It has been a long time since I played in the garden. I have not been a good steward of my land and as we got busier and busier over the holiday season, I left my precious Oaxacan runner beans to fend for themselves. We experienced a very wet season, followed by several nights with freezing temperatures and the mornings have been foggy. You would have thought my forgotten bean crop would be a goner, but you’d be wrong.
Mid-February and this is my harvest.
I looked and I saw a few funky pods. When I opened them, the beans were fine. I ran into the house to get my incredibly wonderful ayate de ixtle, which is a large harvesting sheet, perfect for beans, made from the fiber of the maguey plant. This prized piece is from Hidalgo and takes hours to make. It’s especially clever because you can fold up the four corners and wear it like a backpack and not lose a single bean.
Dirt and dust can slip through but the harvest remains intact.
I picked the obvious pods but the more I picked, the more I found. They are good at hiding and once you get the rhythm of their growth patterns, you find a lot of them.
The pods looked very funky and many of them split open as I threw them unto the ayate. You can see that I was also harvesting a little borage with its pretty flowers.
You can pick up the ayate from the four sides and make a sack. I hung this and hit it with a stick and the rest of the beans came popping out of their pods. When you open the ayate de ixtle back up, you can easily pick up the spent pods and these will obviously go into the compost bin. The beans remaining are amazingly clean.
This is a shot of the plant last October. You can eat the flowers raw or cooked.
The bean is Frijolon Gris, a grey runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) from Oaxaca that clearly has acclimated to Northern California. The hummingbirds love it and they were nice enough to leave me a lot of beans. I also suspect that many of the early beans fell into the soil and they’ll be naturalized but I’ll keep some of these for planting in the spring, just in case. I would guess you would have similar results with any of the runner beans, like Scarlet Runners, Ayocote Negro, etc. but these are particularly pretty. Lacking an authentic ayate de ixtle, I bet you would have great results with an old sheet.
The inevitable question is probably how to get the beans or the ayate de ixtle and for now, sadly, the answer has to be whipping out your passport and going on a Mexican adventure. Now that the COVID crisis is easing, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate.
This is a fine recipe from Thomasina Meyers in The Guardian. I asked the staff if they would make it and it was as good as it sounds, although calling it a cassoulet seems like a push. Our Creative Director, Rachel Padilla, ended up being the chef. I love fennel but I tend to overcook it and caramalize it. Here, it’s fully cooked and fresh-tasting with just the hint of anise. I would go easier on the breadcrumbs and keep the focus on the beans and the fennel.
Rachel used our Alubia Blanca but Cassoulet, Royal Coronas, Ayocote Blanco, or any good white bean will work. The original recipe calls for canned beans but we know better, don’t we?
In addition to actual cooked beans instead of a can, Rachel used regular garlic and skipped the sugar mixed with breadcrumbs. I asked her if she’d consider this a variation on a cassoulet. “No way. A casserole, yes, but it’s not cassoulet.”
Garlic, fennel and thyme cassoulet Recipe by Thomasina Miers in The Guardian
Prep 15 min Cook 1 hr 30 min Serves 4
3 heads new-season garlic (Note: Rachel used 2 cloves regular garlic) 3 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed (about 800g net weight) 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 4 shallots, peeled and quartered through the stem 100g smoked pancetta or lardon cubes (optional) 2 bay leaves ¼ bunch thyme, picked Zest of 1 lemon 2 x 400g tin cannellini or haricot beans, drained and rinsed 4 cups cooked Alubia Blanca, or other white bean 150ml white wine 250ml chicken stock For the crisp topping 100g dried breadcrumbs 20g caster sugar 60g parmesan, finely grated
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Bash open the heads of garlic and remove the outer layers. Top and tail the fennel, remove the outer leaves if they are looking old (reserve the thick stalks for stocks or salads), then cut the bulbs in half and cut across into thick slices.
Heat a large, wide saute pan over a high heat and add two tablespoons of the oil. Saute half the garlic, fennel and shallots in the fat until rich and golden on all sides, then season generously and transfer to a wide baking dish large enough to hold everything later. Add another two tablespoons of oil and repeat with the rest of the vegetables (depending on the size of your pan, you may have to do this in more than two batches).
