Smoky black-eyed pea and sausage soup

A few weeks ago I was visiting family in Oregon. I was staying at my dad’s and as a fellow homesick Texan who enjoys spending time in the kitchen, he has an extensive collection of cookbooks on Texan cuisine. One morning I was flipping through one of his books and saw a recipe for black bean enchiladas. I thought to myself, “That would be fun to make with black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day,” and then started scribbling down notes.

After I returned to New York, I started testing my recipe for black-eyed pea enchiladas. Like most enchilada dishes made from scratch, there were lots of pots, pans, and dishes involved, as well as a list of ingredients as long as my arm. After several hours of cooking and assembling, (with a few emergency trips to the grocery store thrown in for additional ingredients) when I finally sat down to actually taste the enchiladas, I was completely underwhelmed.

Now, it’s not that the enchiladas tasted terrible—I mean, how bad can a molten stack of corn tortillas, salsa, black-eyed peas, and cheese be? But I didn’t love them and after all that time and effort invested, I felt I should be happier about the enchiladas. Perhaps it was that old problem of the cook never appreciating her own food, but I usually enjoy what I make and these did not make me smile.



So, it was back to the kitchen if I was going to come up with something new to serve for the New Year. Fortunately, I still had some dried black-eyed peas on hand, as well as bacon, smoky kielbasa, and a bundle of kale. If I added some smoky chipotle chiles and a few spices, I figured I had the workings of a very good soup.
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Gingerbread doughnut muffins

There’s a doughnut store around the corner from me, and while I’m not usually tempted by their doughnuts (my best strategy is to just look the other way when I walk by their shop), this time of year they sell a gingerbread doughnut that I have been curious about.

Unfortunately, this doughnut shop has a tendency to sell out of their more popular doughnuts, and by the time I finally gathered the courage to actually go to the shop and get a gingerbread doughnut, they no longer had any on hand.

Yes, I say courage because this doughnut shop’s doughnuts are all very appealing and yet they’re also very expensive. Whenever I do make it in there I never make it out without spending a small fortune on fried treats. It’s a dangerous place! In any case, because of this, I decided that I would take matters into my own hands.



When I first started blogging almost 10 years ago, doughnut muffins were all the rage. It seemed almost every food blogger at the time was doing some variation of these baked little cakes, but for some reason I never got around to making my own. Well, as Christmas is approaching and I like to have lots of treats on hand for breakfast, I decided that a gingerbread doughnut muffin just might be the way to go.
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Spicy pecan brittle

This is the season of giving, and one of my favorite things to give is candy. Texans have a long tradition of making and sharing candy at the holidays, and my family is no different. When I was young, a Christmas visit wasn’t complete until a tin of homemade candy had been passed around, and we’d enjoy everything from pralines to divinity.

One of my favorite candies, however, is nut brittle. Typically in the past, I’ve usually made it with peanuts. This, of course, is the traditional nut brittle and it’s no wonder as those nuts go very well with the crisp candy coating. That said, there are a couple of people on my list this year who can’t have peanuts because of allergies, and so I decided that my nut brittle this year would have to be made with something else instead.



Texas’s state nut is the pecan, so it didn’t take me long to decide to make pecan brittle. While you don’t see it quite as often as you do peanut brittle, pecan brittle definitely has its place in the pantheon of Texan confections. Matter of fact, when I was doing research I found a host of candy-store advertisements from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and whenever they mentioned pecan brittle, they showcased it as an especially rare treat.
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Texas turkey chili

The other day someone asked me what I always keep in my refrigerator. After going through the usual list of things such as salsa, cilantro, and jalapeños, I added that you will usually find a jar of chili gravy in my refrigerator, as well. “What do you do with it?” he asked. I then explained that I use it for impromptu batches of enchiladas, drizzle it on eggs, or pair it with leftover meat to make a quick and flavorful stew.

Now, speaking of leftover meat, one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the few days afterwards when you have a refrigerator loaded with food. Not only does this mean you get to enjoy cold slices of pecan pie for breakfast, but there’s also a mountain of leftover turkey begging to be made into new and exciting dishes, too.

Enter my jar of chili gravy. When you take shredded cooked turkey and then cook it in a sauce that’s rich with chiles, onion, garlic, and spices, you soon have an easy Tex-Mex dish that can be served in a bowl, scooped into tortillas, or even rolled into cheesy chili enchiladas. For lack of a better name, I like to call this marriage of chiles and meat Texas turkey chili.



