Vegan – Page 5 – Experiments in my New World Kitchen and Garden

Chia. No Jokes, Please

I’ve been drinking chia water for some time. It’s weird. The seeds are added to liquid and like oatmeal or flax, the exude a goo and it’s supposed to be very healthy. In Mexico, it’s normally a limeade plus the chia seeds and they go pretty light.

I’ve asked some friends if there are health benefits to letting the water saturate the seeds. My instincts tell me yes, the seeds should rest in water for about 15 minutes before consumption but the answers I received were all over the map. Some said not to do this, others said it’s better ground up and mixed into something else.

I got a lot of suggestions for yogurt or pudding. I’ve tried them but I’m not trying to mask a healthy food into something else. I find the gooey seeds rather pleasant and just slightly sweet. I take a tall glass of water with two teaspoons of chia every morning now. I can’t say I feel any real difference but I like it and who knows?

If you have definitive information on the best way to eat chia, I’d be interested to know.

A Nearly Magical Tomato Sauce

I grew up with classic Italian red sauce, often from a jar. As I learned more about Italian food, I took more care but it never dawned on me that there was another valid way with tomato sauce. Of course, the hubris of youth had something to do with that but I tend to fall in love and that’s that.

A typical Mexican tomato sauce is much different. All of the ingredients are put in the blender and then “fried” in oil or fat. It’s very different but it’s easy and delicious. I use this sauce a lot, especially for breakfast but often for cooked beans. I like to thin the sauce with stock and then add cooked scrambled eggs. If you were inspired to make a chile relleno, a pool of this tomato goodness would be 100% appropriate. A cup of this sauce would be a wonderful way to welcome back a cup of cooked Flageolet.
For me, beyond the technique, the secret is the canela. A stick in the sauce while it’s cooking releases a warm, earthy flavor. I must warn you that you can’t replicate this by a spoonful of powdered commodity cinnamon. You really need a canela stick. I sometimes will briefly roast it on a hot comal (or pan) and it adds more dimension to the already rich flavor.

In a rush, you can skip the roasting and just add the onions, garlic and canela, but try it both ways and see if it isn’t better. I normally add a fresh green Serrano chile as well but the first time you make it, try this simple version.

Recipe: Steve’s Nearly Magic Tomato Sauce

3 white (or yellow) onion slices with the skins on
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 stick Rancho Gordo canela (true cinnamon)
1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio
3 or 4 whole peeled tomatoes, canned, and about 1/4 cup of their juice
Chicken or vegetable stock, if needed
2 tablespoons olive oil or manteca (lard)
Salt to taste

Roast the onion slices and garlic until soft, over medium heat, for about 10 minutes, using a comal or cast iron skillet. Remove from heat and allow to cool to the touch. Roast the canela stick, turning often, for about 2 minutes. The stick should give off its aroma.
Peel the onions and garlic skins.
In a blender, add the tomatoes, tomato juice, Oregano Indio, onion and garlic. Add a little chicken or vegetable stock if the blades get stuck. Blend until smooth.
In a large pan, heat olive oil or manteca (lard) over medium heat and then “fry” the tomato mixture with the canela, stirring constantly. Raise heat to medium-high for a gentle simmer and keep stirring until the mixture is a thick sauce, about 15 minutues. Season with salt. Remove the canela stick.
Use as is or thin with more stock.

Christmas Limas with Marinated Artichoke Hearts

I don’t want to pretend that this is a clever recipe that I slaved over. I had some beans and I had a jar of artichoke hearts. Ta da.

I love artichoke hearts and the ones you find in a jar are perfectly delicious. They have a strong flavor so cooking with them isn’t always easy.

I just heated the limas and the artichokes until they were warm and tossed them with parsley. There’s plenty of oil on the artichokes. No need for more, but I won’t judge if you do. I would think this would make a carnivore trying to cut back very happy.

Bean Boys Love Their Toys: Fagioli al Fiasco

For years I’d heard of fagioli al fiasco. Small white beans like the famous Zolfini from Tuscany were placed in an empty wine bottle with olive oil and herbs and then placed in the smoldering embers of a wood fire. I finally tracked down a terra cotta pot that did this and the results were great, but the opaque clay made it hard to know what was going on inside and clean up felt a bit risky.

