Decadent Simplicity: Poached Fish in a Corn Husk

After biblical winter rainstorms and a scorching season of heat waves, things in Northern California seemed to have calmed down. We’re back to fresh mornings, hot days and fog rolling in for the night. Repeat. It’s a lovely trend and I want to eat outside as much as I can. The rains seem to have washed away all the wasp nests and our usual yellowjacket plague is not happening, knock wood.

For the 4th of July, I took some Pacific cod and marinated it with olive oil and our Oregano Indio. The oregano is a natural for fish. I added some sliced Bermuda onions for good measure.

I just washed my campy ballerina flower frog (she has holes in the base so you can add short stalks of flowers for a stunning kitsch look) and I used her to weigh down the corn husks soaking in hot water. These are the exact ones you’d use for making tamales.

I added a small bit of the marinated fish and some onions on each corn husk, folded them into a packet and then tied them with string. There wasn’t very much in each one which kept things simple and made the tying up easier.

This is my beautiful cazuela from San Marcos Tlapazola. I find it cooks hotter than other clay pieces. It’s beautiful but I don’t tend to use it often. I think from this moment on, it will be dedicated to fish dishes.

Over a medium flame, I added onion, garlic, celery, carrot and parsley to water and let it cook for about 15 minutes for a nice court bouillon. Next time I’ll add the smallest splash of pineapple vinegar.

I very gently poached each packet and checked one after about 20 minutes. It was perfectly done. The poaching was very gentle and I suppose the corn husk was thick and protective. I would check one after about 12 minutes next time but I think the oiled fish and thick wrap make this a more forgiving fish dish than most.

A perfect two bites!

We ate dinner outside with gin and tonics, beet greens with black walnuts and some rebosero beans. It was just about perfect. You can see the steam sill coming from the fish dish long after the cazuela rested on the table. I just love cooking with clay.

Here’s a cool bonus: Before the meal even starts, you can start out with a small bowl of the broth, now flavored with the fish and the husk along with the vegetables. It’s a great way to start a meal anyway, but this was especially carefree.

A perfect night. There were no fireworks on our mountain and for me I’d rather celebrate Independence day with indulgent natural silence than a neighbor shooting off some sad fireworks. I also love a big show but this is a case of go big or go home. I was happy to go home!

The only drag was those damned deer eating my apples and pears. There’s still plenty for us so I will relax about it. For now.

Paula Wolfert’s Unforgettable Sandpot Mushrooms

I am totally enamored with Emily Thelin’s new biography of Paula Wolfert, Unforgettable. I don’t know how it’s possible that the major publishing houses had no interest in this book and it only came to fruition thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, but such is modern life.

Maybe when Paula’s gluten-free microwave cookbook comes out, they’ll be interested. It’s shameful!

But enough of that! The very good news is that Paula’s life makes for an excellent story and Emily Kaiser Thelin, who wrote a very good profile on Rancho Gordo in Food + Wine magazine many years ago, is really the finest of writers and knows how to pay tribute to Wolfert without sounding like a gushing fan girl, something I’m unable to do when it comes to Wolfert or Thelin.

I was thinking as I was reading: This isn’t just one one of my favorite books, it’s one of the few things I own that I really cherish, and I have a lot of nice things!

I think I met Paula at party in Napa for the food forum eGullet, way back in the day when we would all get together for food events. Paula loved meeting the other forum members and I’m sure she’s invited to a lot of swanky events but she seemed perfectly at home among other food obsessives.

I remember making a pot of white runner beans for the buffet and melting with happiness when she declared in public that they were cooked perfectly. This was when I was just starting out with Rancho Gordo but even today these words make me tingle with happiness, just a little!

We’ve hosted Paula here at Rancho Gordo, I’ve been a guest at her house and I even had the nerve to cook for her once. Wherever she is and whatever she does, she wants to hear your stories and wants to tell you hers. She wants you to feel her enthusiasm but it’s always about the food, not her. She enters the room and there’s no where else to look but she would be dismissive if it were about anything other than the love of good food. Well, sometimes politics comes into play.