Now, typically Texas chili is made with beef. That said, there are a handful of recipes out there for something called Texas turkey chili, yet these dishes are not very chili like at all. For instance, when it comes to spice they only have a slight shake of chili powder along with perhaps a jalapeño slice or two. There are also always beans, along with tomatoes and bell peppers. Matter of fact, the final result seems more like a turkey, tomato, and bean soup.
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Jalapeño creamed corn

“It’s all good, but whatever you do, you must get the creamed corn,” said the woman waiting in line behind me at Killen’s Barbecue. It was my first time to visit this new Pearland, Texas smoked-meat hot spot, and she and I had been discussing the menu. I’d heard good things about owner Ronnie Killen’s brisket, beef ribs, sausages—heck, all of the smoked meats had been lauded as some of the best new barbecue in the state. So her recommendation surprised me.

“I don’t usually order sides at a barbecue place,” I said. She shook her head and said, “Trust me. You don’t want to miss this corn.” She was correct. While I did enjoy the ribs, the turkey, and the brisket, it was the corn that I kept dipping into, savoring each sweet and creamy bite.

After my visit to Killen’s I went to visit a friend, and when I told her where I’d been the first thing she said was, “Did you try the creamed corn?” Then two weeks later, when I was back in New York, another person who’d eaten there said the same thing. Clearly, Killen’s much-lauded creamed corn merited investigation so I could cook something similar in my own kitchen.



A little research lead me to his recipe. Ronnie Killen had generously shared his technique with several Houston media outlets, and I discovered his method is quite simple. He uses fresh cobs of corn and after he removes the kernels, he infuses cream and milk with the cobs for a spell, so the cobs’ sweet corn flavor will enrich the dish even more. Lots of butter and a bit of sugar also add to the dish's rich appeal.
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Scenes from my fall tour of Texas

This year I’ve had the pleasure of spending almost two months in Texas, which may be the most time I’ve been there since I moved to New York. I’ve had a marvelous time during these visits, not only getting to meet so many of y’all at book events but also simply driving around our beautiful state and eating very, very well.

When you’re eating (at least) three meals a day over this amount of time, you do indeed accumulate a lot of fine food memories. While it’s almost impossible to have a bad meal when you’re in Texas, here are some highlights from my recent trips home.

Back in September, I began with a meal at Hot Joy in San Antonio, hot off of its being named one of the ten best new restaurants in the United States by Bon Appetit magazine. The migas fried rice was deemed the dish to order and I was very impressed with this Asian-Tex-Mex dish.


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Sour cream chicken nachos with poblano salsa verde

Let’s talk about nachos, shall we? Now, I’ve gone on record stating my preference, which is for the traditional type of nacho where all the ingredients are on one chip. While this is how all nachos were served when I was young, I find this style more and more a rarity. I also realize that sometimes I am in the minority.

Take another Texan friend of mine in New York, for instance. He’s a Tex-Mex purist through and through and like myself loves his nachos made the correct way. That said, the other day he mentioned to me a place that served pile nachos and conceded that they had been delicious. “You should try them,” he said. “I think you’ll like them.”

Well, long story short, the nachos were sampled and while as a pile of chips topped with meat, beans, and cheese they were good. But it was a frustrating eating experience as many chips were either soggy from too much topping, or sadly bereft of any toppings, which wasn’t ideal either. It was a mess and ultimately didn’t satisfy all of us as we started fighting over who got what. It wasn’t fun and dare I say it, this pile of chips was not how nachos were intended to be.



I won’t continue down this path because I’ve made my preferences known before, but I thought it was important to share because as I was explaining to my friends why proper nachos are indeed better, one gave me steely look and said I needed to open my mind a bit and get beyond the traditional nacho made with cheese, jalapeños, and refried beans.

To defend myself, I first pointed towards my new book, which has a plate of Crazy Nachos on the cover, a popular Dallas dish that is so named because beyond the usual cheese, beans, and jalapeños there are also taco meat, guacamole, and sour cream on each chip. Crazy indeed! And not only do you get a mess of toppings but every chips has all of them, so everyone is happy.
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Sausage, potato, and cabbage skillet fry

When I was growing up, you could count on several suppers happening that week—our weekly visit to the cafeteria, a trip to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, a concoction my mom made called bean salad, and a skillet dish made up of fried sausage, potatoes, and cabbage.

