Vegan – Page 6 – Experiments in my New World Kitchen and Garden

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

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.

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.

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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)

The Power and the Glory of Rice & Beans

If you received our newsletter last week, you know that my current obsession is rice and beans and beans and rice. It’s an ideal marriage with nothing controversial about it. Good beans, especially heirloom beans with superior pot liquor that coats each kernel of rice, make all the difference.

To help you get obsessed, we’ve produced a modest but very useful and delicious ebooklet for you to download. Download the Rice & Beans booklet now.

I grew up eating plain white “Calrose” rice with butter, or more likely, margarine. How things have changed! Thanks to quality rice, like Massa Organics whole grain brown, I have trouble dealing with the plain old white stuff.

So what is your “go to” rice and beans dish? I’d love to hear about it and if you think it would work with brown rice as well.

By the way, if you don’t get our newsletter, you can sign up here. We send it out every other week and it’s loaded with really useful information. Of course we never share your information with anyone.

An Obvious Point About Bean Cooking Not Everyone Knows

A few years ago I did one of those farm to table dinners and it featured our beans. I loved sitting at the end of a long white table with fellow producers and eager diners. But then I sampled what a seemingly knowledgeable chef had done with our beans. I wanted to run in shame! They were about 40 minutes short of being fully cooked. In his head, al dente meant good. It may be good for pasta or snap peas but beans need to be fully cooked, for texture, flavor and digestibility.

The March 2016 Vegetarian Times has an article on vegetarian diets and digestive issues and author Nicole Gregory quotes dietitian Mindy Hermann: “Beans don’t do any good al dente. They need to be soft on the inside. The firmer they are, the harder they are to digest.”

This makes sense, especially when we hear all the time that our beans don’t cause gas the way other beans can. Ours are fresher than most commercial commodity beans and therefore get softer faster and normally are thoroughly cooked easier.

(As an aside, the other day in our local grocery store we saw a brand of heirloom beans with a “best by” date of 4 years out. I find this offensive. Who knows how old the beans were the moment they were bagged? How can you possibly give a “best by” date so far out, especially when storage is so out of your control?)

Anyway, the end result is save al dente for your fresh vegetables. Dried beans should be cooked all the way.

The Simplest and Best Soup I Know and the Trick to Make It Magnificent

If you love beans, you want beans. You don’t want a lot of other things getting in the way. But if you’re making soup, you do need to do something. My answer is to fry stale tortilla strips. I know for most of us, frying isn’t something we do everyday. It can be messy and if you don’t use the oil again, it’s seems wasteful. I have a very small cast iron skillet and it’s perfect for a small bit of frying. I also have peanut oil in an old wine bottle that I keep in the fridge between uses. I tend to use the same oil three or four times over the course of a month.

It’s a slight hassle but something magical happens when you fry corn in the form of tortillas. And if you add it to the soup as a crouton, it has a wonderful texture and taste. The rest of the soup is so simple, fried tortilla strips don’t seem like much of an indulgence.

Recipe: Sopa de Moro

1/2 yellow onion, chopped medium
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound Rancho Gordo Moro beans, cleaned and rinsed
Sea salt
3 corn tortillas, preferably a little stale, cut into very thin strips
Oil for frying
1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio
Limes for garnish

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil on medium heat until soft, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the beans and cover with about 2 inches of water. Turn the heat to high and bring to a full, rapid boil for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat to low and allow the beans to gently simmer. Make sure the beans are always covered by about 2 inches of liquid, adding new water as needed. Cold water can seize the beans and slow down the cooking process, so it’s best to have a tea kettle or a pan with warm water on hand to add as needed.

After about an hour, the beans should begin to soften. Add a tablespoon of sea salt and allow the beans to continue cooking until done. Total time will be between an hour and a half and 3 hours. If it’s taking too long, turn up the heat.

While the beans are cooking, heat the oil in a skillet and fry the tortilla strips in the hot oil until crispy. Allow them to drain on paper towels and salt generously.

When the beans are soft, correct the seasoning and add the teaspoon of Oregano Indio. Ladle into bowls and top with the tortilla strips.
Serve with limes.

N.B. I used Moro beans because I love them and I had them in my pantry. You could do this with most any bean. The ones with the best bean broth would be the wise choices.

A slightly different version of this appeared in our newsletter using Rebosero beans.

What Italian Bean Did Marcella Hazan Miss the Most? I Know.

Marcella beans are grown in California from Italian Sorana seedstock. Sorana is a cannellini bean with incredibly thin skin and when cooked properly, an indulgent creamy texture. You can use them in your kitchen as you would any small white, European-style bean, but with an ingredient like this, simple is often better. Good crusty bread with some Marcella beans smashed on top, drizzled with your very best extra virgin olive oil and maybe a dusting of freshly cracked pepper is the new standard for “fast food.”

Even though these beans are small, you should take your time and gently allow them to fully cook. They are edible quite soon after you start but the real creaminess comes with time and low, slow and gentle heat. The skins are almost not there, which means you can love them too much by constantly stirring them, and they will start to fall apart. This may sound a little snobby, but they’re not for everyone. They require a little more care but the payoff is a cannellini like no other.