Saute the lardons in the same pan and saute for about five minutes, until they release their fat and turn pale gold, then transfer to the vegetable dish.
Scatter over the bay leaves, thyme (save some for the top) and lemon zest, then add the beans, mix well, pour in the wine and stock, and season.
Toss the breadcrumbs, sugar and parmesan with the reserved thyme leaves and scatter on top. Drizzle with the remaining oil, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, bake for 15-20 minutes more, until the top is golden, crusty and looking tempting, then remove and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Serve with a salad, or alongside a plate of sausages or roast chicken legs, and lots of fresh bread to mop up all the juices.
I love salad but the act of making one on a busy night is often not a pleasure for me. This will sound insane but the lettuce bugs me the most. I refuse to buy it bagged and cleaning it isn’t that hard but it’s a step that can lead me to abandon the salad if the stars aren’t aligned.
I have several tricks up my sleeve and one is my box grater. I had a large jicama and after peeling it, I grated it and made a salad with orange pieces, red onion, our Oregano Indio, and cilantro. I added olive oil and salt. No vinegar was needed with the citrus.
I would do this again in a heatbeat. I can’t wait to tell Republic of Salad‘s Emily Nunn about this and see what she thinks about the grater as a tool for salads. Hey. You get your kicks where you can.
Here in Napa the rains are late. We’re nervous but we hear there’s a big storm coming in. Typically, it’s sunny and clear, and hard to imagine today. I took advantage of one last chance to social distance and break bread with my neighbor, Connie.
The inspiration for this came from the book on Tuscan coastal cooking, Acquacotta, by Emiko Davies (Hardie Grant, 2017). The original recipe calls for clams and no fish, but I had fresh prawns and halibut on hand. I was also cooking beans and well, you know, beans.
Any of our white beans will work, except maybe Marcellas. They would be fine but I suspect they’d be too delicate and their charm would be lost, or worse, they’d just fall apart.
The stew can be made ahead a day or two up to the point of adding the fish and prawns. You can reheat the pot the next day and once simmering, add the seafood.
Fish & Shrimp Stew with Alubia Blanca
1/4 cup olive oil 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced into half-moons 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced Salt 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo New Mexican Red Chile Powder 1 large can (700g)whole peeled tomatoes 1 1/2 cups cooked Rancho Gordo Alubia Blanca or other white heirloom beans 1 to 2 pounds halibut or another sturdy white fish, cut into cubes 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped 4 to 6 thick slices stale (or toasted) rustic bread Lemon wedges for serving
Serves 4 to 6
In a large pot over low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, celery, and a small pinch of salt; saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Don’t allow the onions to brown. Add the garlic and chile powder; cook, stirring, for a minute.
Empty the can of tomatoes into a bowl and with your hands, break up the tomatoes into small pieces. Add to the simmering pot along with 2 cups of water. Stir and gently simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
Add the beans. Check for seasoning and add salt to taste. Bring the pot back to a simmer and add the fish and shrimp. Cook until done, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
Place a piece of bread in the bottom of each bowl. Carefully ladle the stew over the bread. Serve with lemon wedges.
I just received this press release from No More Deaths. We add a 5% “tariff” to all our imports from the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project and then match this as a donation, and then some. I can not believe that humanitarian aid has turned into a political issue, but here we are and this is how the government chooses to spend our tax dollars. – Steve Sando
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Military Style Raid: Border Patrol detains 30+ people receiving care at humanitarian aid station
Agents descended upon the camp with an armored vehicle, ATVs, dozens of trucks, chasing and detaining people who had sought out respite from the heat August 1st, 2020 Contact: media@nomoredeaths.org (520) 240-1641
Arivaca, AZ: Around sunset on July 31st, US Border Patrol raided No More Deaths’ humanitarian aid station, Byrd Camp, detaining over thirty people who were receiving medical care, food, water, and shelter from the 100+ degree heat. In a massive show of force, Border Patrol, along with the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), descended on the camp with an armored vehicle, three ATVS, two helicopters, and an estimated 24 marked and unmarked vehicles.
