Featured Article - August 2010

SOUTHWEST FLAVOR
Cook the Native Way

...in micaceous clay

Story by Kristen Davenport, photography by Lois Ellen Frank

Master micaceous potter Felipe Ortega began making bean pots when he learned, as a young man on the Jicarilla Apache Nation, that he liked beans only when they’d been cooked in this traditional vessel. In the Apache language, he says, there is a phrase about micaceous pottery, dahlikao gohnii, that translates roughly to “it makes the beans taste sweet.” In fact, Ortega tells me, micaceous cookware makes almost everything taste better—coffee, tea, rice, beans, spaghetti sauce.

If you’ve been conditioned to think of Native American pots as only fragile, expensive artworks, it’s a shift to accept them as functional kitchen tools. The first time you light a gas stove’s flame under the bottom of a bean pot is a frightening experience. (At $100 per quart, the fear is probably justified.) But, as micaceous potter Brian Grossnickle, Ortega’s former apprentice, reminds me, these pots were used by “roaming bands of Apaches” and are hardier than they look. (Just the same, I’ve seen Grossnickle’s kitchen, and his micaceous pots have some nicks on the edges. Perhaps cooking in clay requires that we accept some imperfection.)

Although some micaceous potters make lids (Grossnickle does not), the shape of the bean pot is designed to keep the liquid in the pot and thus prevent it from boiling over, he says.

Tips for cooking in your new micaceous pots:

Cook anywhere. You can cook in micaceous pots on any stovetop, in your oven, or even atop an open fire. Before it came to your kitchen, the pot was fired to at least 750 degrees. It can take the heat.

Cook anything. Don’t limit yourself to beans. Make soup, brisket, roast chicken, oatmeal, or pumpkin-pie filling.

Tastes will change. Grossnickle suggests giving up all other cookware for two weeks and use only your micaware, and then return to stainless steel or cast iron. “You’ll taste the metals,” he says.

Let it soak in. A clay pot takes on the flavors of what you cook in it. If you cook a lot of hot, garlicky dishes, you might consider having a second bean pot for, say, your morning cinnamon oatmeal. Also, beans can soak up the flavors of meals previously made in your pot. (This can be a good thing.)

Season it. Ask the potter how to season your pot. Grossnickle suggests that the first thing to cook in your pot should be rice. The starch will help fill the pores of the clay and ready it for use.

Washing is overrated. Don’t ever put your micaceous pot in the dishwasher. Wash it gently by hand using only a little soap.

Tough break. If your pot cracks the first time you use it (it happens), call the potter. In those circumstances, most will replace it.

Cut the fat. Micaceous clay is a naturally nonstick surface. For instance, one recipe we found requires you to “sweat” your onions in the pot as a first step; instead, just toss the chopped onions in the pot and heat. (In other cookware, this step would require oil.)

Use wooden utensils. It’s a cook’s instinct to clank a spoon on the edge of the pot. To prevent chipping, avoid metal spoons.

Kristen Davenport lives on a small farm in rural Taos County, where she and her husband grow garlic, potatoes, and other good stuff for farmers markets. She writes about agriculture and food for several magazines.

RECIPES

Clay Pot Frijoles

New to cooking in clay? This basic bean-pot recipe is easily adapted to your tastes.

2½ cups (about 1 pound) dried pinto
or bolita beans, rinsed, sorted
1 large onion, diced
4–5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup diced salt pork or bacon
1 teaspoon dried epazote leaves, crumbled, or 1 bag chamomile tea (intact)
3 tablespoons mild or hot Chimayó
red-chile powder
2 whole bay leaves
1½ teaspoons cumin powder
7–8 cups water or broth (beef, chicken,
or vegetable)
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in bean pot and place on bottom rack of cold oven. (If you’re cooking in something other than a micaceous bean pot, put a lid on it.) Heat oven to 450 degrees and cook beans for 1½ hours.

Carefully remove pot and check seasoning; add more if necessary, and return to hot oven. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook another 40 minutes or until tender. Remove pot from oven, re-season if necessary, cover, and let rest 10 minutes. Serve as side dish with fresh tortillas, crema Mexicana or sour cream, diced jalapeños, and crumbled cotija or grated asadero cheese.

Serves 6–8.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

You can cook more than beans in your bean pot. Potter Brian Grossnickle makes this dish in his own kitchen. This recipe has been refined by Lois Ellen Frank, culinary anthropologist, chef, photographer, and author of Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations (Ten Speed Press, 2002).

Green Chile and Tomato Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white sweet onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
13-ounce tub frozen green chiles (mild)
16-ounce jar Rancho de los Garcias
Green Chile Sauce
28-ounce can organic whole tomatoes
with basil, chopped

Enchiladas
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups white mushrooms, sliced
3 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cups baby spinach, washed, cleaned
12 corn tortillas
1 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
2 cups mild cheddar cheese, grated

Sauce: In medium saucepan or three-quart micaceous cooking pot, warm olive oil over medium to high heat until hot but not smoking. Add onions and sauté until clear (about 2 minutes), stirring to prevent burning. Add garlic, cook an additional minute, then add green chiles and green-chile sauce. Stir. Add canned tomatoes and stir again. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Reduce heat and simmer 10–15 minutes, until sauce has reduced and tomato water is gone. Remove from heat and set aside.

Enchiladas: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large cast-iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium to high heat until hot. Add mushrooms and sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini and cook 2 minutes more. Add diced pepper and cook another minute, stirring to ensure even cooking. Add spinach and cook another 2 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Remove from heat and set aside.

Use about 5 ounces (a little more than ½ cup) of sauce to cover bottom of clay casserole dish. Cover sauce with 4 tortillas. Pour another 5 ounces of sauce atop tortillas, then cover with half of sautéed vegetables. Cover with ½ cup crumbled cotija cheese. Add another layer of 4 tortillas, then 5 ounces of sauce, remaining half of vegetables, and remaining ½ cup of cotija cheese. Atop this layer last 4 corn tortillas, cover with remaining sauce, and top with grated cheddar.

Bake 45 minutes, until casserole bubbles and cheese on top begins to turn brown. Remove from oven and let rest. Slice and serve.

Serves 6–8 as main course.