Bean Art

Somewhere within me lives an inner artist, itching to express himself with beans. One of these days I’m going to do it. A portrait of Celia Cruz or a landscape of the Sacramento delta? I can’t say but one of these days legume will hit canvas and a new vision will be revealed!

Lenabeanart

In the meantime, with much more talent and much less fanfare, my pal Lena went ahead and drew this beautiful portrait of the beans, using more traditional methods, at the farmers market one busy Saturday last month. Lena’s mom and dad are Andy and Julia Griffin of Mariquita Farm and I would probably get much more work done if they weren’t so much fun to pal around with. Julia introduced me to tea breaks during a busy farmers market, and I believe Joan, who often works the booth with me, is glad to have me out of her hair for awhile.

For what it’s worth. Lena is the only Girl Scout I have ever purchased cookies from.

If you want to leave a comment for Lena, I bet she’d get a kick out of it.

Rachel Ray, Eat My Dust!

I’m not here to bash Rachel Ray and her 30 minute meals (although with a few drinks, I could and would), but I have a quick meal that beats hers by a long-shot.
In the morning, put your beans, water and an onion in a crock pot and when you come home, the beans are ready. You simply have to salt and then ladle them out.

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Chop up broccoli and start steaming.
Sliced turkey cutlets have about 3 ounces of meat and you can pound these out with a meat mallet and cook them in a little duck fat in about 2 minutes. After you remove the turkey, squeeze half a lime and a few drops of wine into the pan to create an instant sauce. This also makes the pan easier to clean. The broccoli is probably done now so it can go into the deglazed pan to pick up any leftover drops. Got some Parma cheese? Use it.

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Done!
I think it took 10 minutes.

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Seed Exchange

Pre-game fun in Napa for me was the Family Farm League‘s annual seed exchange. The Family Farm League’s sole purpose is to encourage the growing of food in Napa county and obviously the first step is with the seeds.
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Members exchanged seeds and tips and ate big bowlfuls of chili, thanks to Lassa Skinner, League president and coordinator of the seed-to-table program at Vintage High School.

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The "What a Trooper!" award goes to Colby Eierman of COPIA who brought tons of gorgeous seeds that have been collected from the gorgeous gardens at COPIA.

The group’s next event is on April 15th, when seedlings started by the Napa students will go on sale. The Master Gardeners will have a demonstration on vegetable gardening and all local ag groups will have tables with demos, samples and contact information. Visit the Family Farm League’s website to sign up for the newsletter if you’d like more information.

Avocados and Other Exotics

Will Brokaw is famous for his beautiful avocados at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Saturdays. His big, fat locally-grown avocados are easy to like.

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For me, there’s little better than a ripe avocado, a fresh tortilla, a sprinkle of cotija cheese and some good hot sauce. I’m lucky because Will is happy to trade avocados for my chips or tortillas.
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But don’t go so fast! It turns out Will is also growing guavas and mangoes, both New World species and both tree-ripened.

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Baja California Sud

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It kills me to rub it in, but while you were most likely freezing and cold these last weeks, I was having fun in the sun in Baja. OK, maybe I’m gloating.

I haven’t spent much time in Baja and it’s a very weird wonderful place. Despite being Mexico, it’s not "my Mexico" and the focus seems to be more on the wild beauty of the place than eating and drinking.

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I went hoping to find a wild bean (frijol silvestre) that I’d heard about but didn’t have much luck finding it. There are some wonderful species of cactus, obviously, and a lot of odd and beautiful legumes, but I never came across a good bean for eating. The markets in La Paz, the capitol, were pretty sad and I’d guess most of the beans were from the American Midwest.

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On a hike to a waterfall near a small town called Santiago, I was lucky enough to find some wild tomatillos. About the size of a pea, these sweet, small yellow tomatillos were worth saving so I brought the seeds back and with a little luck, should have them available this autumn.

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After finding the seeds, I started looking around our rental property and found a similar, slightly bigger tomatillo. Of course I brought some of those seeds back as well.

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Florida Butter Bean

Please note: As of now, we’re not growing Florida Butter beans. We hope to again in the future. 

I grew up hating Lima beans. The fact is that they are starchy and have thick skins and I believe my mother overcooked them to make them seem more appealing. It didn’t work! Rediscovering Limas has been a real treat. They’re actually good and it’s not hard to make them great.

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Pictured here are Florida Butter Beans, also known as Calico Pole Beans. A butter bean isn’t buttery but a Lima bean that is to be buttered.  I’ve seen some runner beans labeled as “Italian Butter Beans” but this is erroneous. Pure and simple, Butter Beans are Lima’s. And Limas are from Peru, originally. As are Peruano beans, which are not related to Limas. It’s fun, isn’t it?

Cook them simply, with onions and garlic and make sure the lid is slightly ajar. When they’re ready to serve, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some parsley. The pot liquor is rich and dense and the beans themselves are deep and rewarding.

A Gift From the Tarahumara Bean Bag

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I met my pal Christopher Ann on one of the online food forums and we’ve been buddies ever since, even taking two trips to Mexico together. In fact, I wouldn’t consider going without running my itinerary by her in case there was a chance she was free.

She often haunts the border towns between Mexico and Texas and if she’s driving, she is always kind enough to do some obscene shopping for me (see the entry Cooking With Clay). This last trip she toured the famous Copper Canyon and while scouring the markets of the Tarahumara Indians, she came across these legumes that look eerily like rattlesnakes. I about fell over when I saw them. They seem to be some kind of runner bean (as opposed to a bush or pole) and I really will have some trouble waiting for Spring to plant them. If you know the name, I’d love to know.

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Menu For Hope

From the Menu for Hope site:

Every year, Food Bloggers from all over the world get together for a
fundraising campaign.  We call our campaign ‘Menu for Hope’.  Last
year, we raised $17,000 to help UNICEF.

This year, Menu for Hope III raises funds to support the UN World Food Programme.
To us Food Bloggers, food is a joy.  On our blogs, we celebrate food as
a delight and even an indulgence.  Unfortunately, many others who share
our world do not share that privilege. For them, food is a matter of
survival. This "Menu for Hope" is our small way to help.

I was happy to donate some Rancho Gordo items. This auction is being hosted at the seminal Pecks & Posh site. Please take a minute to learn more about what these bloggers are doing and of course, it would be nice if you bid on some of the items.

Rancho Gordo in Wine Spectator Magazine

WinespThings have been wild at the warehouse this week. We noticed a sharp increase in Internet sales and figured it must be people thinking about the holidays and presents. That may be some of it but we’re featured in a short blurb in the current (12-31-06) number of Wine Spectator magazine and the response is amazing. 
You can bet we’ll be using the pull quote:

"…if you’ve had beans that have caught your attention in a restaurant lately, chances are they were Rancho Gordo."

A million thanks to author MaryAnn Bovio of Wine Spectator who did a super write up.