Pineapple and Cactus Juice
I've written about cactus before, even blending it with pineapple juice, but last month when I was in Mexico City I made them part of my daily routine and I...
The Rancho Gordo Blog
In the kitchen
When to Salt the Beans
One of the oldest issues with beans is salt. Conventional wisdom says not to salt too early or the skins will get tough but you want to salt long before...
Chili with Giant White Limas
I made a chili the other night, completely ignoring all of your recommendations. I toasted and soaked 3 anchos, 1 chipotle and 2 guajillos. Then I blended them with onion,...
Breakfast of Giant White Limas and Eggs
I'm back in love with Giant White Limas. As I've said many times, limas are great, but most of us grew up with mothers who had no idea how to...
You Posole, I say Pozole
For the record, in Mexico, the finished dish is called pozole. It's normally a fresh chile and tomatillo dish with pork or a dried red chile and chicken dish. I...
Swiss Chard Soup
Our regular customer Canice Flanagan tried out our Cranberry beans and came up with this winning recipe. The ingredient amounts are very loose so feel free to experiment and make...
Cooking With Clay, Part 7: Cazuelas from Puebla
While Puebla is best known for it's pretty Talavera pottery with it's ornate decoration and fusion of styles from the old world to the new, I of course go looking...
Black Bean Soup from Barranquilla, Colombia
As a very pretentious young fellow in San Francisco in the early 1980s, my favorite book was The Gentleman's Companion. Actually it was two-volume set dedicated to good food, drink...
Looking for Chili Recipes
Here in Napa, we have our nice little group called the Family Farm League. We have seed saver's exchange potluck and the local high school kids cook chili con carne...
Good to the Last Drop
I made a pot of Eye of the Goat the other day and it reminded me what got so excited about heirloom beans in the first place. Yes, the texture...
More on Eggs and Beans
I've been having poached eggs on beans almost every morning. Yesterday I upped the ante by adding some leftover duck confit from the Fatted Calf. It's hard to be in...
Clams with Chorizo and White Beans
My online friend Suzanne sent me this gorgeous photo of a recent meal she made. I think she used Marrow beans (currently unavailable but I think we found some to...