A Dessert with Prickly Pears

Not long ago, I lamented the lack of dessert recipes in my bag of tricks. But I’d forgotten a favorite using prickly pears (tunas) and Sambuca Romana from the book Frida’s Fiestas.

The original recipe calls for rounds of cleaned tunas to be chilled with a healthy dose of Sambuca Romana. It sounds odd but it works well and it’s easy to do.

I was short the Sambuca, but I did have some excellent calvados on hand, it and was glorious, maybe even better than with Sambuca.

Remember, you eat the little stones along with the fruit.

Potato Chips, Mexican-style

Most people would define Mexican cuisine by the use of corn and chiles but it’s also the ever-present lime that makes modern Mexican food what it is.

Recently, on a trip to New Spain, a group of us were sitting around a cantina and potato chips were ordered. When they arrived, one of the woman grabbed the bag and without asking for approval, ripped it open and then quirted lime juice all over the chips.

Then, looking around, as if to ask if it was O.K., she began dousing the chips with hot sauce.
Now, I like potato chips just fine but I wouldn’t buy them because I’d keep eating them until they were gone. This technique changes them from a mindless snack to an appetizer and now it’s the only way to eat potato chips in my house.

Black Calypso Beans are Back

I’m happy to announce the return of Black Calypso beans to Rancho Gordo. We haven’t had them in well over a year, maybe longer, and it’s a shame we ran out because it’s one of the most unusual beans we grow.

Also known as Orca, or Yin and Yang, this bean keeps it’s markings when cooked and has a subtle potato flavor. My favorite preparation is to take a piece of bacon, cook and then remove. Saute some onion and garlic in the remaining bacon fat and then add it to the soaked beans. Cook the beans and then right before serving, crumble the bacon on top, maybe with some chopped, fresh sage.

I’ll be in Mexico this weekend but Joan will be at the farmers market with these and all the usual suspects. Of course you can order them online, as well.

In other bean news:  We are not in the "danger zone" yet with Good Mother Stallards but we won’t finish the season. They’ve just been too popular. We are out of Marrows. And don’t forget the garbanzo beans.

Bean Tasting at UC Davis

UC Davis is a famous agricultural school. There are a lot of interesting people doing great things there. Currently they have a study going on about the feasibility of offering heirloom beans to CSA customers and at farmers markets and I’ve been helping a bit.

In trials at UC Davis and on five selected farms, they grew Sugar beans, Flor de Mayo, Jacob’s Cattle, Andino and Holsteins. Traditionally, recipes would be offered that masked the flavor of the beans but the whole point of heirlooms is their superior taste and texture so we had a bean cooking day and yours truly got on the soapbox about cooking beans in a simple mirepoix and not much else.

The winner of the day seemed to be the Sugar beans. This is a new world variety that is apparently most popular in Africa. I’m hoping to get some to offer before too long.

Amaranth Greens

You may know that amaranth is one of those super grains, like quinoa, but did you know that it’s easy to grow and as the plant matures, you can use some of the leaves as part of a mixed salad? I actually feel more comfortable cooking with the leaves more than the seeds. Aside from a mixed grain hot breakfast cereal and a candy called allegria, I don’t quite know what to do with amaranth seeds. Do you have any good ideas?

For salads, mix in some leaves along with your regular salad mix. Amaranth has a pleasant slightly bitter taste. You can also sauté the greens, like spinach, but I don’t think it’s as successful.

A Brisket in the Oven

When I asked Steve at Prather Ranch Meat Co for a piece of meat to braise, he immediatley led me to a brisket. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea. I’ve had lots of nasty boiled briskets with boiled vegetables, but Steve insisted a brisket could be a thing of beauty. I decided to go along with him.

Late one night, it dawned on me I hadn’t cooked the brisket, so I sent out an S.O.S. to one of my online food forums and decided to give the brisket a slow, overnight braise. I would have used the electric slow cooker (Crock Pot) but the brisket was too large.