Agents refused to show a warrant upon entry, and were not wearing masks. For two hours, in darkness, they detained and chased people receiving care while a Border Patrol cameraman filmed the scene. The day before, agents had entered the property without a warrant and detained one person receiving care. Border Patrol then set up 24-hour surveillance around the perimeter, deterring anyone else from entering the camp to seek help. Last night’s military style raid on the aid station is a clear example of Border Patrol’s deadly pattern of interfering with humanitarian aid. Many No More Deaths volunteers work as EMTs, paramedics, nurses, and doctors. Volunteers are trained to respect the autonomy of individuals receiving care — as is standard practice in the medical field, they only call 911 and Border Patrol with patient consent. All persons at camp had been medically evaluated, were stable, and were receiving continuous care.
The initial detention and surveillance of Byrd Camp was set up just 24 hours after No More Deaths released emails from a FOIA request revealing the role of BORTAC — the tactical unit recently mobilized against protestors in Portland — and the Border Patrol Union’s role in a 2017 raid of the same aid station.Border Patrol previously raided Byrd camp in 2017, which predates Dr. Scott Warren’s January 2018 arrest for providing humanitarian aid to two individuals. Warren was arrested just hours after No More Deaths released a report detailing Border Patrol’s interference with humanitarian aid, along with a video that went viral showing agents destroying water gallons. The message is clear: expose Border Patrol abuses, face retaliation“Yesterday, Border Patrol harmed thirty people in irreparable ways. On a daily basis those who migrate through the Arizona desert are targeted, terrorized, detained, and deported.” Said Dr. Scott Warren, “Last night we witnessed these tactics deployed against people who sought medical care and relief at our Byrd Camp aid station. As always when humanitarian aid in the borderlands is targeted, those who seek care are the ones that face the brunt of these violent escalations.”
This will be too little, too late, but my inability to address this doesn’t make it any less important. I’ve been working on this post in my mind for two years. I struggled with a justification for publishing a blog on racism. I am unqualified, but I do have to let the world know that I stand with those protesting the racism that led to the death of George Floyd. I have no confidence that his murderers will be held accountable in the same way he would be if the roles were reversed.
I was one of those happy liberals who saw the inauguration of Barack Obama as president as a turning point. There would be no turning back. This was indeed a great country if we could get past our history of slavery and racism to elect a black president. Racism itself would be dying with a few old stubborn confederates in the south and a bright new day lay ahead for all of us. We could work on real issues, hand in hand, and really call this country America.
I was an idiot.
I truly had no idea. Granted, I didn’t dig very deep but it felt good to know that what was left of racism was slowly dying. You would think as a native Californian I would be more aware of our own transgressions against African Americans, the indigenous tribes, the Mexican immigrants, and even the Mexican Californios that were here before we entered the United States. I knew the legacies of the missions were a very mixed bag but surely it was nothing compared to what went on in Mississipi and in our bright new era, it wasn’t much of a concern.
Again, I was an idiot.
I love old movies. Musicals, particular. I was telling a friend about how the world was just better than when you could break into songs to solve your woes. He’s an Indian immigrant, and he said, not if you’re brown or black. There were no options in my fantasies for people of color other than being the shoeshine boy in the train station scenes. Or maids. Or nothing. I thought he was being sensitive and then I thought about how invisible gays were. Persnickety Edward Everett Horton was about it and he was always married in these films. I was invisible, too, on a key level. I thought about how in the 1970s, coming of age with Charles Nelson Reilly or Paul Lynde as the only role models I had as a young gay man and the idea filled me with terror, even though I am now sure they were lovely fellows doing the best they could. What if I had seen someone like me on the screen or TV? How wonderful would a role model have been?
I remember a black man being interviewed on the radio and he described walking down a tony Washington D.C. suburban street, well-dressed and whistling Mozart, and hearing the click of car locks as scared neighbors passed him by. I thought this was silly and frankly, I doubted it was true. Now, I’m sure it was a reality. Watching scared privileged white people call the cops on blacks for using a public park or selling lemonade is too wild to contemplate yet there are the videos. And those white women probably think they mean well, listen to NPR, and voted for Obama.
I have no solutions. I have no real insight. I think this period of time is about listening and helping if I can. One way to help is to speak out, which I’m doing now. I know many of my friends, who would consider themselves allies, are silent, but it’s more because we are freaked out and don’t know what to do. This is white privilege. It’s uncomfortable, but we don’t have to be the solution. We don’t control everything. We need to listen and together be the solution. Saying you’re freaked out and lost is strength. Our silence can be interpreted as being complicit with the racists. Anything we do is too little, too late, but that doesn’t mean we do nothing.