When I was working on my first book, Heirloom BeansI was having issues with the publisher about some nonsense. The art director said that the photos we were taking were looking too “Tex Mex”. This is exactly how you get my blood to boil. We were going to have to rush to do retakes and possible rewrites and I was really feeling the stress. Paula said, “Steve, they have an obligation to get this book out on certain date that they decided but your name is going to be on the book for the rest of your life. Take your time and do it right.”

I took her advice and the next day, the sun rose, the birds sang and the world didn’t stop turning because I was late. I’m sure publishers don’t want hear this advice but I think new writers need it.

Paula Wolfert's Sandpot Mushrooms

The Paula that told me that my work would follow me the rest of my life is the same Paula that comes through loud and clear in this book. Funny, quirky, no-nonsense and driven. What more could you want in a food icon?

I had to put the book down at one point and my son Nico and I made the sandpot mushrooms. I don’t have a Chinese sandpot but I do have a gorgeous unglazed clay casserole from Los Reyes Metzontle and it did just fine. I love finding non-intuitive ways to make common button mushrooms something special and Paula’s recipe is just that. You toss the whole mushrooms with olive oil, salt and pepper and then cook them in clay. There’s so much moisture that you don’t need any more. They were intense and delicious and we later sliced them and had them with egg noodles but I think they’d be superior added to a bowl of heirloom beans.

Modern Problems: Those Pesky Kale Stems!

I love kale. I also am “thrifty” and the stalks have always been problematic for me. I’ve tried sauteing them until tender before adding the actual kale leaves. It’s fair but not very exciting. I’ve also tried fermenting them but no one who tried them asked for the recipe, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

This last weekend I was reading the old book, When French Women Cook, and I remembered how the answer to so many questions, often unasked, was heavy cream. So I sauteed the stems in olive oil with onions and garlic and when almost soft, I added a cubed potato. I added about 1/4 cup of heavy cream and then baked it in a medium hot oven for about 45 minutes. I used this great black chamba clay piece. It was heaven.

Last night for Sunday supper, I thought I’d try and replicate it, this time using a larger classic gratin from Poterie Not in France. I did much the same, only times three. I also decided to up the ante and added some cubed pancetta to the mix. I let the cream come about a 1/4 way up. It was barely visible.

The trick would be to keep it moist but also have a nice dry, crusty top.

I think we have a winner here. It was just great.

In case you are led to believe that this is just a way to eat potatoes and heavy cream, you are wrong! The kale added something great. I would skip the pancetta next time maybe. I think things are just fine without it.

Not quite a kale smoothie, but I’ll carry on.

More on Soaking. Sometimes, It’s a Very Good Idea.

I almost hate to bring it up because everyone has such a strong opinion about it but normally I don’t soak. Sometimes I do. I really think the best beans come from very low and slow cooking after a strong 15 minute boil. Soaking can help speed things up and some claim it helps the texture. I’m not sold, but I have no problem with people who insist on soaking, unless they say something like “soak for 24 hours”.

Soaked Royal Corona heirloom beans (left) and unsoaked 8 hours,  and right out of the package (right).

I soaked my Royal Coronas and I’m not sure what the point of sharing this with you is except that it’s just nuts to see how much they swell up! I’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s still amazing. This is a very unusual bean.

I ended up cooking them in a Spanish clay pot with a bay leaf and little salt. I was thinking I’d do something more elaborate with them later but this alone was perfection. No onion, no garlic, no oil. I loved them. So did my guests, who were probably expecting something a little fancier.

Leftover Strategies: Grits with Black Eyed Peas and Bacon

Earlier, I wrote about cooking on my wood-burning stove and the success I had making grits. It was simple and fun but even having given away a lot to my mother, there was still plenty left.

This morning, I gently heated the grits with a little chicken stock. Meanwhile, I sauteed some chopped bacon pieces, drained the excess fat and then stirred in some leftover Black Eyed Peas. I made a bed for the pea mixture and yes, it was ugly but so delicious that I can’t wait to make it again. It fills you up and I felt I should go build a pyramid or a freeway or something. This is the perfect cold weather breakfast for playing or working outside.