Eating out at both the cafeteria and for Tex-Mex were always good fun—you’ll get no complaints from me here. The bean salad, however, was a bit more traumatizing, as it was essentially Frito salad without the Fritos and a whole lot more healthy. I was not a fan. (That said, in my new book I do include an updated Frito salad that does pay homage to my mom’s old favorite.)



But of all our family’s mainstays, I’d say the one I adored the most was the skillet dish of sausage, cabbage and potatoes. It’s so simple and yet comforting, it’s curious that as an adult that I seldom make it for myself.
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Mexican coffee ice cream pie

Here’s a question for you: Do you eat ice cream pie with a spoon or a fork? And while we’re on the subject—do you place your slice of ice cream pie on a plate or do you place it in a bowl? While I suppose there is no right or wrong answer, it has been something for me to ponder as I’ve made my way through a pan of Mexican coffee ice cream pie.

Ice cream pies became popular in Texas in the 1950s. At this time, home freezers were arriving on the market and demonstration agents would travel around the state showcasing their company’s appliances abilities to keep things cold and solid. It was quite a luxury to not only make ice cream but then to also spoon it into a pie crust and freeze it again for later to serve as a pie.



The most common flavor for ice cream pies during this time was strawberry. It was the choice of the demonstration agents and also one that the local dairies usually sold, too. When I spoke to my grandmother about the subject, she concurred that not only was it a popular dessert at the time but indeed, strawberry was the flavor of choice. Though as much as I like strawberry ice cream my favorite ice cream is coffee. So when I got an itch to share an ice cream pie with you, I decided I would it be coffee, or rather, Mexican coffee, flavored instead.
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September events

Howdy! I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be in Texas the next couple of weeks doing some events for my new book, The Homesick Texan's Family Table.

This trip, I'll be zig-zagging across the state and will be eating and taking photos every step of the way. My aim is to post some of my adventures here on the blog, but you can also follow along on Instagram.

Here’s the list of places I’ll be and if you’re in the area I hope I get to meet you!

San Angelo, J.P.W. Learning Center Book Gala, September 16, 6pm
, dinner and signing (ticketed event)
San Angelo, HEB, September 17, 10 am to 12pm, signing (free)
Silsbee, Ice House Museum, September 20, 11am
, talk and signing (free)
Abilene, West Texas Book Festival, Culinary Luncheon, September 25, 11:30am, lunch and signing (ticketed event)
Abilene, West Texas Book Festival, Cookbook Gala, September 25, 6pm, dinner and signing (ticketed event)
Austin, Byte of Texas Book Fair, September 27, Bob Bullock Museum, signing, 11am to 12pm (free)
Austin, Byte of Texas conference, September 27-28, keynote (ticketed)

Squash and green chile casserole

If you’re a Texan of a certain age, then you probably remember Liz Carpenter. Mrs. Carpenter was most famously Lady Bird Johnson’s press secretary, but she was also a longtime journalist and public relations specialist, as well. When I lived in Austin many years ago, you’d see her out and about at various functions, and Mrs. Carpenter’s puff of white hair and abundant wit always stood out in the crowd.

During this time, in the mid-1990s, she wrote a book about raising her brother’s children after he died. I knew that my grandma was a fan of both her and Lady Bird so I asked her if she’d like me to get her a copy of the book, as Mrs. Carpenter was having a signing in Austin.

My grandma said that she would love a copy of the book, but also suggested I get one for my dad. I thought that was curious until my grandma explained that Mrs. Carpenter’s brother, Tom Sutherland, had been my dad’s English professor at school.

Apparently, Professor Sutherland and my dad got along very well, and as Professor Sutherland liked to entertain, he had my dad and my mom, along with some other students, over for dinner a few times when they were in college. When I met Mrs. Carpenter at a book signing, I told her this story and how much her brother’s kindness and classes had meant to my dad. She smiled and said that she had heard that a lot—apparently her brother had been a very popular teacher.



