MAYOCOBA MAGIC: Making beans-on-toast with a Latin twist

Tasked with bringing a dish to a Thursday Murder Club potluck, I took this British comfort food in a delicious new direction

By CINDA CHAVICH

This week my assignment was to come up with something appropriate to bring to a potluck, one celebrating the debut of a new movie based on a favourite cozy mystery novel, The Thursday Murder Club.

As my friends assembled for the release of the Netflix adaptation, starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley, the table was laid with a variety of sharables, from smoked salmon tart to seasonal blackberry trifle.

Though we didn’t really decide on a “theme” for our collaborative dinner, as Richard Osman’s quirky mystery is set in a town in Kent, outside London, and the sleuthing characters are all elders living in an upmarket retirement village, something with a retro British bent seemed the thing. Beyond some of the baking mentioned in the original book — the lemon drizzle or coffee and walnut cakes — there wasn’t much to go on.

But as my Brit-born friend has a love for “beans on toast” — to his Canadian wife’s horror — I thought one of my favourite appetizer recipes, for a creamy white bean slather with rosemary and caramelized onions on crostini, might fit the bill.

I often make this simple but satisfying starter with a can of white beans, just whirled up in the food processor, but thought I’d try cooking the beans from scratch this time to up the culinary ante. And as I had a bag of dry yellow canary (aka Mayocoba) beans in the pantry (a favourite of California bean grower and guru Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo), I decided to take my bean dip/beans-on-toast recipe in a slightly new direction.

I met Sando several years back, while covering a farm-to-table event for chefs in Napa Valley. And in doing the research for this recipe I bumped into him again (at least virtually) on the New York Times Cooking website, where his “Simple Beans on Toast” recipe now resides.

It’s all about the beans, simply cooked with aromatics and coarsely crushed, then piled on slabs of crusty, buttered sourdough toast with a bit of olive oil and sea salt.

EACH HEIRLOOM BEAN HAS A UNIQUE FLAVOUR

Like Rancho Gordo, the company based in San Francisco, I learned from Sando that there’s nothing complex about serving heirloom beans, as each is unique and speaks for itself once cooked from scratch with nothing more than a basic mirepoix and water.

The Rancho Gordo recipe for Pot Beans starts with a simple mirepoix and water — letting the unique flavour and texture of each heirloom bean variety shine.

Taking his cues for cooking my Mayocoba beans — his recipe for “pot beans” simmered with sauteed garlic, onion, carrot and celery — I had a tasty blank canvass for my bean dip, which gilds the basic beans with fresh herbs and sweet slow-cooked onions.

BEANS ON TOAST FROM THE UK TO ITALY AND BEYOND

I’ve also found similar riffs on the beans-on-toast genre — with chopped arugula folded into the cooked beans, or the toasted bread crostini topped with crushed cooked beans, olive oil and a sliver of lardo or fatty Italian prosciutto.

The Brits usually just serve canned “baked beans” on toast for their version of the popular wartime dinner (now a comfort food hangover from rationing of all things in the 1940s).

But using the thin-skinned and creamy Mayocoba beans (rooted in Mexico and Peru) takes the idea in a slightly new direction, which I’m hoping will be well received, even by the old school purists.

All heirloom beans are unique — a variety of sizes, colours, textures and subtle flavours that you won't find in the usual commodity crops of while, black and pinto beans — so are worth seeking out. Reviews of Rancho Gordo’s Mayocoba beans on their website are effusive — describing them as “sublime,” “incredible” and “the best beans I’ve ever eaten.”

My bag of Mayacoba beans is not from Rancho Gordo, though you can buy their beans online (they ship to Canada!), and there are also lots of recipes to try on the website. The

great thing about these dried beans is that you can plant them and grow heirloom beans of your own (I had success in my garden in Alberta with stripey Tiger Eye and black and white Orca beans, among others).

Home grown Orca beans

Once cooked in “the Rancho Gordo manner”, my Mayacoba beans were dense and creamy, not a white bean but closer to pink — a light golden brown colour with a natural sweet note, reminiscent of classic baked beans even without any other additions.

Cooked Mayocoba beans with mirepoix of onion, carrot and celery

The mild flavour of these heirloom beans makes them the perfect backdrop to the other ingredients in my bean slather/crostini recipe, including fresh herbs (Italian parsley and rosemary), olive oil and sweet caramelized onions. I usually add crumbled goat cheese, feta or grated Parmesan to this combo, too, and serve it piled on toasted bread, or warm, in a bowl, to scoop up with pita chips.

For this Brit-forward Beans-on-Toast version, I skipped the cheese and left the beans mostly whole (vs the usual chunky puree) to further the illusion of the classic baked beans.

My Beans-on-Toast contribution to our Thursday Murder Club potluck is hardly traditional, but it went over well with the Brit and the others in my little gang of book lovers.

The golden Mayocoba beans, with their Latin American heritage, certainly makes it unique!

How to Cook Beans in the Rancho Gordo Manner

Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo on cooking a pot of beans (from the website, RanchoGordo.com) There’s even a PDF so you can print out all of his instructions, but here’s the condensed version:

• ·      Put beans on to soak in the morning to cook later in the day (covered by an inch of water). If you don’t soak, no problem. Beans will simply take longer to cook.

