Breakfast at Rancho Gordo – Page 2 – Experiments in my New World Kitchen and Garden

Post Vacation Breakfast: Things Could Be Worse

My favorite sentence is, I just got back from Mexico.

I would like to write it more often!

The down side is coming home to an empty refrigerator. This morning, after pots of French Roast coffee (the Mexicans do many things well but good coffee is mostly hidden), I made brown rice, garbanzo beans and a salsa from the new chiles I bought on my trip. They’re oak-roasted heirloom chipotles from the Huasteca of Hidalgo. They are incredible and we were going try and import them but the FDA requirements are so tough that we had to pass. It’s a pity, but such is life.

The salsa was made by toasting three chiles, 2 slabs of onion and 2 garlic cloves (in their skins) on a hot comal. The chiles were then soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes and then I blended this all (without the skins) with 4 canned plum tomatoes and some Oregano Indio.

Here’s a portrait of the chiles, just to make you weep a little.

Breakfast Soup

Why do so many of the best dishes come from leftovers?
I had made our new Caballero beans last night and for breakfast, I decided to make a quick, simple dish using up what was left and some chicken stock.

You know you have a hit on your hand when someone asks how much cream or butter you used to make the pot so rich and you know you’ve just used water, onion, garlic and a spoonful of olive oil. These beans are wild.

Heat a very few left over beans and their broth in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Add some chicken or vegetable stock. You could even use water. Drop an egg in and allow it to soft boil. Splash some of the hot liquid over the egg with a spoon to help the center cook. When it’s to your liking, you have breakfast soup! Dust with fresh cracked pepper.

More Fun with Weeds for Breakfast: Purslane Fritatta

I think we all know now that yes, purslane is a weed and yes, it’s loaded with nutrition. I don’t think everyone is on board with how delicious it is. Let’s fix that!

Pick the leaves from the stems from a bunch of purslane. If the stems are thin and young, you can chop them up. Saute the purslane with onion and a little Oregano Indio. Whisk eggs and add some leftover beans and broth. Add scrambled eggs to the purslane and let set. You can flip or put them under a broiler to finish them.

Let’s Make a Weed Fritatta! (No! Not That Kind!)

When I first started gardening, quelites were one of the first things I was curious about. I’d been told that in Nahuatl that the word meant “edible green” so the term was pretty broad. In Mexico today, it seems to mostly refer to lambs quarters but more and more, people are quick to point out that it also refers to other greens like purslane (verdolagas).

Even within lambs quarters, there are several varieties. I thought I’d bought this variety from Native Seed/SEARCH but I don’t see it on their website now. It’s very delicious and we have it growing in planters in our back parking lot here at Rancho Gordo.

I know some of you old time gardeners are laughing about me cultivating what you might consider a pesky weed. That’s what keeps life interesting.

With the good weather here in the bay area, plants like this are thriving right now and I pinched a large bunch off to make breakfast for me and my youngest. I was inspired by a chicory fritatta in Pamela Sheldon John’s Cucina Povera.

Like so many good things, you start by sauteing onion and garlic in oil. I used olive oil (California, naturally). It breaks down somewhat quickly so you don’t have to cook it for long.

I added a fermented serrano chile, because I had it.

When the vegetables were done, I thought the ratio was off and I should have had less but I was wrong. I added the egg and I really loved that the greens were just as much of a star as the eggs.

I wish I had a nicer photo of the finished dish but when I tried to turn it over with a plate, it took a rather nasty spill. (Note to self: Flip your fritatta over the sink, not the stove.) It was still incredibly delicious and it didn’t last long. Having a teenager tell you it’s really good is a very nice added bonus.

Slow Cooker Mushrooms with Domingo Rojo Beans and Brown Rice

I was given a lot of mushrooms and they were spending too much time in my fridge, so I decided to do a little test with my new slow cooker. I ripped apart the mixed mushrooms and added some butter and olive oil to them in the pot. A little salt and about 1/4 cup of chicken stock. I cooked this on high for 3.5 hours and then low until morning. I woke up to the most insanely delicious smell!

So breakfast was this mushroom mixture (can you help me come up with a name? “Slow Cooker Mushrooms” lacks romance.) Leftover Massa Organics Brown Rice and Domingo Rojo beans. Simple but super rich and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

I don’t know that the chicken stock was needed. I had it so I used it but the mushrooms release plenty of liquid. I’ll experiment again and report back.

Don’t Share This With an Italian: Hominy, Domingo Rojo and Pancetta

While Italian food is surely one of the best cuisines, Italians can be a little closed off to innovation. This isn’t so much of a bastardization of their delicious food as a hijacking.

In a pan I sauteed cubed pancetta (Boccalone, by the way) with onion, garlic and a little olive oil. When the pancetta was done, I added some cooked Rancho Gordo Posole/Prepared Hominy and then some Rancho Gordo Domingo Rojo cooked beans and some of their bean broth. Once warmed through, I added some cracked pepper. Yes. It was just about perfect but I think my Italian pals would sit this one out. Probably my Mexican friends, too.