I used to hate beets with a passion. I found them to be the most disgusting food I knew. Then I tried borscht, with loads of sour cream, and I started to change my mind. This was followed by roasted beets and a little light went off in my head. Beets are good. Really good!
I am now a confirmed beet eater. I like them most roasted but I even like them boiled and for kicks, grated raw as in this salad.
The salad consists of grated beets, pomegranate seeds, toasted black walnuts, drained cooked white beans, oil, lemon juice, and chives. I’ve made this many times without the beans but I shared my passion for this on Twitter and I was asked about beans and I thought, why the hell not. I had cooked cassoulet (Tarbais) beans on hand. It was terrific.
I would serve this composed, as in the photo, but toss it well before actually eating. Every bite should be fresh, slightly tart, and thanks to the beans, a little creamy.
Never do today what you can postpone until tomorrow. In my case, never do this year what you can put off until next year. That ends today! I am here to tell you about a great event we had last year in Santa Ana and share a terrific recipe that you’ll want to make at home.
Are they buying what I’m selling? I’m not so sure, but I love this gang. Gustavo Arellano (Los Angeles Times), Carlos Salgado (Taco Maria), yours truly, and Delilah Snell (Alta Baja) All Photos: Cynthia Rebolledo
This was the press release for the event: On Sunday, July 8, Rancho Gordo, renowned purveyor of heirloom beans, will hold its first-ever supper in Southern California at Alta Baja Market in Santa Ana. The special event will feature three courses prepared by some of Rancho Gordo founder Steve Sando‘s favorite SoCal restauranteurs: Delilah Snell and Richard Lu (Alta Baja Market, Electric City Butcher), Evan Kleiman (Angeli Caffe, KCRW’s Good Food) and Carlos Salgado (Taco Maria). Each course will highlight different Mexican heirloom beans offered by Rancho Gordo, recently featured in the New Yorker and beloved by chefs across the world. offered by Rancho Gordo, recently featured in the New Yorker and beloved by chefs across the world.
All Photos: Cynthia Rebolledo
I’m very embarrassed to tell you that I don’t remember a lot of the details except that it was a blast. Delilah, the owner of Alta Baja, is a gracious host in the real sense of the word. She cares deeply that her guests are taken care of and looked after. I would never make it in this business. She loves it. And she has a wonderful staff and the place has terrific food, including Rancho Gordo. Delilah’s husband, Gustavo Arellano, is one of my favorite writers. He entertained the troops and helped out as needed, clearly in awe of Delilah’s powers, like the rest of us.
All Photos: Cynthia Rebolledo
The event happened with two seatings, both selling out almost immediately. They were a benefit for Valley High in Santa Ana and their Dia de Los Muertos event that they host annually on the school grounds. Volunteers from the Valley High School Culinary Program helped to serve the dinner (one of the students is now employed at Alta Baja Market.)
Evan Kleiman (KCRW’s Good Food), working the room. All Photos: Cynthia Rebolledo
Very early in the history of Rancho Gordo, Evan Kleiman asked me to be a guest on her Good Food radio show and podcast on KCRW. I was just starting out and it felt so glamorous to be a guest on the show. I lived in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s and Evan’s restaurant, Angeli Caffe, along with her books, kept me sane. Her radio show is one of the few podcasts I have on automatic download. It’s like taking a break with a good friend and getting all the gossip and hard information you want about the food scene.
with Delilah, the wildly talented Richard Lu (Electric City Butcher), and Evan All Photos: Cynthia Rebolledo
I’m sorry that I don’t have the menu and I’m hoping one of the guests will post it in the comments section. I do remember being a little star-struck meeting Carlos Salgado. His Taco Maria is legendary. That didn’t last long. Carlos doesn’t allow that. He wanted to talk about beans and I felt a kinship with him immediately.