Out of the blue, my online pal Robin Lynch sent me this glass version. I’m sure it’s treated laboratory style glass but the concept is the same. Super low heat and the clever design mean you have beans, from unsoaked to sublime, in about three hours.

This fiasco has the markings on it so there’s almost nothing you need to do but watch. The recipe calls for sage but all I had on hand was some thyme.

After you load it up, you pop a cork in the top (which has a small hole all the way through so the bottle doesn’t explode.) I put the heat on as low as it would go, on burner with a plate on it. I think it might help not to put it on a direct flame but I’ll research this more.

For about an hour, it seems be a wasted effort and then all of a sudden it starts simmering, followed by a fairly brisk boil. The coolest part is that you get to see the whole process.

I let them go for three hours in total. After two hours, you’re instructed to add salt and more water. I added hot water just to be safe.

Friends, these were incredible. So soft and delicate yet still whole. No chicken stock was used and yet the bean broth was superior and flavorful.

I used our Alubia Blanca but Marcella would also be excellent. Of course, if you can find Italian Zolfini beans, go for it. I did try them later with our Sangre de Toro but these weren’t as successful. I think you need a more European-style white bean with a thin skin. I’m going to keep experimenting.

Please note: We might try and carry these at some point but as of this writing I have no idea where you can get one.

Video: Tuscan Pasta e Fagioli

It’s time for Pasta e Fagioli!

Here’s a video featuring Judy Wits Francini (Divina Cucina) and the simplest, most Tuscan way to make this dish. This makes me want to rush right to the kitchen and cook something good.

Post Vacation Breakfast: Things Could Be Worse

My favorite sentence is, I just got back from Mexico.

I would like to write it more often!

The down side is coming home to an empty refrigerator. This morning, after pots of French Roast coffee (the Mexicans do many things well but good coffee is mostly hidden), I made brown rice, garbanzo beans and a salsa from the new chiles I bought on my trip. They’re oak-roasted heirloom chipotles from the Huasteca of Hidalgo. They are incredible and we were going try and import them but the FDA requirements are so tough that we had to pass. It’s a pity, but such is life.

The salsa was made by toasting three chiles, 2 slabs of onion and 2 garlic cloves (in their skins) on a hot comal. The chiles were then soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes and then I blended this all (without the skins) with 4 canned plum tomatoes and some Oregano Indio.

Here’s a portrait of the chiles, just to make you weep a little.

Chili sin Carne: Vegetarian Chili to Be Proud Of!

I knew I wanted a meatless version of chili con carne but I also knew I wanted something I could serve to my Texans who love their chili. Why I would bother worrying about what hardcore chili con carne aficionados think about my vegetarian chili is probably confusing to some but I had something to prove.

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A lot of vegetarian chilis taste great and that’s the point. But for me, chili needs to be all about the chiles. I am fully aware that I could make art and there’s no way some of the traditional chili fans would give me an inch, no matter what the result, but a fellow has to try.

I know Texans say that beans don’t belong and I understand their doubts about them, but for me, this wasn’t the big problem. After much experimenting, I realized the real issue was tomatoes! Both in the meat and meatless versions. They add a pleasant sweetness and some body, but they take the focus off the chile powder. I made my tomato-less Chili sin Carne, as described below and I thought, I could serve this to a Texan. It may be meatless but it’s muy macho, and I don’t mean just the heat, which is only moderate when using our chile powder. (I asked my 15 year old what he thought about the spice level and he said if he could eat it, anyone could.) Without the tomatoes, it’s a great, slightly butch dish with all the spirit of the original. That’s what I was going for.

I made this with both the porcini powder and the Spanish paprika. I think the mushrooms added something good but this powder can be hard to find. If you have it, use it. I wouldn’t make a special trip for it. I do love my paprika and the smoked kind adds depth. If you can find it, I think it’s worth the bother. You might also add a few dashes of our Felicidad hot sauce, powered by smoked chipotle chiles.

