Homesick Texan

How to season a molcajete

2009-07-10T07:50:00.003-04:00

At the delightful bed and breakfast, known as the Red Tree House, that I stayed at on a recent trip to Mexico City, every morning I would see the owner’s aunt use a molcajete to make salsa. I have...

Texas potato salad, what is it?

2009-07-03T10:52:00.015-04:00

Is there such a thing as Texas potato salad? And if so, what is it exactly? When I asked my family how they make their potato salad, they all provided recipes that called for similar ingredients:...

Pickled shrimp with lime

2009-06-30T09:24:00.011-04:00

When the days are hot and muggy, chilled pickled shrimp is a lush and refreshing way to help you forget you’re roasting in a hard, cement-coated city. Pickled shrimp, which in Spanish would be...

Buttermilk dressing

2009-06-23T10:11:00.001-04:00

The first time I ate pizza with my New York friends, I learned that Texans have a special relationship with buttermilk dressing. When the pizza arrived, I pulled a jar out of the refrigerator,...

Guacamole, my way

2009-06-15T19:01:00.011-04:00

I’m often asked why I don’t have a guacamole recipe on my site. I reckon the simplest answer is because I don’t have a recipe for guacamole. Instead, I just add some ingredients to a smashed-up...

Saveur, the Texas issue

2009-06-08T12:53:00.007-04:00

Do you love Texas food as much as I do? Then check out the June issue of Saveur, a special edition devoted to the Lone Star State. You’ll find a beautiful portrait of West Texas border food, a...

Aunt Margaret's strawberry delight

2009-05-28T08:45:00.010-04:00

A few weeks ago, before it was strawberry season, my grandma tempted me with a dessert my Aunt Margaret used to make: strawberry delight. Aunt Margaret was one of the fancier members of the family....

Dr Pepper ribs: sticky, spicy and sweet

2009-05-20T11:42:00.006-04:00

I’ve been on a rib kick lately. I usually like my ribs simple—seasoned with nothing but a salt, cayenne and black pepper rub, smoked low and slow over post-oak wood. But when I’m trying to make...

How to make a cemita

2009-05-14T10:58:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had a cemita? It’s a sandwich found in the Mexican state of Puebla. At first glance, you may think it looks like a hamburger as it’s housed on a round, sesame-seed bun. But after you...

Dewberry cobbler is your reward

2009-05-07T10:14:00.003-04:00

Picking dewberries is a wonderful warm-day pastime. When I was young, my friends and I would march out to the wilder parts of my suburban Houston neighborhood—such as the bayou, vacant lots or the...

Chipotle ketchup changes everything

2009-04-29T12:50:00.007-04:00

I was talking to a friend on the phone last night and he asked what I’d eaten for dinner. “Ketchup,” I replied. “And what else?” he said. “And nothing. Just ketchup,” I said, “though I suppose onion...

Ratios and cherry almond cookies

2009-04-24T07:44:00.010-04:00

I’m an improvisational cook. This means that I’ll take stock of what I have in the kitchen and then create dishes from what’s available. This method usually works if I’m making savory dishes, but...

What's in your English pea salad?

2009-04-16T08:04:00.021-04:00

I was sitting with a group of food writers from the Northeast the other day (I would playfully call them Yankees, but as it was gently pointed out to me, they wouldn’t call me a Confederate so I...

Honey-soaked hot cross buns

2009-04-09T06:26:00.013-04:00

The first time I heard of hot cross buns was during a piano lesson. It was early in my (very short) musical career, so I could only play songs that had a few notes all hovering close to middle C. One...

Lamb barbacoa: a special spring treat

2009-04-05T09:29:00.011-04:00

Is there a reason why we Texans don’t eat much lamb? It’s tender, it’s flavorful, it’s not too expensive and yet you seldom see it. Heck, I even heard a statistic that said we eat less than a half a...

Austin and basic black beans

2009-03-26T10:38:00.004-04:00

Now that SXSW is over and my non-Texan friends who attended the conference are back on the East Coast, all I hear from them is, “Where can I get a breakfast taco?” or “Who has the best...

Fish tostadas, Veracruz style

2009-03-19T10:50:00.004-04:00

I spent part of my junior year of college living in Spain. I was in the southern part of the country, in Granada, which is not too far from the Mediterranean Ocean. Because of this proximity, my host...

Greetings from Texas!

2009-03-12T13:30:00.029-04:00

Greetings from Texas! I have spent the past few days tooling around the state, reuniting with college friends in Dallas, visiting my grandmothers in McKinney, shopping for new cowboy boots in El Paso...

Pinto bean pie: sweet, not savory!

2009-03-04T08:18:00.013-05:00

Vinegar pie, buttermilk pie, and corn meal pie—these are all desserts that were in vogue when my grandmothers were growing up in the Great Depression. Made with just a few inexpensive ingredients,...

Saved by red beans and rice

2009-02-24T08:53:00.015-05:00

To celebrate Mardi Gras, I decided to try and to make gumbo. I failed. It wasn’t the fault of the recipe, I just don’t think I’m hard-wired to stand in front of a stove for an hour stirring flour...

End of winter carrot and raisin salad

2009-02-18T11:26:00.005-05:00

The end of February can be a very tiring time. You’re tired of wearing that long, black, down-filled coat that keeps you warm but makes you look like a stack of tires. You’re tired of the sun staying...

Cornbread -- how sweet it is

2009-02-10T10:21:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I had a lovely lunch at Dovetail, an Upper West Side restaurant that serves what I would call creative comfort food. The meal was good but the one thing that stood out for me...

A more precise Texas chili recipe

2009-02-04T10:44:00.007-05:00

I love to buy chiles, especially when I find ones that are soft and pliant, so fresh you can imagine they were drying in a Mexican field maybe just last week. I have to be careful, however, when...

Carne guisada, Tex-Mex stew

2009-01-26T09:20:00.008-05:00

I receive many emails from y’all, asking when I’ll be writing about a certain favorite Texan food. I’ve had requests for everything from deep-fried pickles to peanut-butter pie. But the most...

Making my own Mexican chorizo

2009-01-15T10:33:00.010-05:00

When I was young and silly, I found a recipe for mussels and chorizo. I loved chorizo—it was that tangy, spicy sausage I ate mixed with my scrambled eggs at my favorite Mexican breakfast joints. The...