Canela: Mexican Soft Cinnamon
Why bother with Mexican cinnamon? It's really very different. The bark you get in most spice jars is cassia and it's very astringent and sharp. Canela is mellower and earthy....
The Rancho Gordo Blog
Ingredient Spotlight
Banana Vinegar: An Incredible Bath for Good Tomatoes
A lot of people are intrigued by our banana vinegar but are at a loss on how to use it. I use it like I would any good vinegar but...
California Beanfield Report
This might be your dinner one day soon! The beanfields here in California are doing very well this year and we're crossing our fingers for a huge, healthy crop. If...
Beans from Ecuador
Wine Forest's Connie Green recently spent some time in Ecuador and was kind enough to bring me back the beans she found there. She admitted that it wasn't a great...
Roasting Fresh Green Chiles
Roasting chiles is a very typical part of cooking Mexican food. A lot of recipes will call for chiles roasted and peeled, assuming this is part of your repertoire. If...
Sweet Corn and Fresh Oregano Fritters
We had a great little party here at the Rancho Gordo store in celebration of the new book by Georgeanne Brennan and Ann M Evans, The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook....
Epazote in the Bay Area
I've known Dan Lehrer for almost 10 years. First at the Marin County Farmers Market on Sundays and later at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Saturdays. Do you have...
Scarlet Runners Are Back (and Bigger Than Ever!)
Just in from our cleaning facility are our Scarlet Runners. This season's crop was great. The raw beans are large but when cooked they become enormous. Once cooked, they can...
Kitchen Object Fetish No. 1: Chiltepin Chile Grinder
I was just given this grinder as a present. It's made of a beautiful wood and crudely grinds small chiltepin chiles. You lift the stem off and add one or...
More Enfrijoladas, More Happiness
This beautiful dish is known as Zopilotas. It's basically an enfrijolada without chicken or filling but served with some crudely scrambled eggs. The sauce is only going to be as...
Beans with Poblano Chiles (Step by Step)
One of my favorite way to eat beans is with roasted poblano chiles. I think green bell peppers are ok but you really can't compare them to a big, meaty...
New to Me: Piloy Beans
A recent trip to a well-stocked Latin market yielded two pounds of Piloy beans. They were a beautiful reddish-brown, large and you just knew they were going to be delicious....