Clay pot cooking – Page 6 – Experiments in my New World Kitchen and Garden

Xoconostle on a Clay Comal

My local Mexican grocer had some xoconostle (sour prickly pears) and even though they were a little sad looking, I bought them all.

We have a new shipment in from Mexico that includes clay comales and I've been eager to grill something other than tortillas on them. The xoconostle proved tp be perfect. The fruit in the photo look a little over-charred but the burn didn't go any deeper than the skin and the juicy flesh was easy to scoop out.

If you want a clay comal, you'll need to come visit us at our store in Napa. They're sturdy and I've never broken one (knock wood!) but we don't have the facilities to ship them yet.

One of the Reasons I Love Napa

There are dozens of reasons why I love living in Napa, almost none of them involving wine. My fellow Napans make great neighbors and when there's a call for a party, you know the food is going to be incredible.

In other communities, I often hear about how beans are a winter food. "It's bean weather!" they say as they fight off the chills. Napa now joins India and Mexico in knowing that there is no such thing as a bean season, or that it's always bean weather.

A recent party illustrates my point. We had barbecue of all sorts, vegetables, tortillas, beer and of course, two types of beans. I feel at home among my people!

My Favorite Bean Pot

Until you get obsessive, a normal pot is fine for beans. Once you start down that slippery slope, you'll want several different pots for different beans and different cuisines. I refuse to tell you how many pots, metal or clay, I own. You would lose respect for me and question my sanity. But I will introduce you to my favorite pot.

The first reason I love the pot so much is that it was a gift from my Mexican business partners Yunuen and Gabriel. They got it from Lourdes in the Mixteca region of Puebla, near Oaxaca. It's perfect for one pound of beans, although normally I cook half a pound at a time. The round rump encourages the circulation of moisture and the neck is wide enough to allow some evaporation for a rich, delicious pot liquor but not so wide that you constantly have to add water while cooking. The lid doubles as a spoon holder and a bean bowl. You only need it bring the liquid up to a good rapid boil and then you cook without it on a low heat. It's almost magical.

This is Lourdes' mother, prepping the clay for Lourdes to do her thing.The other amazing aspect of this pot is that it's unglazed. After the firing, the mother burnishes the entire pot with stones that have been handed down for generations, creating a glossy finish. I asked Paula Wolfert about this and she thinks it might help with the strength. The best benefit is that there is no lead danger since there is no glaze.

I've said this before but I get such a kick out of thinking that a pot starts here and ends up on my stovetop in Napa. last fall, we started importing the pots and selling them at our store here in Napa. Apparently Lourdes felt this was a terrible waste of time because she just couldn't believe that the North Americans would really use them. She was sure we ate out of cans, if we ate beans at all. When we told we sold out within a month she about fainted. I just love breaking stereotypes on both sides of the border.

We have the pots in our store here in Napa but if you're out of the area, you can also get them at online at Bram cookware, along with dozens of other bean pots and clay-cookware.

Bean Bowl in Action

Just the sight of it makes me hungry.

Bean Bowls

I can’t tell you how many conversations I have with people who just don’t know what to do with their beans after they’ve bought them. Even after I tell them, and give them dozens of ideas, they still aren’t confident. I tell them I just have a bowl of them with almost every meal and they look at me like I’m nuts. Steak? A bowl of beans. Lasagna? A bowl of beans. Summer salad? A bowl of beans. Cheese plate? You get the idea.

When my kids were small (and fussy), I’d put their beans in a ramekin. It meant if they ate the whole thing they could move on to dessert and for the one who couldn’t tolerate foods that touched each other, it avoided a lot of tears at the table.

It dawned on me that I didn’t want a ramekin for myself but why not find the perfect bean bowl? I have six of these dedicated to beans and beans alone. The more I use them, the more beautiful they become. We have then in our store, made by the amazing Lourdes in Puebla but if you can’t get to Napa, I bet you can find some locally produced beauties that can pay tribute to your bean obsession.

Making Chicken with a Mattone

I bought a mattone after I read about them in Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking and so far I’ve been underwhelmed. The piece is fine but all the chickens I seem to come across seem to weigh from four to six pounds! They’re huge.

I mentioned this to Judy Witts-Francini and she told me she loves hers, especially for marinated chicken thighs. I made a marinade of olive oil, a fruity vinegar, garlic and our swoon-worthy oregano indio and the results were incredible.

After I cooked the thighs (and since they’re a dark meat, they’re pretty forgiving if you need to overcook them to time the meal) and they left some nice caramelized bits in the bottom of the mattone, so I gave them a quick rinse with some previously cooked beans and lots of their pot liquor.

What a great dish! I poured the beans and the reduced sauce over the previously cooked chicken. The mattone presses the meat, making it denser and somehow juicier while getting rid of excess moisture. I don’t understand it. The technique is a lot like chicken under a brick but the clay reflects the heat creating a superior surface to the foil wrapped on a brick, which produces steam, according to Paula.

Carne de Res con Col from Diana Kennedy

This is a simple dish from Diana Kennedy’s The Essential Cuisines of Mexico. I’d never made the dish before but the book will go with me to my desert island. The only big difference is I added one cup of cooked Moro beans and I think you should, too!

Carne de Res con Col
(Ground Beef with Cabbage)
From Chiapas

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
6 peppercorns
salt to taste
1 lb ground sirloin with a little fat
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1 jalapeño chile, finely chopped
6 oz tomatoes, finely chopped
4 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cup cooked Moro beans
2/3 cups water
1/2 cup firmly packed, roughly chopped cilantro

Crush the garlic, peppercorns and salt together and mix well into the beef. Set aside for a few minutes to season.

Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet, add the onion, chile and a sprinkle of salt, and cook over medium heat until the onions is translucent, about 1 minute. Add the tomaotes and continue cooking until most of the juice has been absorbed, about 3 minutes.

Stir the meat into the pan and cook over fairly high heat, stirring from time to time, about 7 minutes. Add the cabbage, beans, water and cilantro and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring from time to time until the mixture is well seasoned and moist but not juicy, about 15 minutes. Serve on tostadas, or as a stuffing for chiles or as a main course with rice.

Variations: I made the dish in my clay cazuela from Pueba, from start to finish. I was out of fresh tomatoes and used half a can of whole peeled tomatoes. A few drops of full fat plain yogurt somehow managed to land on the finished tostadas and it was really good. I also tried cheese but it was gilding the lily and not anywhere near as good as nothing.

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.

Cooking With Clay No.9

Thanks to a hot tip from Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking book, I ordered this handsome clay pot and lid from Turkey.

It's very crude and very heavy and just plain feels foreign. I love it.

The instructions said to wash it with soap and water and then rub the insides with margarine. I couldn't bring myself to do that so after washing I rubbed the whole thing, inside and out, with olive oil. It's something I've always felt compelled to do and Paula's book confirms that it's wise.But you know deep inside you're some kind of freak if you get pleasure from rubbing unglazed clay with olive oil. So be it!

I poached chicken in it last night. It takes a while to get hot but once it does, it retains the heat beautifully.

Next I'm going to attempt the clay pot chicken with dates and bulgur from Greg and Lucy Malouf's Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey. Isn't cooking fun? I don't understand why everybody doesn't agree.

The pot is from tulumba.com. I don't think it's an essential piece for your average kitchen but I'm very happy to have it.