Enchiladas verdes recipe

When I used to go home to Houston, my first stop after I got off the plane was a restaurant called Amalia’s. It was a Tex-Mex joint and on the menu there was one of my favorite dishes—enchiladas verdes.

Amalia’s enchiladas verdes were the best in their class. The sauce wasn’t complex, as it was just a tomatillo, serrano, garlic and cilantro blend. And the meat wasn’t fussy, as it was just sweetly caramelized little bites of pork that were both crisp and juicy. But when you combined those two with homemade corn tortillas, melted cheese, onions, avocadoes and sour cream, you suddenly had a plate of food that felt like home.

Now, I realize this is a restaurant dish I’m talking about, and one thing I’ve learned through the years is that nothing beats home cooking. But there was something to these enchiladas—which I’d been eating since I was 10—that made me happy. Amalia’s was a family restaurant so I suspect some love was added to each plate.

But then late last year I received sad news. The owner’s daughter had read an article in which I expressed my admiration for the enchiladas verdes, and while she thanked me for the mention she informed me that her mother Amalia had decided to retire and close her eponymous restaurant.

Now, this might sound odd, but the news was devastating—it was almost as if a friend had died. For most of my life this had been my go-to restaurant, with the enchiladas verdes my first choice for a meal whenever I returned to Houston. Heck, one time my mom even got it as a to-go order for me since my flight arrived long past serving hours. She laughed as I came into her kitchen and stood at the counter eating my order of enchiladas straight from the container long past midnight. But if you have a favorite dish that you can’t find anywhere else then you completely understand.
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Strawberry spoon bread

Every spring when the wildflowers bloom, Texans will say thank you to Mrs. Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, the former first lady and native Texan who made it her life’s work to protect and preserve native plants in their natural habitat. But besides her commitment to keeping Texas and America beautiful, Mrs. Johnson was also known as a gracious hostess who entertained with taste and ease.

When people come over for dinner, it’s not unusual if you like a dish to ask for the recipe, and I’ve heard that Mrs. Johnson was always quick to give friends her family’s recipes, such as her method for making spoon bread.



If you’re not familiar with spoon bread, it’s an old American cornmeal-based baked pudding that’s dense, custardy and smooth, much like bread pudding. While it’s usually associated with the South, it’s been documented in early American cookbooks from New England going back to the early 1800s.
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texas sweet onion casserole with rice, chipotle and Gruyere

In New York City, certain Texan foods can be scarce. So whenever I do see them, I buy up the whole lot in fear I won’t have the opportunity again. For instance, if I see ruby red grapefruit in the winter, I buy up enough to fill my small refrigerator ensuring that I’ll be getting plenty of vitamin C in the next few days. Or in the spring, it’s the arrival of the Texas sweet 1015 onions that has me loading my entire basket with one single item.

Texas sweet 1015 onions, so named because you’re supposed to plant them on October 15, spent many years in development at Texas A&M, which resulted in the sweetest onions I’ve ever tasted. While eating uncooked onions is not something I usually enjoy, with the 1015 sweet onions it’s different—they are so mild and succulent I could eat a whole one raw with little more than a sprinkle of salt and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

That said, they’re mighty fine cooked, too. They’re my favorite onion for making onion rings and they’re also wonderful when you caramelize them and throw them on top of baked potatoes, stack them on hamburgers or stir them into sour cream for a delicious dip.



The 1015 has a very short season—they only grow from April to late May. And this is why when I do encounter them I buy as many as I can carry because I might not see them again, which is just what I did last week. As I worked through my latest acquisition, I’d eaten them in the ways mentioned above, but I still had a few left. While I wasn’t getting tired of them, I was looking for something new. And that’s when I learned about Texas 1015 sweet onion and rice casserole.
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