rancho_gordo

Recently harvested beans, or even better, heirloom varieties. Certainly not canned! Perhaps that Rancho Gordo brand I keep hearing about....

I've only heard of tinga from chicken, with a mass of onions, but the pork sounds good, too. As "bachelor father". tostadas are a godsend. Everyone can have then as they like as long as they have a good solid slop of my refried beans as the base. Salsas, meat or shrimp, lettuce, crema, cheese, etc as they like. It's fun and pretty easy, as long as you have good beans.

I don't think traditionally there are poblano chiles in it. Isn't it mostly dried chiles? It's called Mole Poblano because the mole is from Puebla, not because it uses the fresh green chiles. The Oaxacan moles are very different as is mole from Michoacan. It's kind of an advanced dish to offer in a Dutch magazine!

I've said it before but the more I learn about Mexican food, the less I really seem to know. There's a LOT more ground to cover. I think the early Kennedy and Bayless books might be ok overviews but Mexican food is so regional, that it would be impossible to write a definitive guide. Every region deserves a version of DK's Oaxacan book. I think Kennedy is a terrific, no compromise type of writer and I can read her books like novels. Bayless is great and I think Mexican Everyday is one of his best because he can innovate without the restrictions of "authentic" or even "traditional" as a burden. I also like One Plate at a Time because there's so much text and it's not all recipes. I'm a sucker for Mexican books and I'll buy anything that is halfway serious.

As we're in the process of making tortillas commercially, we've been approached about them. They're not bad but in the end, they seem to be like a can of beer with the lime already in it. It's better to squeeze the lime in yourself and I love nopales so I'd rather just make a taco with nopales as an ingredient. The trend is also to add chia, amaranth, or other "healthy" things. I'd really just have an excellent tortilla.

You are too kind, madam. I think the editing was a little odd. They left out huge chunks of information but I think it's geared towards a younger audience. The one thing I wish they'd left in was all the work in Mexico. There wasn't a mention! It was a lot of fun and I'm still a fan of Aida and I do enjoy the whole channel.

Well, I think it's pretty darn swell. Rancho Gordo is on it tonight. We're featured on Foodcrafters on their Grow show. Despite what ScoopKW implies, it's not an infomercial. Aida Mollenkamp knows us from the farmers market and was kind enough to use us for this show. I think it's a short five or six minute segment but they had two different crews here, one in Napa and one in the farmers market. It was pretty wild. Whether the show or network succeeds or not is up for debate but to say that Aida is anything other than gorgeous is a little weird to me. She's a knockout and truly contemptible because she is also very smart and generous. Hate that bitch!

My picky sons (9 and 12) love it. We smash it in a mortar with garlic and pear vinegar and make a paste that we rub all over a pork tenderloin. Stupid easy and really different. Also don't forget if you make pozole, it's fun to have it in a small bowl and let guests hold their hands high above their heads and rub the oregano and let it cascade down into the bowl. It's dreamy as it passes the nostrils!

Yes, that's the book. I just have to add an "alternate voice" here about this book. It may well be delicious and I remember Kalypso posting about a good stew she had made from it, but having just been in Veracruz and becoming obsessed with the place, this book seems like it's about someplace else. I won't use the word authentic but the book is at odds with the place I visited and fell in love with. I think you can find it cheap but I wouldn't consider it an authoritative piece on Veracruz. If you can deal with Spanish, this is THE book: The hardback is OP but it was about $35 in Mexico recently in paperback. I bet Libros Latinos would have it.

Just back from Chiapas (which is sadly about 100% Maseca). I think real masa is like a living dough. ONce you freeze it, you might as well use Maseca. When you hear about it going bad in a day or two, I think it's in Mexico, at room temp, out of the fridge. I think it keeps about 5 days or so.

I've heard many people say it's invasive but I never had any luck, also with clay soil. I grow it in two pots that seem to survive or reseed each year. One year I kept my eyes open and noticed it growing everywhere, from parking lots to railroad tracks!