While I don’t know what her brother served his students when he had them over for dinner, apparently hospitality ran in the family, as Mrs. Carpenter was also known for her good food. Her recipe for squash casserole was even heralded in 1987 by Texas Monthly as an excellent dish to take to potlucks and share with friends.
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Tomato, cheddar, and bacon biscuits

The other morning I was waiting for the cable guy to arrive. I’m sure you know the drill—the cable company gives you a window of time and if you’re not home within that slot then you miss your appointment. And this you don’t want to do as it might take another week for them to send someone to fix your problem. Not to mention, despite everyone’s good intentions the repair guy usually doesn’t arrive until the end of the allotted time. So you’re stuck at home for a while.

You don’t need me to tell you about waiting for repair people, however, so let’s instead talk about happier things—like this batch of tomato, cheddar, and bacon biscuits. While I was biding my time at home, I had this urge to bake something. That said, because I hadn’t been to the grocery store or the farmers market in a few days, and I couldn’t leave lest I miss the cable guy, I decided to challenge myself and bake with whatever I had available.

Since I’m always cooking, you’d think that I would usually have a pretty well stocked larder, but this particular morning I didn’t have a whole lot on hand. For instance, it being summer and all, my first inclination had been to make something with fruit, but I realized I’d eaten the last of my blueberries and peaches over the weekend.



I was also out of sugar and eggs, which ruled out making cakes and cookies. But I did have plenty of cheese, buttermilk, flour, and grape tomatoes. As I poked around the refrigerator, I spotted some bacon in there, as well. And that’s how I came to bake a batch of tomato, cheddar, and bacon biscuits, which now may be one of my favorite things.
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Peaches and ginger-lime whipped cream

Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best. Take peaches and cream, for instance. When a peach is ripe and in season, it doesn’t need much to taste good, though a dollop of fluffy, chilled cream brightened with a hint of lime and ginger certainly doesn’t hurt.

Now, Texans love peaches and rightfully so, as Texas peaches are indeed the best. This isn’t a brag, just a statement of fact. Trust me—I’ve eaten peaches from all over and Texas peaches are indeed the juiciest and sweetest peaches of all.

If you’re not in Texas in the summertime, then peaches just may well be the thing you miss the most. Texas farmers don’t ship their peaches out of state, as they’re a fragile fruit that don’t travel very well. So if I do find myself home in the summer, I stop at almost every truck or stand by the side of the road and grab a few to eat as I make my way.



This time last year I was in Texas and was driving from Houston to visit my grandma at her farm. Along the way I stopped in Fairfield to pick up a basket of peaches to take to her, as her tree hadn’t produced ripe fruit just yet.
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Spicy zucchini pickles

Texans love pickles. For instance, it’s the rare gathering in Texas that doesn’t have a pickle plate on display. This platter of tangy vegetables and fruits is not only a satisfying way to get the party started, but also an excellent way to share the bounty of what you’ve put up in the past year.

Though it’s not just on social occasions that Texans enjoy pickles. Nope, Texans eat pickles all the time, as a pickle’s tangy, crisp nature is the perfect foil for many Texan dishes, anything from smoked brisket to chili con queso. Matter of fact, The First Texas Cook Book, which was published in 1887, has two whole chapters devoted to the subject.

While the season for eating pickles occurs year round, the best time to make them is in the summer, when your garden is overflowing with things that need to be eaten or preserved. Typically, when people think of pickles the first thing that comes to mind is a pickled cucumber, which is the most ubiquitous type of pickle. Of course, it has a reason for being so prominent in that a cucumber makes for a fine pickle with its tough skin and firm center. It absorbs the brine beautifully, managing to be crisp and juicy at the same time.

That said, one can pickle just about anything and if you’re like me, this time of year your refrigerator is overflowing with various jars stuffed with things that have been preserved in a brine—sometimes spicy, sometimes sour, and sometimes sweet. When it comes to pickling, I’m an equal-opportunity pickle maker.



If you’re a fan of cucumber pickles and you find yourself with an abundance of zucchini, allow me to present to you these spicy dill zucchini pickles, a fine way to use up some of the squash that is everywhere this time of year. You may be thinking that zucchini is too soft to pickle and I will admit that they are indeed not as firm as their cucumber counterparts. But don’t worry; zucchini pickles are still crunchy and refreshing with that familiar tangy bite.
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Pinto bean and hominy salad

Since I don’t have a backyard in New York, I’ve always had to rely on the kindness of others when it comes to outdoor dining. Fortunately, however, I have friends with yards who enjoy inviting people to their homes for smoked briskets, sausage, and ribs. Since you can’t arrive empty handed I have long learned that a good side dish is always welcome, and this time of year I’m making them often.

