Our lovely Moro beans are posing inside this really incredible pot by artist Emily Swatner. Seems like a marriage made in heaven.

I was rather shocked when I got the invitation to be a judge for the Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacan. I’d attended the event a few years ago and just loved it. About 60 women set up temporary kitchens in a park and the public was invited to buy tickets and sample their traditional dishes, which were competing for a good cash prize. Most of the cooks were indigenous women, many of whom traveled through very dangerous country to attend. They mostly cooked on huge clay cazuelas and comales over a wood fire. Even though many of the cooks...

As you may have read, I love cooking in clay pots. I also like slow cookers, pressure cookers, Le Cruset and pretty much anything technique for cooking beans. But my heart is with clay.  This pot is from Spain and I was lucky enough to get it because now the importer has stopped because of too much breakage. The pot is very heavy and it takes a good long while to heat up, but once it does, it stays hot for a long time.  As is my habit, I started with onion, garlic, olive oil and some Mexican oregano. I...

The more I read about breakfast cereal, the more I question its value as a breakfast food. Processed grains with sugar floating in milk. I have the habit but like a lot of things these days, I'm re-examining it. Why do I need sugar to wake up? Why does this thing need to float in milk? Do I really love the taste? If I think about it, I'd much prefer something savory. And of course any excuse to cook in a clay pot is a good one. I've had too many tomatoes from my CSA this year but not enough...

Sunday night means family meal and as our weather has been mild, almost cool, it seemed time to pull out the old chicken coffin, as I call it, and make one of the most delicious chicken preparations I know. The clay piece has a lid and it's really called a Diable. I prefer coffin. The results are great. You plop a whole chicken in and aromatics and go to town. I tossed some chopped potatoes, onions, garlic and carrots in olive oil. I stuffed the bird with some leftover cilantro, parsely and hoja santa. I dropped a hand full of...

After India, but before Italy, my obsession was France. I would read the Paris Match on the bus in San Francisco and pretend I could understand most of it. "Any of it" would have been a victory. I just wanted to travel and be sophisticated more than just about anything. Funny how things change! I'd read about Poterie Not on Kate Hill's wonderful blog years ago and hinted to the lovely Kate that it would be really nice for her to bring me back a proper cassoulet pot. I hinted that I would like one by screaming and crying and...

Now wouldn't you think someone who cooks Morrocan food once or twice a year could get by with one, or even none? How many tagines does a person need? Apparently, at least three. As always, I was inspired by Paula Wolfert and her early masterpiece, Couscous and Other Good Food From Morroco, now revamped and updated as The Food of Morocco. I purchased all three from tagines.com. Note that they are a great price and good value, but unlike the Mexican pottery I've cooked with, they tend to more delicate. You need to take a little more care and make...

Chamba was my first unglazed clay that I fell in love with. It's from Colombia and I first saw it in Half Moon Bay at a great shop that has since morphed into Toque Blanche. They've become leaders in supplying the fanciful cookware, in their store and over the internet. The website even has information about how the unique pots are made. I loved the oddball-shaped pots and food looks great against black. It's very thick and I've yet to break a piece, even though it's seen a lot of action. The parts that meet the flame become red with...

I am a little nuts and plan to catalog my collection of clay cooking pieces. I have a lot and like all good hoarders, all I need is one more piece and my life will be complete. My preference is for "folk pottery", probably too vague a term, but I know what it is when I see it. First off are these pieces from Oaxaca. I'd met the women who make them in the market in Oaxaca and years later finally made it to San Marcos to see them, with my friends Yunuen and Gabriel. They had met them as...

I love all my clay pieces but now having used them for years, the unglazed, burnished thick and hearty pieces from Los Reyes Metzontla in Pueble are my favorites. I love my bean pot, I love my cazuelas and now I have a very large tamalera, for making tamales, and even though it's not something I do often, I love it. As much as I love tamales, I wasn't going to make them this weekend so on the advice of my friend Yunuen, I steamed some brocolli. It took forever but once it was done, it was very good. But...

I'd almost forgotton to write about this pot! I love it and use it probably once a week. It's a southwestern-style micaceous bean pot by Jan Cameron. I love that its mouth is wide enough to really clean and the clay feels very strong. I've had people assume it was metal but it's not! It's unglazed micaceous clay and Jan has some great designs. Micaceous pots are not cheap in any sense. I have the feeling they're heirloom pieces that you may pass on but I hope you use it regularly. Jan has several pots already made or she can...

I don't like calling beans "leftovers" because a lot of us cook beans to have on hand long after they've been made. For an easy casserole, layer cooked beans, cooked greens (like chard or dandelion greens) and then top with panko crumbs dotted with butter. I think I use some leftover poached chicken I had on hand for this version. Bake it at about 350F for 40 minutes.