Hominy and Domingo Rojo beans with Pancetta from Steve Sando on Vimeo.

Pinole: One of the Great Mexican Treats You Might Not Know About

Yunuen from Xoxoc was very excited when she told me about a special pinole (peen-oh-lay) made from heirloom blue corn. I wasn’t 100 percent sure what to do with it but I knew if vaguelly had something to do with a kind of atole drink, not unlike gruel.

It turns out there are many uses for it and a delicious hot beverage is not uncommon. To make Atole de Pinole, you start about a liter of water to boil. In a measuring cup, add a cup of milk or almond milk and mix in 1 cup of the pinole. This is to avoid lumps. Add it to the soon to be boiling water. When it reaches a rapid boil, turn the heat down so you have a gentle boil and let it roll for about five minutes. At this point, you add more sweetener or milk and of course you can play around with these ratios, keeping in mind the more milk and sugar, the higher the chance for scorching and you’ll need to keep stirring constantly.

My youngest son asked me to make it and then later asked me to make it again, so in our house, it’s a hit. I searched the internet for information on pinole and most of it comes from runners, who mix it with chia for a potent energy food.

I’ve even experimented making pancakes, subbing some of the wheat with pinole. It worked.

Order Heirloom Blue Corn Pinole from Rancho Gordo.

Buyer Beware! Not All Clay Pots Are Equal!

My recent habit has been to make a tomato sauce with fermented green chiles and then poach an egg in it, via a small clay cazuela. I’ve been using my Mexican clay and it’s been working like a charm. Plus, it’s a delicious way to start the day.

I know that not everyone has a Mexican clay mini-cazuela (what kind of world do we live in that this has to be true?) so I thought I’d practice with one of my Spanish cazuelas. I’ve always thought that if the clay were dark and muddy, it should be fine but if it breaks and the inside looks like porcelean, it’s only for low oven cooking, not direct heat.

Well, I was wrong! These Spanish cazuelas are not for direct heat. I used a very low flame and the next thing you know, crack!

I’m not upset as I have many of these and many more Mexican pieces but I thought it was interesting to note.

And for good measure, here’s a Mexican mini-cazuela with a poached egg in tomato sauce a few minutes off the heat. It’s still bubbling and still in one piece! We’ll have to look into importing these. They’re very handy and cute, too.

7 Vegetarian Ways to Enjoy One Pot of Beans

Yes, there is some work and time involved with cooking a bag of Rancho Gordo heirloom beans. As long as you’re cooking, cook the whole pound. It lasts from five to seven days in the ‘fridge and you can reinvent the pot countless ways.

Here is my Lucky Seven list for things to do with the pot you so lovingly made:

1. Charro Beans
Ding, Dang, but I love my Charro beans. Good cooked beans, some broth, tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapeño, cilantro and maybe a smoked chipotle. My friend Wade in Houston makes a great version. Read the blog.

2. Soup
The act of making a pot of beans means you’re halfway home if you want to make a soup. The bean broth is a fine base for whatever you want to create. You can thin it out with water (if they’re heirloom beans) or stock or a combination of both. I love making a soup with kale and roasted red peppers. Read the blog post.

3. Salad
Adding beans to a salad makes it a meal. I love to contrast the soft, creamy beans with something crunchy like celery or radishes but it’s a free form event and sometimes it’s best to let what’s hanging out in your refrigerator decide what goes in your masterpiece. How does a black bean and quinoa salad sound? Read the blog post.

4. Beans on Toast
If you want to see your English friends get nostalgic, mention beans on toast. If you actually have English beans on toast, you might be confused as to the warm memory. Cross the water to Italy and you get a different experience. Lovely, delicate white beans on a rustic bread, drizzled with the very best extra virgin olive oil. Perhaps some fresh cracked pepper. A dusting of Parmesan cheese? Yes, that sound fine. My knees have buckled.

5. Dip
Take some beans, some liquid and introduce them to your food processor or immersion blender and you have a dip. There are lots of good variations involving spices, herbs, anchovies and more but the basic idea is very easy. A favorite variation is to add Spanish paprika. Read the blog post.

6. Scrambled Eggs
Let’s not make this for our French friends, but a delicious and rustic variation on scramble eggs is to add some beans to the base. There’s nothing delicate about it but they add moisture, texture, protein and flavor. One version is made with refried beans. Read the blog post.

7. A Simple Bowl of Beans
In reality, my favorite way to eat beans is simply in a bowl. Maybe a little olive oil and cheese on the top. Maybe some raw grated onion and a squeeze of lime. If your beans are heirloom (and I know exactly where you should be buying them, by the way!) and you’ve made them with some care, how do you improve on a bowl?

Beans on Toast Revisited

I don’t have much to say about this except I remember living in London in 1981, being very poor and then introduced to British beans on toast. It was fine but I much preferred fish and chips, bangers and mash or Indian food. Taking some good ciabatta, making it toast and then topping it with some Santa Maria Pinquito beans is more my style. Add some Mexican oregano and queso fresco you just about have perfection.