While I do have my old favorites that are always appreciated, I’m always looking for new ones to keep things interesting for both my friends and me. While I have a lot of recipes to choose from, sometimes I’ll find myself throwing stuff together at the last minute, hoping that it works. But this is the beauty with salads—as long as the components complement each other, it’s hard to go wrong.

One dish I love is a Texan standard made with black-eyed peas, peppers, and tomatoes. It’s commonly known as Texas caviar, a name bestowed upon it by the late, great Dallas chef and cookbook author Helen Corbitt. Last summer, however, I saw a black-eyed pea salad made with hominy, an addition that isn’t usually found. Since you don’t often see hominy in a cold preparation, I was intrigued.



That said, I soon learned that this wasn’t a completely new thing as hominy salads have been on record since the 1800s. In old cookbooks you’ll see hominy salads made like a potato salad, where instead of said tubers you toss the hominy with the dressings, aromatics, peppers, and eggs. Cold hominy salads mixed with proteins such as boiled chicken or lobster were also popular back in the day, as well.
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Blueberry buttermilk pie ice cream

First, let me say that it’s not my usual style to eat a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting, let alone contemplate how long it would take to make another batch of this particular flavor so I could have more of it that same evening. Yet the other night I did just that with this refreshing new flavor I’d made—blueberry buttermilk pie ice cream.

Now, before I explain how I found myself on the couch scraping the edges of my container with my spoon in an attempt to get the every last bit of ice cream, let me say that this flavor was inspired by many things—namely pie and ice cream. Of course, with a name like blueberry buttermilk pie ice cream you’re probably nodding your head and saying, “Of course it was.” But here’s the thing—I set out to make a pie but ended up with ice cream. How often does that happen?

A few weeks ago, I spotted a recipe for blueberry buttermilk pie. Like all buttermilk pies, it was a custard-based dessert made with buttermilk, eggs, and sugar, but this one was dolled up for summer with a couple of handfuls of blueberries added to the mix. It sounded lovely. That said, this time of year when it’s sweltering outside, I prefer to eat cold things instead of hot. So instead of baking a pie, I wondered how the combination would taste if I turned it into ice cream instead.



It took a couple of experiments, but ultimately my hunch proved correct. Sweet and juicy blueberries, tangy buttermilk, and cinnamon-sugar flecked pieces of piecrust all frozen into a creamy cool treat make this a very satisfying summertime dessert. Not to mention, you don’t have to worry about having your oven on for hours. And when it’s this hot outside, that can be the very best thing.
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More scenes from my tour of Texas

How are you doing today? I’m doing fine, though I am suffering from severe Texas withdrawal. That’s what happens when you spend almost two weeks back home and are spoiled by the bounty of good food available in the Lone Star State.

While I do have a few new recipes to share with y’all in the next few weeks, first I thought I’d show you some pictures from my trip, as a few of you kept asking the question, “What do you like to eat when you return home?”

For starters, when I pulled into Austin I was craving barbecue but it was a hot day and after three hours on the road I didn’t want to stand in a line outside. Instead, I opted for the air-conditioned comfort of Stiles Switch, where I had a light lunch of brisket, sausage, and ribs.



The next day, I found myself in San Antonio, where the first order of business was some puffy tacos from Ray’s Drive In.
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On book tour in Texas

Howdy from Texas! I’ll be here for the next week speaking and signing before I head to Richmond, Virginia for the Mid-Atlantic Food Writer’s Symposium. Here’s my schedule:

Austin, Book People, June 10, 7pm

San Antonio, Twig, June 11, 5 to 7pm

Alpine, Front Street Books, June 13, 6pm

Houston, Blue Willow, June 16, 7pm
Richmond, VA, Mid-Atlantic Food Writers Symposium, June 21-22

While I don’t have a kitchen for the next two weeks, I’ve been eating well while on the road. For instance, my first bite after returning was the famous chips and salsa at Ninfa’s on Navigation:


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Vietnamese fried chicken

For me, nothing says summer more than fried chicken. I can’t tell you how many picnics, family gatherings, and weekend lunches I’ve had in my life where we served fried chicken. It’s one of my main dishes of the season.

