I was attending a conference at Napa's Copia, the American Center for Food, Wine & the Arts. A number of gourmet food producers had tasting tables set up. There was artisan chocolate, decadent mail-order cakes, and cooks demonstrating how to bake vanilla soufflés. Maybe it was that I'd had too many sweets already, but Rancho Gordo's tiny paper cups of cooked white beans  somehow caught my attention.

I took a taste of the cellini beans. I was utterly amazed. I asked the guy behind the table if the beans were cooked with stock because they had such deep flavor. He said, "No, they were cooked only in water, with a little celery and carrot." The wonderful earthy flavor I tasted had come from the bean itself.

I'd never been a bean lover before. Don't get me wrong. It's not as if I hated them. I think I was just ambivalent. Of course, that was before I had tried these. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd get this giddy over beans.

But Rancho Gordo's beans will do that to you. Founder Steve Sando works with four farmers in Northern California and Fresno, who grow the beans. He has traveled through Mexico and Central America to find unusual, precious beans, which he then test grows in his trial garden in Napa, before launching into full production of them.

This year, Sando also has come out with a cookbook. Appropriately enough, it's called "Heirloom Beans" (Chronicle Books), and was co-authored by Bay Area food writer Vanessa Barrington.

For those who don't cook a ton of beans on a regular basis, it's a wealth of recipes for beans. You will find everything from Red Chili Con Carne to Florida Butter Bean Succotash with Mint and Goat Cheese to Flageolet Bean and Halibut Stew.

It's also a great way to discover new ways to use some of Rancho Gordo's unique heirloom beans. Their names alone make you want to taste them: Black Valentine, Eye of the Tiger, and Yellow Indian Woman beans.
With the weather still balmy enough for grilling, I was keen on cooking the Santa Maria Pinquitos and Tri-Tip Steak. I bought my Santa Maria Pinquito beans online from the RanchoGordo.com site. You also can find them at the Rancho Gordo stand on Saturdays at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmers market. A handful of stores in San Francisco, Napa county, Sonoma county, Los Angeles, Tulsa, and Brooklyn also sell the beans. You'll find a complete list on the Ranch Gordo Web site.

I mixed up the easy Classic Red Salsa in the blender. It's made with canned tomatoes so that you can enjoy salsa anytime of year, even if locally grown tomatoes aren't in season. It's a pretty good substitute, though I still prefer fresh tomatoes for their livelier flavor.

After soaking the beans with water in the morning, I started cooking them a couple hours before dinner time. Besides water, all that goes into the pot after an hour of cooking are onion, garlic, a pinch of dry mustard, paprika, and tomato paste. The beans cook up creamy and keep their shape well. But my husband and I both thought the beans needed a little more oomph. So I added a teaspoon of ground cumin, and let the pot simmer a little while longer. I think the cumin complimented the beans, lending a warmer, rounder flavor. I also think the beans tasted better the next day.

After making a paste of garlic, salt and pepper, the recipe says to apply it all over the tri-tip just before grilling. Next time, I think I would put the paste on a few hours ahead of time so that the flavors penetrate the meat even more. As it was, the paste pretty much fell off, once the meat hit the grill rack.

With store-bought tortillas warmed on the grill, the tri-tip, salsa, and beans made for a relaxed dinner that was easy to pull off.

Now, I'm eyeing my bag of big, speckled Christmas limas from Rancho Gordo. What can I say? I just couldn't resist the name.

Santa Maria Pinquitos and Tri-tip Steak

From Great Recipes for Dips and Spreads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Salsas, and Much More from Rancho Gordo by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington, Chronicle Books 2008.

Natives of Santa Maria County in Southern California will tell you that a classic tri-tip barbecue can't be authentic unless it's cooked in Santa Maria over the red oak indigenous to the area, but this version is still a mighty tasty meal. In Santa Maria they'd top the meat with salsa and serve it with garlic bread and a simple salad. This version involves sliced meat, beans, and salsa wrapped up in a tortilla.

Serves 6

Beans

• 1 pound Santa Maria pinquito beans, soaked
• 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 5 large garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 to 2 1/2 pounds tri-tip
• Classic Red Salsa (see below) or Three-Chile Salsa (see below)

Make the beans: Place the beans and their soaking water in a stockpot and add cold water if needed to cover the beans by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the beans are beginning to soften, about 1 hour. Add the onion, garlic, mustard, paprika, tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook until the beans are tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

About 30 minutes before serving, prepare a medium-hot fire in a grill, using hardwood if you can.

In a mortar with a pestle, mash the garlic, coarse salt, and pepper to a paste. Rub the garlic paste all over the meat. Put the meat on the rack directly over the hot coals. Grill, turning as needed, until the meat is charred and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 130°F for rare or 145°F for medium-rare. The thin portion will be cooked more than the thicker portion. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain. Serve with the beans and salsa.