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Without meat, what would fill it up? This tortured me a little but I finally settled on good, firm green zucchini. I tried yellow squash and Mexican calabacitas, which are more bulbous and a lighter green, but both were too watery and the texture was wrong. I had three ears of corn in my refrigerator and thought that since I was breaking all the rules, why not? It turns out they were delicious and the natural corn starch helps thicken the stew. The pop of the corn teamed with the velvety beans perfectly. I was in love!

I would suggest limiting the vegetables to two, otherwise the chili starts to get too complicated and fussy. I would experiment with potatoes and bitter greens, like dandelions, next. Maybe corn and greens or potatoes and zucchini. Or just stick to zucchini and corn, as I have. As I write this I’m thinking mushroom would be terrific.
I have been eating this constantly and I love it. I did try a spoonful of creme fraiche and it was divine but I also love the idea of keeping it all about the chiles, and making macho vegan food is a lot of fun.

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Rancho Gordo Chili sin Carne

8 cups cooked Rancho Gordo Ayocote Negro, Ayocote Morado or Scarlet Runner beans with their broth (about 6 cups of cooked beans and 2 cups of bean broth)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds or ground cumin
5 cloves
2 whole allspice
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup Rancho Gordo 100% Pure Chile Powder
1 tablespoon Rancho Gordo Mexican Oregano or Oregano Indio
1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)(optional)
1 tablespoon porcini mushroom powder (optional)
2 cups vegetable broth
4 zucchini, sliced in rounds or at a bias
Fresh corn kernels from 3 ears of corn
Rancho Gordo Sal de Mar (sea salt) to taste
Sugar (as needed)

Grind the cumin (if seeds), cloves and allspice in a mortar or electric spice grinder.
In a large pot, like an enameled cast iron, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it ripples. Add the chile powder and mix well with the oil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Add the ground spices, oregano, and optional porcini powder and Spanish paprika. Mix thoroughly and continue cooking for about 3 minutes. You should have a dense paste.
Very slowly, mix in the vegetable broth, stirring constantly until well blended. Gently add the beans and their broth. Mix and cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add about a tablespoon of salt and cook for another 10 minutes. Test seasonings and add more salt if needed. If the broth is overly bitter, add sugar, a teaspoon at a time, until the flavor is correct. A teaspoon or two is more than enough.
Continue simmering on medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the chili has started to thicken and the there is no grainy texture from the chile powder. Add the zucchini and corn and cook for another 15 minutes.
Serve with lime wedges and a bowl of creme fraiche, if you like.

Leftovers were of course even better. I made this guisado for tacos by adding dandelion greens to the chili. And yes, there might have been a touch of crema in the taco to go with all of this goodness.

Want to dig deeper? We have a free ebooklet, Rancho Gordo Vegetarian Chili, available for download now!
Click here to download your free ebook.

An Obscure Heirloom in the Garden: California Beans

One of the easiest beans from the summer of 2006 was something called California. The seeds, received as part of an swap from the Seeds Savers Exchange, germinated quickly and they seemed to enjoy Napa’s warm days and cooler nights. The pods were kind of pretty but I have to confess that the taupe beans are pretty ugly and unspectacular. I have a hunch these are somehow related to the old Bayo beans we used to grow in California at the turn of the last century.

The cooked California beans were not any more attractive than the raw beans, but they had a dense texture that reminded me a little of Vallarta or Yellow Indian Woman beans, only not as creamy. They give almost no pot liquor (bean broth) but the beans themselves are nice and I think I’d grow them again and even recommend them, especially for California gardeners. They are very prolific and would make you feel like you’re doing an excellent job. Sometimes you need that.

I would almost think they were part of the Tepary family after tasting them but the leaves were a traditional Phasleous vulgaris type.

The beans ended up teamed with some broccoli di cicco from Mariquita Farms and it was a great quick meal I probably wouldn’t serve guests but enjoyed on my own.

Cooking Brown Rice in a Rice Cooker

So as you may have noticed, this month we’re really focusing on rice and beans. A new shipment of Massa Organics whole grain brown rice has been a big part of the inspiration. It’s so nutty and delicious, white rice seems bland and anemic in comparison. The rice has been superb on the stovetop and when made in my clay donabe but my electric rice cooker isn’t cutting it. The rice seems underdone and dry and the opposite of indulgent.

