Years ago, Steve Sando was shopping for tomatoes near his home in Napa and, despite the fact that it was August in California, all he could find were some sad specimens from a hothouse in Holland! It was at this moment that he decided to begin an adventure that would bring him serious acclaim in the food world.
Rancho Gordo was born out of Steve's desire to make "indigenous...New World ingredients
familiar, if not common." Steve believes that "our own food", the food of the Americas, "is considered exotic and sometimes in danger of being lost".
His quest began by growing a few beans near his home in Napa and now extends to farmers with whom he works all over Northern California and down to the heart of South America in Bolivia, which is where we're going today...
NEW! Quinoa from Rancho Gordo
If you've made any attempts at healthy eating in the past 5 years, you've no doubt crossed paths with quinoa. It's an incredible food - quinoa contains all of the essential amino acids of a complete protein, is high in magnesium, iron, phosphates, fiber and is gluten-free. But the best part is that it also tastes great!
Steve Sando has spent lots of time in South America, scouting growers of this ancient Andean crop. He works with a cooperative of small farmers in Bolivia to get the best hand-harvested quinoa in the world. When cooked, the seed (yes, it's a seed, not a grain) is fluffy and light in texture with a nutty, mild taste that absorbs flavors beautifully. We have two varieties of quinoa - the white and black seeds. There isn't a great difference in taste - perhaps, the black is a little stronger in flavor, but the black cooks to a gorgeous brick red hue.
Once it's cooked, (click here for our basic recipe - *under Serving Suggestions), quinoa is fantastic in salads with chopped tomatoes, cucumber and parsley or mint. It's great stuffed into peppers or tomatoes and baked - or stuffed into poblanos for Chile Relleno (click here for Steve's recipe).Quinoa is also nice with any number of sauces stirred in once it's cooked - a few spoonfuls of yogurt livened up with lime and cilantro, a bit of harissa and cilantro or even a dollop of tapenade with black olives and capers.
And our latest and new favorite preparation is quinoa for breakfast! You can cook it in milk, rather than water for more of a porridge-consistency. We like to boil it like pasta and drain. After it's cooled slightly, we stir in a little milk, brown sugar, almonds and a sliced banana on top. It's a fantastically-healthful way to start the day.
Order the Black and White Quinoa from Rancho Gordo for $13.00 (or each for $7.00)
And stay tuned...we're hard at work on bringing in heirloom beans from Steve.
Recipes are being tested and written, photographs taken and LOTS of beans eaten!
New Harissa! Mustapha's Moroccan
We've tried a few different harissa over the years - harissa is a little like Garam Masala in India...in goes in lots of dishes and EVERYONE has their own version!
So when we heard recently that our last producer was getting out of the American import business, we started our search anew. Wouldn't you know, it led us back to a producer with whom we've been working for years at our store in Oakland.
Mustapha Haddouch came to the US in the 80's with $600 in his pocket - now, his line of authentic Moroccan products line the shelves of some of the finest specialty markets in America.
Harissa is undoubtedly one of the more versatile ingredients in our catalog and a serious contender for our most used at home. This Moroccan paste is a fiery blend of chiles and bell peppers, tomatoes, preserved lemons and spices that is most traditionally added to couscous - a bit stirred in at the end brings zest and heat. But there are literally dozens of other ways to use this tasty sauce. Mustapha's has a bright acidity and punch of heat that we just love. We use it in scrambled eggs, on sandwiches, in sauces (a dollop of harissa mayo in fish stew is SUBLIME!), blended with feta for an easy dip, as a rub for chicken or fish and so many more uses!
We recently had a tagine of chicken and apricots served with quinoa, rather than couscous. The textural surprise was fantastic and the quinoa absorbed the flavors beautifully.
Order a jar of Harissa from Mustapha's Moroccan now for $10.00
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