First Rancho Gordo beans

[DaveD]

Hey folks, today I made my first pot of Rancho Gordo beans. I cooked up some Vaqueros with pretty much the standard approach they describe on their labels and, in a bit more detail, in the brochure they include with your order (and on their website of course). Started by sauteeing some minced garlic, sweet onion, and celery in a few tbsp of EVOO until soft, then added the beans and the water they'd been soaking in for about three hours. Added more water to get the depth to 2in/5cm above the beans, brought to a boil for fifteen minutes, then simmered low and slow for several more hours.

At the start of the simmer, added a bay leaf and a few shakes of their Mexican Oregano. Once the beans softened, about an hour or so in, started adding some salt every half hour until it tasted right.






Served with some excellent pork spare ribs smoked on my SnS kettle and some steamed broccoli. They were just amazing! I didn't know beans could be like this. My lovely bride bestowed all the superlatives: "Perfectly cooked", "the bomb", "the DIGGITY bomb", "to die for". They were so creamy and full of flavor. Can't wait to make some more to see if this is the new normal for beans, because if so, I reckon we'll be having RG exclusively from here on out...

[barelfly]

your reaction to these is what my reaction was. Amazing how much better they are than stuff we buy off the shelves at the local grocer.

on a side note, I bet those would make great refried beans as well! Man these beans are good! I have not had the vaqueros, so will have to give them a try.

thanks for sharing!!

[klflowers]

Yep. No more grocery store beans for this guy

[Texas Larry]

What he said.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

one of us one of us one of us......

[DaveD]

Yes! Todd Browning's "Freaks", 1932... all time classic

[Alan Brice]

I do believe our "Radio/TV Editor"Steve Hoffman, from the Cinti Enquirer, starred in that flick.
He was a "small" person. Blast from the past. I must retract. The time line just doesnt work.

[Alan Brice]

Spot on, my brutha.

[mnavarre]

Got 1/2 lb. of vaqueros going right now. Bacon, garlic, epazote, and lemon verbena. Haven't cooked these before.

[DaveD]

mnavarre, how did your beans turn out??

[mnavarre]

DaveD Really good.I don't think the Vaqueros are my favorite, they're a little too "pinto-y" to pay $5.99/lb for. They do remind me of a cross between Pinto and Peruano beans.

[ecowper]

I happen to have warehouse/grocery store beans in my SHTF packs. But never again will I eat them unless SHTF. I have probably 20 lbs worth of Rancho Gordo in my pantry ….. they are the standard :-)

[Richard Chrz]

Those beans look fantastic.

[IowaGirl]

I really like Rancho Gordo beans too -- there's a store that carries their cranberry beans so I can buy a pound without having to factor in shipping costs. But I found another source for artisanal beans recently that others might want to consider -- Masienda. I bought some of their masa recently and added three types of beans to my order. They don't sell as many different types of beans that RG does, but they nave a nice variety.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

they have a product that Rancho Gordo has never had that I'm aware of (I'll pass, but....) https://masienda.com/collections/all...42210590785685

[klflowers]

ItsAllGoneToTheDogs I am with you

[fzxdoc]

ItsAllGoneToTheDogs and klflowers , perhaps instead you'll want to consider Rancho Gordo's ground worm salt, (a hard pass for me).

https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/sal-de-gusano-worm-salt

Kathryn

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I could do that before the ants... at least ya can't see the worms

[klflowers]

No worm umami for this guy. Worms are for fishing only around my house

[Donw]

Well, you all convinced me so I have the large gift box coming. Since my legume world normally consists of lima beans, black eyed peas, field peas, northerns and split peas, with an occasional can of black beans, I’m looking to expand it. There were too many choices for me to pick some so the gift box seemed like a good start.

[DaveD]

That's what we did too!

[ecowper]

If you like Great Northerns, you absolutely have to get a bag of Marcellas …. Cannellinis to die for man