One day I was checking through our mail orders and I stopped in my tracks. There was an order from someone named Marcella Hazan in Florida. She ordered beans and even my first book, Heirloom Beans. It couldn’t be! My mind raced back to the early 1980s in San Francisco in what was possibly the smallest apartment on Nob Hill. I was young, broke and so happy to be living in the city. Every opportunity, I’d push up my Murphy bed into the wall and have dinner parties. My bibles were Diana Kennedy’s The Cuisines of Mexico, Paula Wolfert’s Couscous and Other Good Food from Morrocco and perhaps the book with the most kitchen splatters was Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. I really think these women taught me to cook more than anyone else.

After the order was sent, Marcella and I became online buddies. In addition to food, I also love music and I’m a huge fan of Italian pop music from the 1960s. Marcella indulged me and I think even got a kick out of my obsessions.

At one point I asked her what beans she missed the most from Italy. I assumed she’d say Lamon, the famous cranberry bean from Veneto or Zolfino, the delicate, almost gelatinous orbs that come from Tuscany, but she wrote back immediately that she missed Sorana, a cannellini bean I’d never heard of. On a whim, I had the staff go hunting for the seed and through some sleuthing and luck, we found it. I kept Marcella abreast of the growing and she was encouraging. She was really starting to have health issues around this time. I couldn’t wait to send her samples.

Sadly, she died right as we were harvesting them. I was heartbroken and the world lost one of its brightest and most intense lights. How great is it to have affected so many people with your work? I can’t imagine. I was pretty upset about this.

On a whim, I contacted her husband Victor and told him about the bean and asked what he thought about our marketing it as Marcella, in tribute to her. I knew she was sensitive about lending her name and held my breath. Victor wrote back, “Marcella would get a kick out of your naming the bean after her.” He was encouraging about the project and you can bet the first bag out of the field went straight to him.

So we now are happy to present the Marcella bean. I hope you love it as much as we do.

(There should be no implied endorsement by Marcella or Victor or Marcella’s family. From what I can tell, she was very strict about not lending her name and I respect that. This is my story and my tribute to one of my heroes. My goal is to honor her memory.)

You Now Have New Years Day Plans: Bryant Terry’s Texas Caviar on Grilled Rustic Bread

My new passion for Black Eyed Peas has led me to local author Bryant Terry and his book, Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed. There are lots of clever ideas and it’s nice to see a new twist on vegan food. I mentioned before that I think a lot of traditional black eyed pea recipes are too pork heavy. This version is more of a celebration of the peas instead of a mask.

TEXAS CAVIAR on GRILLED RUSTIC BREAD

YIELD: 4 to 6 servings

2 whole sun-dried tomatoes, or scant ¼ cup diced sun-dried tomatoes

2/3 cup dried Rancho Gordo black-eyed peas, sorted and soaked in water overnight

1¾ teaspoons coarse sea salt

¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

16 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1½ cups diced seeded heirloom tomatoes, in ¼-inch pieces

1 cup diced green bell pepper, in ¼-inch pieces

½ cup diced yellow bell pepper, in ¼-inch pieces

¼ cup diced red onion, in ¼-inch pieces

2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and diced into ¼-inch pieces

½ cup packed minced cilantro

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large loaf rustic bread, cut into about twelve ½- to ¾-inch-thick slices

Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a small heatproof bowl and add boiling water to cover. Cover and let soak for 5 minutes.

Drain the black-eyed peas and rinse them well. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium, skim off any foam, and partially cover. Cook until the beans are softening but still firm, 40 to 50 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon of the salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse under cold water for 1 minute, and let cool.

Meanwhile, warm the oil in a medium skillet over low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy and golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Strain the garlic oil through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and reserve the garlic and the oil separately.

Drain the sun-dried tomatoes, chop finely, and put in a blender. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and process until smooth. With the blender running, pour in 1/4 cup of the garlic oil in a slow stream and process until creamy.

Transfer the blended mixture to a large bowl. Add the black-eyed peas, tomatoes, green and yellow bell peppers, onion, jalapeños, and half of the cilantro. Stir gently until well combined, then cover and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Season the black-eyed pea mixture with black pepper and, if desired, more salt.

Lightly brush each slice of bread with garlic oil, saving any leftover for drizzling. Put the bread on a large baking sheet and bake, without turning, until lightly browned and toasted on top, 6 to 10 minutes. Top each slice with 2 heaping tablespoons of the black-eyed pea mixture. Garnish with a few slices of crispy garlic and a scattering of the remaining cilantro. Drizzle with garlic oil and enjoy.

Reprinted with permission from Afro-Vegan by Bryant Terry, copyright 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2014 by Paige Green

My Favorite New Way with Leftovers: White Bean Panzanella

Foodshed Take Away is a restaurant & retail store in Napa offering pizza, pasta, salads and prepared entrees to go, as well a wide selection of craft beers, spirits, and wines. I love it except I tend to get too greedy when I order. But that’s OK—leftovers are always welcome around here.

