You’re going to find out real quick that I like to cook to taste. There is usually not any measuring in this kitchen. I use “recipe” loosely – I consider every dish a kitchen experiment. I ran across this recipe online from Foodocracy for Traditional Southern Conch Peas, which inspired this concoction. I made so…

I first stumbled across these beans after reading a featured spotlight in a Foodocracy newsletter. Intrigued by the description of their rich flavor, I ordered a bag and decided to keep the initial preparation simple to let the bean’s natural profile shine. I cooked them on the stove in a simple bath of water seasoned…

If you want to shake up your grain routine, it is time to meet einkorn. I first ran across it while reading Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them by Dan Saladino, and I knew I had to try it. Learning about these endangered food traditions even made…

If you want to cook an heirloom bean that absolutely commands attention, look no further than the Scarlet Runner Bean (Phaseolus coccineus). It was the first heirloom bean I’ve fallen in love with. While most common pantry beans belong to the Phaseolus vulgaris family, Scarlet Runners are in a botanical league of their own. Native…

We’ve all heard the myth: “Never salt your beans early, or they’ll stay rock hard.” While food science has largely busted that rule for regular salt, there is an ancient Mexican secret that turns the whole debate on its head. Enter Mixteca salt (sal blanca). Mined from 3,000-year-old inland springs in Oaxaca and Puebla, this…

This book is part of the Edible series by Reaktion Books, and it’s a quick, punchy read at just around 130 pages. If you’ve ever gotten weirdly excited explaining the nitrogen-fixing magic of heirloom seeds to an unimpressed friend (guilty!), this book will make you feel totally seen. Morris starts way back – think 9,000…