After some experimenting, I’ve come to these conclusions:

It’s best to pre-soak the rice for about 3 hours
The best ratio is 2 parts rice to 3 parts water
A small amount of Rancho Gordo Mixteca Salt helps soften the rice

And with that, you should have fairly perfect brown rice!

The Ultimate Ferment: Heirloom Beans

In case you were wondering, no, it doesn’t get hipper than this.

One of the coolest toys I own is my Kraut Source top for my mason jars. With very little bother, I can ferment practically anything that can fit in a wide mouth mason jar. I’ve been a huge fan of Karen’s company from the start and even contributed to Kickstarter when she was looking for funding.

I mostly ferment my jalapeño, serrano and manzano chiles with onions but Karen has taking this one step further and when she told me about fermenting beans, I asked her to help us out with a post here on the blog. I wish I had the talent to express how much I love this!

Delicious Lacto-fermented Beans
by Karen Diggs, Nutritionist + Therapeutic Chef

Hey, all you Rancho Gordo lovers, here’s a new way to serve up your favorite
beans, that is actually based on the millennia-old tradition of lacto-fermentation.
For those of you already making you own sauerkraut, kimchi, or pickles at home, the process is as easy as adding some cooked beans to your favorite recipe, and then allowing the magic of fermentation to turn your beans and vegetables into a probiotic-rich superfood.
And for those of you who have never heard of lacto-fermentation, it’s about time!

Besides having those good bacteria (probiotics) that help with digestion and immunity, fermented foods are also packed with enzymes, and minerals that are easy for our bodies to absorb. In addition, amazing flavors and textures are created during the process, and since the vegetables used are raw, they retain their valuable vitamins which are greatly diminished when cooking with heat.

The really nifty thing about combining vegetables and beans in a ferment is that the legumes add protein, which means that it is great for vegetarians and vegans. And of course, don’t forget that the fermentation makes everything easier to digest.

Here’s a simply recipe to try:

Fermented Royal Corona & Radishes

½ Tablespoon Omnivore Salt, or sea salt
1-1/2 cup filtered water
1 Tablespoon Rancho Gordo Mexican Oregano
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup cooked Rancho Gordo Royal Corona Beans
4 – 5 red radishes
1/3 cup chopped carrots

Directions:
1. Cook the Corona Beans according to directions. When done, allow to cool.
2. Bring the water to boil. Pour into a bowl and dissolve salt in the water.
Allow to cool. (This is the brine.)
3. Place the oregano and chopped garlic in the bottom of a pint-size mason jar, or similar.
4. Add in the cooked beans, radishes, and carrots.
(The top of the ingredients should be about 2 inches below the top rim of the jar.)
5. Pour brine over the mixture until it reaches one inch above the top of the ingredients.
6. If you have a Kraut Source, then follow directions.
If not*, find a small glass or ceramic jar that can fit into the mouth of the mason jar, and rest it directly on top of the ingredients. This will help to keep everything submerged beneath the brine.
(For successful lacto-fermentation, it is important that everything stays submerged beneath the brine.)
Now get a clean kitchen towel and cover the opening. Secure it with a rubber band or string. Place your jar in a cool spot, away from direct sunlight and allow to ferment for 6 – 7 days. Check to make sure that the ingredients are covered with brine. Top off as needed.

Note: You can use other Rancho Gordo beans and vegetable combinations.
If you want to experiment with your own recipes, keep in mind that the ratio of beans to vegetables should be around 1:3. Vegetables are needed because they contain lactic acid bacteria, which starts the formation of probiotics.

For more inspiration, visit www.krautsource.com

And check out this awesome Easter Special which includes a packet of Rancho Gordo beans, Omnivore Salts, Baia pasta, and your very own Kraut Source with mason jar! When you purchase the package, you will also have access to three more exclusive recipes using the fabulous ingredients in your Easter basket!

This is link to the special:
http://www.omnivoresalt.com/products/easter-diy

*Note from Steve: Don’t hesitate. Order a Kraut Source now!

All photos courtesy of Karen Diggs and Kraut Source.