I was tickled when they offered to a share a recipe with us and even happier to see that it was their panzanella, a dish I’ve ordered many times. Tuscan panzanella is a tomato and bread salad traditionally served during the summer. Once the temperature drops, Foodshed loves to pair the crunch of toasted bread with bright, slightly spicy olive oil, creamy beans and ribbons of kale. It’s a very satisfying dish in the late fall and winter when you’re craving something hearty and nourishing. In a way, it’s like a deconstructed bruschetta. They use their housemade pizza Bianca to make the croutons. Serve it at room temperature.

This recipe comes from former sous chef Elena Goldblatt, who says, “Rancho Gordo beans manage to remain firm on the outside—keeping their shape and never falling apart while they cook, which is no small feat—while also becoming unbelievably creamy on the inside. I’ve never worked with beans that so consistently have this quality. The beans are meaty and satisfying. The sheer quantity of Rancho Gordo bean varieties is amazing and great to experiment with as a cook.”

We like Elena and Foodshed a lot!

Recipe: White Bean and Kale Panzanella

Serves 4 people

2 cups cooked white Rancho Gordo beans such as Royal Corona, Alubia Blanca, or Marcella, drained
(Elena used our Cassoulet beans)
½ large bunch of Tuscan kale, leaves stripped from the stems and cut into 1-inch tiles
3 to 4 slices thick-cut crusty Italian bread
¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or olio nuovo, plus more for tossing the bread
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Remove the crust if you like, then cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and toss it with some extra virgin olive oil and salt to coat. Bake the bread until it is golden and toasted.

Meanwhile, cook the kale in boiling salted water for 2 or 3 minutes, until it is slightly soft. When the kale has cooled, squeeze out most of the water.

Macerate the red onion in the red wine vinegar for 15 minutes. Gently toss the beans with the red onion (reserve the vinegar), 3 tablespoons olive oil and salt to taste. Add the kale and adjust the seasoning, adding more olive oil, vinegar from the macerating liquid or salt as needed. Fold in the bread and serve immediately.

Notes from Steve: This was great. I made it with Royal Coronas and our Pineapple Vinegar and upped the red onions as I like things pretty acidic. I also topped it with Parmesan cheese. I was a very happy fellow.

A Man with a Plan: I’ve Got to Have Those Vegetables Handy!

In general, I eat pretty well. I eat a lot, maybe (well, for sure) too much but I eat very little processed food and I have a varied diet. My danger is the nighttime! I get home from work and tend to not always make the best decisions. I think having lots of vegetables, ready to go, will help.

My plan is on the weekend to do all kinds of prep so I there are fewer decisions to make and fewer options, which might lead to better choices.

Needless to say, I always have beans. I can do that in my sleep. This morning I started by boiling tomatillos and their husks in water. This way I’d have the tomatillos for salsa and you’ll see where the husks come in handy.

I strained and reserved the tomatillos and left the husks in the water with some Sal Mixteca, a land salt that helps soften vegetables and keeps them extra green. I then added diced cactus paddles and let them simmer until they were done, about 20 minutes.

The husks help absorb some of the “slime” they produce. It’s no worse than okra it really doesn’t bother me, but some people have a problem with it. The husks help as does cooking them in copper. But a plain pot is fine.

I picked the husks out and now I had cooked tomatillos and cooked nopales. I love the nopales with scrambled eggs and salsa but I also love a spoonful in a bowl of beans.

Next up was greens. I started with garlic and some fermented jalapeños. You could use fresh and be very happy.

When the garlic was soft, I added washed and chopped kale. I also do this with dandelion greens. I suppose you could do it with spinach.

Normally, the water left on the greens from washing are enough to cook them but I like them a little more wet so I added some bean broth I had in the refrigerator. You could also use some of the cooking water from wild rice.

They cook down a lot but there’s plenty here. It’s great with beans, of course, but just plain rice and greens are good. I should add, I’m not in love with plain old everyday kale. I much prefer lacinato kale. Chard or spinach are also good.

The tomatillos, some leftover onions, garlic, Oregano Indio and more fermented jalapeños went into the blender with some salt for a salsa. After the blender, I added some lime and chopped cilantro.

I also roasted and peeled four Poblano chiles. I cut up a really fresh jicama. It was consumed within minutes. I also sauteed some puslane, but that got eaten with eggs for lunch.

So the plan is to bring a little of this to work each day and eat it with wild rice, brown rice or tortillas. I’ll probably still go a little nuts at night, but with decisions made, deliciously, I think I’m on firm ground.

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?

Make Mine Chia

I remember riding in the cab of my friend’s truck in Mexico and asking about chia. She looked at me as if I were nuts. “Why would you be interested in chia?”

I explained the inane concept of a chia pet and then I told her about drinking a flavored water with lime and chia and how it haunted me. It was a great beverage and learning later that it was healthy made it intriguing.

Make a limeaid, add sugar and a few heaping tablespoons of chia. Stir and wait about 5 minutes and then stir again. I love the stuff.

Chia at Rancho Gordo.

Category: Vegan