in the embers.

The photo makes it look like a roaring blaze but the fire was on its way out.

In the morning, as I was drinking my piloncillo and canela sweetened coffee, it dawmed on me that I had made the polenta. This is what I was greeted with:

The polenta had solidified into a cake and pulled away easily from the sides of the pot.

I think I could have added more liquid, reheated and made a warm, indulgent mush but I thought it would be more fun to heat the wedge and smother it with the Good Mother Stallards.

What a great breakfast! I added a wee touch of grated dry cheese (OK, a ton of it.)

Carnivores could add some bacon, pancetta or even leftover roast chicken but this was perfectly swell and I'd eat again in a heartbeat.

 

The Famous Rancho Gordo Calendar

It's that time of year when some of our more wonderful customers are driving us nuts. Calls and email about our calendar start about now. How to get one? When are they coming?

The calendars are free but they are only available at our store in Napa, at the farmers market in San Francisco  on Saturdays and in all mail orders, while supplies last. We release the monster on Black Friday, which this year is 11-25-2011. We keep sending them as long as supplies last. We can't send them out except with an order (and you can ask my mother if need proof! Even she needs to come in to get one or order online!)

What does this year's calendar look like? It would be a crime to tell you ahead of time!

 

Mole Verde Revisited

New friends over for dinner means new chances to perfect a favorite dish. Again I made Mole Verde but this time I played up the verde, adding romaine lettuce, epazote, cilantro, radish greens, tomatillos and even some leftover roasted chilaca chiles to the pumpkin seed mix. The final sauce was thinner and more interesting than previous versions. 

It was very good but I left it cooking on low after serving and going back later, it was incredible. You really need to allow the sauce to cook. I didn't have the white beans this time but I would add them again without hesitation. We also had some Massa Organics brown rice and a salad of nopales, tomatoes and queso fresco with some good Jerez vineagar in the vinaigrette.

 

 

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Bean Dip

We like to sample beans now and again in our retail store here in Napa. The problem is that sometimes the beans are so fresh that we blink and suddenly the beans have overcooked. It's weird when it happens normally, it's even weirder when the beans were unsoaked and cooked in a slow cooker.

Sandy, our retail maven, took her overcooked cranberry beans and made a spread. It was perhaps enjoyed even more than the straight beans would have been!

Bruschetta with Cranberry Beans

Serves 4 to 6

 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the bread

1/3 cup chopped white or yellow onion

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/8 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped

½ teaspoon cumin

1 ½ cups drained cooked cranberry beans

½ - 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Chipotle Chile Salsa

¼-inch thick crusty artisan bread

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

 In a large skillet, over medium heat, warm the olive oil then and the onion, garlic, rosemary and cumin. Sauté until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

 Put the sautéed vegetables and the beans in a food processor. Add the Rancho Gordo Chipotle Chile Salsa and process until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 Brush the bread with olive oil. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about crisp but still tender, about 7 minutes.

 Serve the spread in a bowl with toast slices surrounding.

 

Mole Verde with Ayocote Blancos

I had some very fresh pumpkin seeds and was wondering what to do with them when the idea of pipian hit me. I normally like pipian but it's never knocked my socks off. Doing more research, I came across a great looking recipe for Mole Verde, which seemed like a pipian with some bitter greens thrown in.

A little more hunting through all my Mexican cookbooks and noted Mexico City chef Alicia Gironella's seminal Larousse de la Cocina Mexicana suggested mole verde with fat white beans, much like our Ayocote Blancos. Oh, happy day!

The dish may or may not seem that appealing (the photo got very mixed reactions here at the office) but it was a knock out and one of the kids was literally licking the bowl.

After toasting about 3/4 cup of pumpkin seeds, I added them to a blender with 1/2 cup water, 4 romaine lettuce leaves, a serrano chile, a pinch of cumin, salt, 10 small tomatillos, some radish leaves, some cilantro and some hoja santa (this is hard to find commerically and you can omit it if you don't have access to it. After blending well, I fried the pumpkin seed mixture in a little manteca until if was very thick. Meanwhile, I poached some chicken breasts until done. I added about a cup of previously cooked Ayocote Blanco beans and added the poaching water from the chicken to the warm pumpkin sauce and thinned it out until it was a medium thick consistency and let it cook another 20 minutes or so. Then I added the chicken and that was that. Served with corn tortillas.

Smoked Salmon on Tepary Beans

At some point I think I burnt out on salmon. I've always liked it but I find myself avoiding it these days and opting for other fish. Then Greg, who works for Napa Valley Support Services, brought me in some salmon he caught, smoked and cured and I remembered why it's such a great treat.

Greg used our piloncillo instead of traditional brown sugar to cure the fish. It's incredible, to say the least. I flaked some on a bowl of tepary beans and added just a little ricotta cheese and this was one great bowl of beans. Any bean would work but I like the meatiness of the teparies.

We work as often as we can with Napa Valley Support Services. Their worker face different  challenges and have been a huge boon to Rancho Gordo. They help with bagging our wholesale beans, rolling our calendars and even shred paper documents that become our packaging for our mail order. We love them and they've made us a stronger company. Don't hesitate to call if you are interested in their services.