Classic Red Salsa

From Great Recipes for Dips and Spreads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Salsas, and Much More from Rancho Gordo by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington, Chronicle Books 2008.

The window when fresh tomatoes are good is narrow, even in California.. Rather than make a salsa with unsatisfying hothouse tomatoes, I use canned. The texture of peeled, whole plum tomatoes is best. When great heirloom tomatoes are in season, you can use the real thing.

Makes 1 1/4 cups

• Two 1/4-inch-thick slices red onion
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 2 serrano chiles
• 1 cup canned whole plum tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Juice of 2 key limes or 1 Persian lime
• Salt

In a dry, heavy skillet or comal over medium-high heat, cook the onion slices, garlic cloves, and chiles, turning occasionally, until they char. You'll need to keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Remove the vegetables as they cook. The garlic will take the longest. When the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, peel them.

Put the onion, garlic, chiles, tomatoes, cilantro, and lime juice in a small food processor or blender and pulse until a roughly chopped salsa forms. Season to taste with salt. The salsa will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Three-Chile Salsa

From Great Recipes for Dips and Spreads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Salsas, and Much More from Rancho Gordo by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington, Chronicle Books 2008.

This is what happens when you can't decide whether to make a fresh salsa or a roasted salsa, a red salsa or a green salsa. Depending on the chiles, the salsa might be too hot. To tame the heat, use more tomatoes or tomatillos than the recipe calls for, which will increase your yield.

Makes about 2 cups

• 4 fresh or canned tomatillos
• Ice water (optional)
• 3 garlic cloves, 2 unpeeled, 1 peeled
• 1 serrano chile
• 1 poblano chile, roasted
• 1 ancho chile, split, seeded, and soaked in warm water to cover for 15 minutes
• 5 fresh or canned plum tomatoes
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• About 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• Juice of 2 key limes or 1 Persian lime
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

If using fresh tomatillos, remove the papery husks. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the tomatillos, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge the tomatillos into an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

In a dry, heavy skillet or comal over medium-high heat, cook the 2 cloves of unpeeled garlic and the serrano chile, turning occasionally, until the garlic is soft and the chile is charred all over. You'll need to keep an eye on them so they don't burn. When they are cool enough to handle, partially seed the chile, leaving about half the seeds, and peel the garlic.

In a blender or food processor, combine the raw and cooked garlic and the serrano and poblano chiles. Drain the ancho chile, reserving 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid. Add to the blender or food processor along with the tomatoes, tomatillos, cumin, cilantro, and lime juice. Blend or process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. The salsa will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Rancho Gordo Red Chili con Carne

From Great Recipes for Dips and Spreads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Salsas, and Much More from Rancho Gordo by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington, Chronicle Books 2008.

Among chili aficionados, your answer to the question "beans or no beans?" can earn you disdain or respect. I love beans in my chili, but I dislike the thick, stodgy mess made from mostly beans and called "chili con carne." The star should be the chiles, from pods or from chiles ground to a powder. Even the meat takes a back seat, as do the beans.

A note on the spelling: The pods are called chiles. The dish is called chili. When you see chile powder, you should expect 100 percent ground chiles. If it's called chili powder, there's a good chance it has added spices and herbs.

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 to 3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch cubes
• 2 medium white onions, roughly chopped
• 4 to 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
• 1/2 cup good-quality New Mexico chile powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• Salt
• 3 cups water
• 1 bottle dark beer
• 1 cup drained, cooked Good Mother Stallard or pinto beans 
• 1 tablespoon masa harina (optional)
• Chopped white onion for serving
• Chopped fresh cilantro for serving

In a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Working in batches, add the meat and cook, turning with tongs, until evenly browned. Remove from the pot and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium, add the roughly chopped onions and garlic, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add the oregano, chile powder, cumin, and salt to taste. Cook the spices, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the water and beer. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, return the meat to the pot, cover, and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.

Add the beans and simmer for 10 minutes. At this point, the texture will be somewhat soupy. If you'd like a thicker chili, dissolve the masa harina in 1/2 cup water, stirring well to eliminate lumps. Slowly drizzle the liquid into the chili while stirring. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes or so. Ladle the chili into warmed bowls and pass the chopped onion and cilantro at the table.

About "Heirloom Beans"

High in protein, fiber, and vitamins, and low in cholesterol, beans are a super food. They're especially tasty, too, if they're heirloom varieties grown by Rancho Gordo. Founder Steve Sando scours the globe to find unusual varieties to grow. Now, in his cookbook, he shows the best ways to cook with these beauties. Learn the basics to cook a simple pot of beans, from how long to soak them, to what aromatics to add to the pot and when. Then, take the next step to enjoy the beans in everything from dips to Caribbean black bean soup to a dish of Marrow beans with clams and chorizo. You'll also find information on buying and storing beans.

Available at Amazon.com

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