A few days ago, a group of us were sitting around discussing all the different styles of fried chicken, and one friend mentioned that recently she’d had Vietnamese fried chicken. While it wasn’t the like the fried chicken her grandmother made, it was still terrific.

Curious, I asked what made Vietnamese fried chicken different from the usual. She then explained that the chicken was glazed in a sweet and sour sauce. While the sticky sauce made the dish a little messier, you didn’t mind as that sauce was so, so good.



Now, I have to admit that the first time I had Vietnamese food wasn’t in Texas but on a trip to Washington, D.C. when I was nine. Back then, there just were a handful of Vietnamese restaurants in Houston. But over the years, as the Vietnamese population in Texas has grown, Vietnamese restaurants have become quite common throughout the state, and it's now the odd place that doesn’t have at least one restaurant offering Vietnamese cuisine.
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Pork chops with jalapeño peach barbecue sauce

There have been lots of stories about homesick Texans in New York throughout the years, but some of my favorites are about Bud Shrake. He was a Texan writer who lived in New York in the 1960s when he worked at Sports Illustrated and a few years ago Texas Monthly published some of his letters to his friends and family back home.

He was a wild guy, so the letters are colorful and lively, filled with lots of anecdotes about both the writing life and the New York nightlife back then. He also had a voracious appetite and liked to write about food. Like so many homesick Texans in New York, he would lament the dearth of good Texan food and whenever he did find something that reminded him of home, he and his fellow Texans in New York would rejoice.

When discussing his beloved dishes from Texas, one he goes on about is pork chops. He loved pork chops. And it was his passion that reminded me I also love them and it had been too long since I’d had one. When I was young, we ate them fairly regularly at home but I realize I don’t make them nearly enough, and that’s a shame, as they’re not very expensive and yet when cooked well can be as succulent and satisfying as a steak.



There are several different ways to make pork chops but one of the quickest and easiest I’ve found is simply broiling them. You just season the chops, slide them under the broiler for a spell, flip them once, and in almost no time they’re done.

While a good, thick pork chop doesn’t need much more than a light dusting of salt and pepper, this time of year when people take to their backyards and fire up their grills, I like to spread some barbecue sauce onto my chops before broiling in order to introduce some of that smoky, sweet, outdoor flavor into my indoor dining experience. And since nothing says summer like peaches, one sauce I like to use in the warmer months is my jalapeño peach barbecue sauce.
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Lemon bread

When I first moved to New York, about once or twice a year my mom would send me a loaf of lemon bread. It was my favorite thing. The bread itself is a tender buttery loaf studded with lemon zest and pecans. It's pleasant enough but not obvious in its charms. But what takes this bread over the top (and makes you reach for slice after slice) is the tangy and sticky glaze, which sweetly shatters with each bite.

The glaze is made with sugar and lemon juice and it’s generously spread all over the loaf after it’s cooled. The bread then goes into the refrigerator for a spell, which not only allows the bread to absorb some of the juice but also hardens the glaze. Each slice of bread is then sweet and tart with the glaze lending a satisfying crunch.

While I feel like I’ve been eating this bread all my life, I don’t think that’s the case as the recipe wasn’t passed along to my mom until I was in high school. We were on our way to Baylor for a spring school visit, and we stopped at my great-aunt Mary’s house in Bryan along the way. As we sat at her kitchen table listening to stories about Aunt Mary’s lively days as a Baylor Belle, she passed around slices of the lemon bread for us to enjoy.



Perhaps a recipe was exchanged that day or maybe my mom asked for it soon after, but it wasn’t until after that visit that she started making the bread in our own home. The bread is very sweet, so at first it was only served on special occasions, such as Christmas morning. Then she started making it for birthdays but because our family loved it so much, before long there was almost always a loaf in the refrigerator, waiting to be sliced and enjoyed along with a cup of coffee for breakfast.
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Chicken gorditas

Every spring I get an itch to return to Texas as it just might be the best time of year to be there. The bluebonnets and other wildflowers are in bloom, the temperatures are mild, and after winter there’s an overall sense of joy throughout the state, perhaps best reflected in San Antonio’s celebration known as Fiesta.