The octopus seemed to be tossed with the epazote right before serving. It was whole leaf and still pretty green tasting. I got the feeling the octopus wasn't grilled long anyway. re the beans, I think it's nice at times but I wouldn't want it with every bowl. To start add a whole sprig about 10 minutes before eating and see how that goes, increasing if you like it.

I love it. Great with beans, to a degree. It's super in quesadillas and gives them a nice edge as opposed to gooey baby food. Also great with sauteed mushrooms and on my last trip I had it with grilled octopus. Incredibly good!

So my new gig is importing corn along with the beans from our Rancho Gordo/Xoxoc Project. It's all heirloom varieties and we're buying the corn at a high price to make it more practical for smaller indigenous farmers to grow their heritage varieties instead of hybrids or GMOs. Without a lot of preaching, everybody wins (which is my new mantra.) Anyway, we had the corn stuck at the border for weeks because it was heirloom! It finally arrived and we finally made our first tortillas: Initially, the corn was too fresh and moist for the tortilla machine so we had to wait. The finished product! This was white corn but the results are much darker than normal. We rinsed the cal and there was no nasty chemical aftertaste (like the lurid yellow "organic" ones you see at certain stores.) Most Mexican wouldn't be thrilled with this color but I don't think my customers will care, especially when they taste them. We also have pallets of red and black corn waiting for experimentation. The cool thing is we have this corn, plus an heirloom from Jalisco that we grow here in California. We are still months away from commercial availability, should you be wondering!

You have no idea how close I was to saying yes to this. Unfortunately I have another trip at the same time but I was really pretty close to coming! As soon as dates are firmed for next year, I'm booking!

Miss Kennedy herself will be here at Rancho Gordo in Napa for a book presentation/party and more on Oct 30. We're going to have lots of food and drink. No charge and all fans of Mexican food are welcome.

I bet a layer of refried black beans after the lard would be pretty swell!

the first time I had these in the Yucatan I thought they were like baby food and did not care for them, but at some point I grew to love them and now I crave them. I bet by the time you finish the batch you'll be a fan. And it seems like the soft masa really picks up the flavor of the leaf wrapper in a way that dried corn doesn't.

I've only looked at it and thumbed through it! So far it's been more of an inspiration book than an actual cookbook. The thing that really hits me is the pozole for 30 party. I've been meaning to a big one like that but I fear I'm a little rusty for 30 guests (I like 4 to 6!) and I'm contemplating a date. In the meantime, i'm enjoying your hard work, as I sit on the couch and sip tequila under the fan!

Chris, I am muy impressed!

Clearly his mission isn't to educate people about Mexican music. But what if he included papusa recipes in this book? Or a nice Brazilian fejoada, without context? It would be pretty weird. If it were Rachel Ray, it would be one thing but it's Rick Bayless. Remember, the book is recommended and I'm nit-picking.

This for me is cringe-worthy. It's not very good, deep or representative. And it's too cute. The endless photos of "Rick at play" are also borderline but there's so much else good that you can overlook it. At first, the photos, music lists and drinks made me regret the purchase, but only for a moment. It gets better and better.

I'm sure you don't want another opinion at this point but....I'm all for your experimenting with traditional Mexican ingredients and dishes and mixing things up but I think you should call it "a la G-Rat" instead of "al pastor". it's like Taco Bell calling one of their "treats" a chalupa when a chalupa is something very different that already exists in Mexico. And if you like mixing things up, I hope you make it to Pujol in Mexico City, if you haven't already. Chef Enrique Olvera is turning things on their head. It's clever without being silly or precious and I still dream about the meals I've had there. Finally, anyone interested in entertaining should look into the new Rick Bayless book. Fiesta at Rick's is the name and it could have been an indulgent mess (and there are some minor wincing moments) but it's one of those books that makes you want to pick up the phone and call your pals over for a dinner party. There's lots of new stuff and it's a substantial book.

My new mantra is that the foundation for good Mexican food is chiles, corn and beans. \ CHILES - CORN - BEANS I think if you have these things covered, the rest just falls into place.

it's been so long I don't remember! Sorry.