Not being a Southerner, I don’t know if I’ve done something offensive or not. I based this on a recipe for polenta and Cranberry beans from my first book. Please forgive me if I have made a blunder.

A vegetarian option would be to replace the bacon with my mushroom carnitas recipe. You could also do it with just the peas and polenta but I think you deserve better.

Hearth Cooking: Soup, Grits and Beets

I know there’s little that’s more obnoxious than a Californian complaining about the cold but here goes: This last weekend was too cold. At my place, it hit 30F. I know, it’s likely to have been colder where you are but we’re just not set up for this here.

My place came with a wood burning stove, which is dandy when I’m at the house for long stretches but it’s been a pain learning how to use it properly and it’s very messy. I was almost considering getting rid of it but after this weekend, I’m thinking twice.

As the fire raged this weekend, I thought I should take advantage of the top so I brought out my clay pieces and started cooking.

In the photo above, starting on the left, there’s a pot with grits in it. I used “artisinal” grits that have been sitting in my refrigerator. They’re excellent but grits aren’t a part of my daily life so I was happy to use them. I didn’t quite know what to do so I made them with one part grits to 4 parts water, with salt and a knob of butter. Next up is a soup pot from Vulcania in Tuscany and I used it to reheat some soup that I’d made previously. Next are the small clay mugs for michelada that I filled with water to keep the air moist and I ended up needing for the grits, which needed more liquid.

I also had 4 beets wrapped in foil but I left them in for too long and they seemed to almost disintegrate. One was OK and delicious beyond belief. I am doing this again but keeping an eye on things next time.

The grits were terrific. On the advice of a friend, I stirred in some cheese at the end. I had goat cheddar. It was fine. This morning I added some sugar and milk to the plain (cheese-less) leftovers, trying to recreate a sweet dish I’ve had with polenta. The polenta was better but this was a nice breakfast, at least as nice as oatmeal.

The soup was a bunch of leftovers: beans, dandelion greens, wild rice, potatoes and good stock. It was ugly but delicious.

I’m not going to go nuts about this, but I am looking forward to the next cold snap, fire and lazy Sunday.

 

Look, Ma! I Made Me a Cassoulet!

I spent Sunday finally making a cassoulet. I’ve been curling up with Kate Hill’s Cassoulet: A French Obsession, for a week or so and finally decided to take the plunge.

ranchogordo-2869

I will admit I’d been working myself up into a frenzy about this and now that I’ve done it, I can say in all honesty that it’s easily within anyone’s grasp to make an excellent cassoulet.

ranchogordo-2853

I made a few compromises but it’s easy to stay within Kate’s guidelines. Well, a lot. Please don’t hold it against her that I improvised so much. Her book is the real deal. The real secret is time. If you do a little prep, you only have to assemble things and then wait as it cooks in a relatively low oven. The pay off is the dish itself. How can you be in anything less than a great mood when you see this monster come bubbling towards you out of the oven?

ranchogordo-2857

One of the steps is to brown the meat. After I’d finished, I tossed some bacon cubes into the pan and after they were cooked, I added some white wine and butter and used this as a sauce for some pasta. It was the perfect lunch while we waited for the cassoulet to finish and it made me feel as if I were a very good cook.

ranchogordo-2859

So my advice is to not be intimidated, give yourself plenty of time for low, slow cooking, don’t get too hung up on the specific meats and sausages and make sure you have lots of friends over because this is one rich dish. Per Kate’s advice, I served it with a very acid salad to counter the debauchery of the cassoulet.

ranchogordo-2865

Another tip from Kate: Keep warm bean broth on hand for basting. You may not need it but it’s sure handy if you do.

ranchogordo-2880

ranchogordo-2866
One last thought: Nobody seems to mention this part but your house smells incredible for hours.