Fiesta occurs every April and it lasts for about two weeks. The festival was started in 1891 as a way to honor the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto, from the Texas Revolution in 1836. It’s a rich and complex festival with a royal court, parades, pilgrimages, and countless other events.

If you ask any homesick San Antonian what they miss most about their hometown, you’ll usually hear a tale about Fiesta. And while there are many traditions surrounding the celebrations, the thing people discuss the most is the splendid array of foods.



On offer at Fiesta are tacos, kebobs, queso flameado, tamales, sopapillas, Mexican corn, and more. But the dish my friends deem the most beloved are the gorditas—round, thick masa cakes that have been fried, split in half, and then stuffed with a variety of fillings. I had friends from San Antonio in college who would skip classes in order to make the six-hour drive just to get their fix. They are that good.
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Strawberry cobbler

According to a spring 1957 issue of the Claude News, the Business Women’s Club of this Texas panhandle town got together for a luncheon meeting. On the menu were roast beef, chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, vegetable salad, rolls, corn muffins, and (if you had any room after such a feast) strawberry cobbler for dessert.

When I go through Texas newspapers from the past, I’m always struck by how people’s local gatherings, whether for business or for pleasure, were considered newsworthy. If you dig around the archives, you’ll find stories about forty-two parties, ice cream socials, civic group meetings, and a host of other reasons for people to find time to spend with each other and enjoy some good food.

While the articles always conjure up charming images of people enjoying each other’s company, my favorite thing is reading about what our Texas ancestors shared at the table, such as the strawberry cobbler served in Claude all those years ago. While these days cobbler may not be the most common way to serve this beloved spring fruit, it’s definitely a dessert that deserves more consideration.



The past few weeks I’ve been hearing about my friends in Texas going on strawberry-picking excursions and while we have seen some decent days here in New York (though as I write this it is once again freezing outside), it will probably be a month before we see fresh, local strawberries at the market. Early spring is like this, and a trip to the farmers market can be confusing as the trees are in bloom but on offer are the same lumpy potatoes and heads of cabbage that have been on display for the past few months.
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Dr Pepper pulled brisket

The first time I recall having brisket, it wasn’t the smoked hunk of beef that many people associate with Texas. No, instead it was an oven brisket prepared by my grandmother. While normally our pot roasts were made with chuck along with lots of potatoes and carrots, this roast of brisket had been slowly cooked in a tomato-based sauce. It was tender, juicy, and delicious.

Recently, a friend in New York was lamenting that their briskets never tasted anything like the briskets they ate at home. I asked what was the problem and he said that he didn’t have a yard and therefore he didn’t have a smoker, and without those two things his brisket wasn’t as he wanted it to be.

Being in the same situation I know how he feels, yet there are plenty of oven briskets being made in Texas, too, so it’s never been that much of an issue for me. As long as you can reconcile that the two slabs of beef will not taste the same, then you can appreciate the unsung glories of a brisket not cooked outside on a smoker but instead slowly roasted in an oven.



While I’m a fan of thick, juicy slices of brisket served with mashed potatoes, sometimes when I make a brisket in the oven, I’ll shred the beef and then use it in tacos, enchiladas, or nachos. I have several different ways that I like to prepare brisket, though I recently slowly cooked my brisket in a smoky, sweet sauce made from Dr Pepper and chipotle chiles and it turned out superb.
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The Homesick Texan's Family Table is published!

So, I spent the past two years working on another book and today it’s published. Would you like to see a preview?

Like my first book, there are over 125 comforting Texan recipes made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. There are also lots of stories and full-color landscape photos of Texas. To get a sense of how it's organized, here’s the table of contents, with a cow.



And here are some more cows. (While it may appear to the contrary, not every photo is of a cow. There are also bluebonnets, windmills, big sky, and numerous other photos taken across Texas. And, of course, lots of food.)



The recipes in this collection are inspired by old family favorites. This is Texan comfort food for any occasion, at any time of day. For instance, when we have the time, my family and friends love to linger at the breakfast table, so I’ve included lots of recipes for morning meals, such as Pecan Lime French Toast Casserole, Bacon and Molasses Breakfast Sausage, Breakfast Enchiladas, and Potato Chorizo Breakfast Tacos, which are made even better with homemade sausage, tortillas, and salsa.


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