•     Cook in stock, use a ham bone or do as he does – cook beans with a simple mirepoix of finely chopped and sauteed onion, celery and carrot, cooked in fat like olive oil (or bacon drippings/lard for a Mexican pot of beans) “A crushed clove of garlic doesn’t hurt.”

• ·      Add sauteed mirepoix to beans, stir and add water/stock (cover with 2 inches of liquid). Bring to a boil and boil hard for 10-15 minutes, then reduce to a low, gentle simmer and cover (keep lid ajar) and cook until softened. “When the beans are almost ready, the aroma will be heady. They won't smell so much like the vegetables you've cooked but the beans themselves.

  
  

RECIPES:

BEANS ON TOAST (AKA WHITE BEAN SLATHER)

This is one of my favourite appetizer recipes, a hearty purée of beans, fresh herbs and caramelized onions, to scoop up with pita chips or spread on crostini. You can make it in advance to reheat in the microwave to serve. From my book, The Girl Can't Cook.

2 cups cooked Mayocoba beans (or one 14-oz/398-mL can white cannellini beans)

1 tablespoon each: finely chopped fresh rosemary, basil and Italian parsley (plus extra to garnish)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1⁄2 teaspoons Asian chili paste

1⁄2 cup caramelized onions (1 large onion cooked in olive oil)

1⁄2 cup crumbled goat cheese or feta, plus extra to garnish

Flakey sea salt

Toast:

Thickly sliced sourdough or baguette

Butter and/or olive oil

Fresh cloves of garlic, halved

Cook the Mayocoba beans using the basic Rancho Gordo recipe, with an onion/carrot/celery mirpoix (see instructions, above). If using canned beans, rinse in cold water and drain.

In a food processor, combine the rosemary, basil, parsley, garlic, and olive oil. Whirl to purée. Add half the beans and process until smooth. Add the rest of the beans and the chili paste and pulse, leaving the purée a little chunky.

To caramelize the onion, thinly slice or chop a medium to large onion and cook slowly in olive oil on low heat with a little salt, stirring regularly until wilted and eventually browned into a soft, sweet, caramelized mass. Don’t fry the onion or brown it, let it cook slowly to reduce the natural sugars. Can be made in advance.

To serve, heat the caramelized onions in a medium sauté pan and add the bean purée. Stir to heat through. Crumble the goat cheese or feta into the pan and fold into the mixture. You want the cheese warm, but still intact in the mixture.

To make the toast, cut the bread into ½-inch thick slices (on a diagonal if using a baguette) and toast in a cast iron pan over medium high to high heat until browned on both sides (a little char is nice, too). As each piece is toasted, brush with soft butter or olive oil and rub with fresh garlic.

Otherwise, brush the sliced bread with olive oil and grill, broil, or toast in a hot oven to brown.

Arrange the toasted bread on a platter and top each piece with beans, drizzling with a little extra olive oil and a sprinkling of cheese, herbs and sea salt. Or heat the beans and serve with crostini, pita chips or crackers on the side. Makes 2-3 cups.

Here are some bean recipes I had in my old files, shared with me by Steve Sando himself, in his own words. You'll find recipes for other tasty bean cuisine on the Rancho Gordo website:

CANNELLINI ANCHOVY SPREAD

Here's a quick and easy way to use that last cup or so of Runner Cannellini, Cellini or even Marrow beans. This version has anchovies and rocket, but you can improvise based on what's on hand.

1 cup cooked Runner Cannellini (or other creamy white bean)

2 Anchovy filets

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 cup chopped Rocket (Arugula)

crostini, melba toasts or crackers

Add all ingredients except the rocket into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well blended. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chopped greens. Spread on to toasts and serve.

RANCHO GORDO DRUNKEN BEANS

2 cups heirloom beans, cooked

1/2 bottle beer

1 piece bacon

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 whole serrano peppers, minced

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

limes

Warm cooked beans. Add beer. These beans should be somewhat soupy. Add more beer if too thick; or turn up the flame, cook off excess liquid if too thin.

Cook single rasher of bacon in an ungreased frying pan. Remove bacon and excess fat, leaving about a tablespoon. Sauté onion, garlic and chiles. When soft, add mushrooms. Cook until soft. Chop bacon and add to mixture.

Add mushroom/bacon mix to the pot of beans. Mix thoroughly and cook for another 10 minutes. Test for seasoning. Serves 4-6.

Serve with a lime wedge.

RUNNER CANNELLINI SALAD

I don't often soak my beans but runner cannellini seem to beg for a gentle re-hydration, so these get the spa treatment before cooking. They will look horrible as they soak and you might think the skins are falling apart and the whole thing is a mess, but as the beans re-hydrate, they swell up and expand, pulling the skins with them like a balloon.

I almost always sauté onion, celery and carrot in olive oil and add this mixture, along with a bay leaf, into the pot for cooking.

This salad is an ideal opportunity to show off your best olive oil. I also think the crunch of the peppers versus the softness of the cannellini is a swell contrast. Be sure and go easy on the fresh oregano. I like things strong and bold, too, but oregano can easily overpower a dish when fresh.

2 cups cooked runner cannellini beans

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 scant teaspoon, fresh Italian oregano

1/2 fresh tomato, chopped

olive oil and vinegar to taste

salt to taste

Gently toss all ingredients and chill for about an hour.

Variations: Serve on a bed of lettuce. Substitute vinegar for a fig balsamic.

©CindaChavich2025