Cassoulet beans (from French Tarbias seedstock) at Rancho Gordo
Cassoulet: A French Obsession by Kate Hill at Rancho Gordo
Cassoulet Gift Box featuring 2 pounds of beans and Cassoulet by Kate Hill

 

More Leftover Strategies: Egg in Bean Broth with Sausage and Mozzarella

ranchogordo-2436-2

This was about as happy as I can get in the morning.
Leftover Ayocote Negro (but Ayocote Morado or Scarlet Runners would be excellent as well), bean broth, chicken broth, cooked sausage and then an egg to poach in all the goodness. Then fresh mozzarella. Buttered toast.

Rancho Gordo heirloom beans with poached egg and sausages

It was a fine morning.

Guisado de Lupe: A Delicious Tomato Surprise That Will Make You Flip

In Hidalgo, a meal with my pal Lupe is essential. She is a great cook. I would almost describe her cooking as colonial. She prefers good olive oil to manteca (lard) and while she’s fiercely patriotic and loves all aspects of her Mexican culture, there’s a European sensibility to a lot of her dishes.

ranchogordo-0194

When we were filming the article that featured the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project for Sunset Magazine last year, Lupe made this dish and it’s forever haunted me. She told me it was from Michoacan and called Minquiche. I’ve done some research and there are similar elements but I think Lupe’s dish has morphed into something even more delicious than the original. If you are an expert on the cuisine of Michoacan and want to set me straight, it would be my pleasure.

Lupe in the kitchen

My notes are rough.

Roasted tomatoes. Cazuela. Canela. Harina. Rajas. 15 minutes. Crema. Queso. 

Coming home, I was just as confused as you might be.

So, I sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil. When soft, I added some canned roma tomatoes and their sauce and a stick of our canela. You should only use canela, not commodity cinnamon. It’s a different bark and the canela has a warm, woodsy flavor while the cinnamon is harsh and astringent. I let this cook and reduce a bit. Then I added some previously roasted, peeled and chopped Poblano chiles. After seasoning with salt, I added some fresh mozzarella cheese and a big happy dollop of creme fraiche. I removed the canela stick and being cheap, I gave it a quick rinse and will use it for something else in the future.

ranchogordo-0206

I believe Lupe fried the flour in the oil to make a roux but I don’t think this is needed at all so I skipped this step. Long, slow cooking in a wide pot, like a cazuela (or even a Windsor pot) encourages evaporation and tastes better than a flour-thickened sauce.

This was incredible. Great with tortillas or rice and even though it doesn’t sound like a main course, a bowl on its own was just perfect.

Cooking Superior (Nay, Perfect!) Brown Rice in a Clay Donabe Pot

ranchogordo-9436

I always laugh when I hear Alton Brown and his followers declare, as an absolute, No single purpose kitchen gadgets! When did this become a law? There are many of us who don’t put up such barriers to happiness. There are many of us who go overboard and do have too many toys in the kitchen, but I’ve got bigger things to worry about. Alton Brown, you’re not the boss of me!

Of course my love of clay pot cooking is well documented and after several months, I’m still smitten with my clay rice cooker from Japan. The Kamado-san makes rice an event. It’s a little more of a bother than a rice cooker or cooking stovetop in a pan, but for me it’s worth it.

ranchogordo-9441

White rice is the easiest and only requires minimal soaking. But for brown rice, author Naoko Takei Moore, in her seminal book, Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking, suggests a 6 to 12 hour soak. I used two cups of rice and two and a half cups of water, plus a smidge of Rancho Gordo Flor de Sal. Once the steam is coming out of the vent, you cook for another twenty minutes or so and then let it rest for 35.

ranchogordo-9443

I don’t know if there’s more perfect rice to be had. Of course, new crop whole grain brown rice from Massa Organics makes a huge difference.

I remember my father serving buttered rice as a side dish. Actually, it was probably margarine (it was the 1970s, please forgive him) but the rice was always brown. I made a small bowl of brown rice and butter last night and I can see serving this myself. It was delicious.

Massa Organics Whole Grain Brown Rice at Rancho Gordo (Available in March only)