Rancho Gordo Brisket
1 large brisket, trimmed of excess fat
3 small onions
5 cloves garlic
2 ounces Rancho Gordo New Mexican Chile Powder
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
salt

In a large pot or casserole, add the brisket, fat side down.
Slice the onions and surround the meat. Squash and peel the garlic and add to the pot.
Mix the chile powder, oregano, vinegar, water and salt together and then pour over the meat. It should be barely submerged. Add more liquid if needed.
Heat the oven to 375F and when heated, add the pot uncovered. Immediately lower the heat to 225F. Allow to cook for several hours.
Turn the meat over in the pot.
Cook for several more hours until the meat can be broken up with a fork.
Remove the pot from the oven and remove the meat. When cool enough to handle, scrape any leftover fat and discard. Strain the cooking liquid and then chill until the fat hardens and can be removed (overnight is best.) Gently reheat the meat with the sauce and serve with raw onions and lime wedges.

I put the casserole in the oven at about 11 p.m. and then woke up at 2:30 a.m., almost overwhelmed by the aroma. I went in to check on the meat, fearing that maybe I should have left the top on to avoid too much evaporation, but there was plenty of liquid left. I flipped the meat and then went back to bed. In the morning, the whole thing was perfection.

Breakfast? Brisket tacos, with queso fresco and cilantro, of course!

I’ve said it before, but I prefer to cook with chiles rather than the powder, but I have to humbly admit, our chile powder is killer and especially with something that cooks as long as this, there is none of that chile powder graininess than can mar a chile colorado or chili con carne. I thought
later that I could have added some tomatoes and cumin, but this is a beautiful pure chile and pure meat flavor experience and I’m glad I didn’t.

Rain in Napa

Here in Napa, June through October are normally very dry. This year was pretty average except for a funny little rain last week. Last night we had sheets and sheets of glorious rain and while it’s been a fine summer, I’m ready for a change.

We ended up getting close to an inch. I put all my clay bean pots in the empty field to collect the rainwater for bean cooking.

A little extreme? Maybe, but it’s there and it’s free for the taking.

New York Times on ‘Beans: A History’ and a Podcast

The New York Times has a brief review of Ken Albala’s Beans: A History.  I’ve started the book, but then got sidetracked. This review reminds me I need to put finishing this book on the top of my To Do list.

 

Read the NYT review.

Unrelated to anything, I have made a musical podcast you may enjoy if you have a sense of humor. The Latin Soul or Boogaloo is an era a lot of serious Latin musicians would like to forget but I think it’s a gas. Most of the lyrics were sung in English (and inane) but the music is really dance-able, especially if you are suspended from the ceiling by a cage, dressed in go-go boots. Listen to the podcast.

New York Times on ‘Beans: A History’ and a Podcast

The New York Times has a brief review of Ken Albala’s Beans: A History.  I’ve started the book, but then got sidetracked. This review reminds me I need to put finishing this book on the top of my To Do list.

 

Read the NYT review.

Unrelated to anything, I have made a musical podcast you may enjoy if you have a sense of humor. The Latin Soul or Boogaloo is an era a lot of serious Latin musicians would like to forget but I think it’s a gas. Most of the lyrics were sung in English (and inane) but the music is really dance-able, especially if you are suspended from the ceiling by a cage, dressed in go-go boots. Listen to the podcast.

A Good Marinade

I found myself with what is probably the most boring piece of meat imaginable: boneless, skinless chicken breasts. What to do?

I pounded several cloves of garlic with salt and Mexican oregano in my favorite Spanish mortar from The Spanish Table. Once there was a paste, I thinned it out with some olive oil and finally some of my homemade pineapple vinegar. If you didn’t make the vinegar, you can use rice vinegar or even apple cider vinegar. Or experiment with something new.

I pounded each of the chicken breasts and then placed them in my Foodsaver Marinator . I sucked the air out with the Foodsaver and then left the breasts alone for an hour. Later, they pan-fried in minutes. I did the same with those awful pork cutlets with no fat or bone and had another great success. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

If this were a cookbook, I’d have tried this without the Foodsaver. I wonder how much difference it made. Or the pineapple vinegar versus an ordinary product.