All Photos: Cynthia Rebolledo
I haven’t mentioned the heatwave but at one point driving in from Napa, just as I finished driving down the grapevine at Valencia, it was 117F. I don’t even know what the means or how my tires didn’t melt. Good food and new friends can cure that.
with some of the students of the Culinary Arts Academy. All Photos: Cynthia RebolledoRichard and Delilah
I think the guests would all agree that the food was great. I did ask the chefs for recipes, but I know from experience that this is similar to pushing jello up a mountain with your bare hands on a hot day. One day. Chefs love to cook. Documenting it, not so much. Luckily for us, Evan has written cookbooks and knows how much a recipe can mean. She graciously sent this recipe right after the event and it’s been resting in my inbox ever since. I think it’s a keeper.
Baked Royal Corona Beans
1 pound Rancho Gordo Royal Corona beans 1 onion, peeled and cut in half 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 small yellow onion, peeled and minced 1 peeled garlic clove, minced 1 28 oz Italian-Style tomatoes in juice or 3 cups of your favorite tomato sauce 2 teaspoons Rancho Gordo Mexican Oregano 2 teaspoons sugar Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Soak beans overnight in abundant water. They will double in size so be sure there is enough water to cover them after doubling.
If soaking water is dirty, drain and discard it. Place soaked beans in large pot and cover with water by 3 inches. Add 1 onion, cut in half. Bring beans to a boil. Turn heat down so that the beans simmer and let cook until tender but still holding their shape, about 2+ hours. Add salt to taste just before beans are finished cooking. Beans should be super creamy in texture.
Saute the onion in the olive oil until very soft. Add the tomatoes or tomato sauce, oregano and sugar and black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook just until sauce begins to thicken. It should still be plenty saucy.
Drain the beans and reserve a few cups of the liquid. Toss the beans and tomato sauce together in a bowl. Place in baking dish adding some of the reserved bean liquid if necessary.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serve hot, at room temperature or cold. Excellent with French Feta on the side and some good crusty bread.
We all had so much fun that we thought we might take our show on the road and do benefits for other student causes but life got in the way. Never say never.
Like a lot of people, I have cauliflower fever. One of my favorite things to make these days is cauliflower rice. I’ve had people ask me to suggest a brand but I am very confused. It couldn’t be easier to make. You just grate it and cook it in browned butter or olive oil for about 10 minutes. I’ve also heard it’s a mess. Just grate it in a large bowl. It’s that simple. And there’s no packaging waste. And you can grate exactly the amount you want. I know a lot of people like to use their food processor but mine is in the basement collecting dust. If I were having a big party or it was easier to clean, I’d consider this method. Until then, I just grate.
The rice is made with just the florets and this leaves you with a lot of the big stalks and some of the greens. They can be woody but mostly they’re fine. After a few heads of cauliflower, you can have quite the collection and I’ve been saving them up all week.
I chopped them and then added them to a casserole pot with sauteed onion and garlic. This pot is a favorite rarity from Los Reyes Metzontle in Puebla but you can use any pot you like. If not clay, enameled cast iron, like Le Cruset, is probably a good choice. You want to go low and slow.
At some point I added salt, pepper, and thyme.
I was prepared to go longer but an hour was about right. The pieces hold their shape and look as if they’d be tough but they just melt in your mouth. Being forever cheap, I mean, value oriented, the best part of this is that these are parts of the caulliflower than most most people toss. So it’s like getting a meal for free. Hey, you get your kicks where you can!
I have to say that this was one of the best things I’ve made all year. I was browsing through a book by chef Aquiles Chavez on Mexican fish and seafood cooking. It’s a nice book on things that have been covered elsewhere many times. Except for one dish: Calamares rellenos de chicharron prensado y salsa de chile de arbol.
Chicharrones prensados can be made at home but maybe you’re lucky like me and your Mexican butcher has them on hand. I took many shortcuts with this and the chicharon prensado was just the first. If the concept is too daunting, use carnitas.
I used frozen calamari. The package I had contained only tubes but you could easily add the tentacles and cook them along with the stuffed tubes. I also had a guajillo chile sauce on hand.
Take about half a pound of chicharron presnsado and chop it up as best you can. Saute an onion and a few garlic cloves in olive oil until soft. Add some canned plum tomatoes and the chicharrones. Stir until the the chicharrones become soft, about 5 minutes.
Stuff the calamari tubes with the mixture (easier said than done, but not impossible!) and cook them for 5 minutes in the hot chile sauce.
