Homesick Texan

Tex-Mex sloppy Joe sandwich

2012-01-26T12:00:00.005-05:00

The other day, I was in a taqueria eating a sandwich stuffed with a spicy, saucy picadillo that was rich with tomatoes and chiles. It was delicious, but it was also a bit of a mess as the meat kept...

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Dr Pepper oatmeal cake with a coconut and pecan topping

2012-01-19T06:55:00.002-05:00

Isn’t January supposed to be a healthy month, a time when you renew your gym membership, eat soups and salads and have a piece of fruit for dessert? That’s what I always thought, but since New Year’s...

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Buttermilk potato soup with bacon and roasted jalapeno

2012-01-11T12:46:00.002-05:00

My grandma calls me her good cook. She’ll say to her friends when I visit, “I don’t have to be in the kitchen because my good cook is here!” Usually, she lets me cook whatever I want. But the last...

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New Year's Day queso compuesto

2011-12-28T11:59:00.007-05:00

A year or so ago, I was visiting Texas in August and stopped by my grandma’s farm to say howdy. She asked if I was hungry, as she’d just cooked up a pot of black-eyed peas. How could I refuse? We...

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Complexion candy, a date, fig and pecan confection

2011-12-21T12:22:00.005-05:00

The other day I found myself in a cookie coma. After eating nothing but cookies and homemade candy for several hours straight, my belly hurt and I could barely keep my eyes open. It was a sugar,...

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Bacon-jalapeño cheese ball

2011-12-14T12:17:00.002-05:00

While I was home for Thanksgiving, I found in my grandma’s cabinet a North Texas community cookbook from the 1970s. It was a fairly typical cookbook, with chapters on appetizers, soups, main courses...

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Chilaquiles with ancho tomatillo salsa

2011-12-07T11:58:00.010-05:00

When I first moved to New York, one of the dishes that was lacking was migas. That Texan breakfast staple of eggs scrambled with fried tortillas, along with a host of other good things such as cheese...

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Homesick Texan gift guide 2011

2011-11-30T07:03:00.006-05:00

Doing things for others is said to be a path to happiness and that may be why this time of year is filled with so much joy. While I’ve been searching for gifts for my family and friends, I’ve come...

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Tamale cornbread dressing

2011-11-17T14:28:00.013-05:00

The first time I heard of tamales used as a stuffing was in Mary Faulk Koock’s The Texas Cookbook, where she tells a story about a friend of hers in Amarillo who packs his turkey with dozens of...

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Sweet potato salad with cranberries and pecans

2011-11-11T10:15:00.012-05:00

“What are you cooking this week?” asked my grandma. I told her I was making sweet potatoes. “They’re good for your eyes!” she said. My grandma loves her sweet potatoes, as does most of my family. I,...

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Stuffed pumpkin with cheese, bacon and chipotle chiles

2011-11-04T12:04:00.009-04:00

The day before I left for my Texas tour, I made an incredible dish. It was a baked pumpkin stuffed with bread, Gruyere, sharp white cheddar, bacon, chipotle chiles, cream and garlic. After spending...

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Texas Ranger cookies

2011-10-25T08:49:00.002-04:00

When I was eight, my dad drove us from Carrollton to Arlington to see the Texas Rangers. It was my first baseball game. While my previous sporting experience had only been football, I soon fell in...

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Tex-Mex fried pies

2011-10-13T13:26:00.017-04:00

“I have four words for you,” said a friend. “Tex-Mex fried pie!” “Isn’t that three words?” I said. “Whatever,” he said. “But have you had one?” I replied that I had not. “You should,” he said. He...

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Entomatadas recipe

2011-10-03T13:28:00.003-04:00

It’s that time of year when tomatoes are about to say farewell, and I’ve been eating them as often as I can. One of my favorite meals with said tomatoes is a batch of entomatadas. If you’re not...

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Chopped beef sandwich with a spicy barbecue sauce

2011-09-20T13:15:00.003-04:00

Last month, when I driving down 290 on my way to my cousin’s wedding weekend in Bryan, I passed my alma mater—Cy-Fair High School. School wasn’t set to begin until the following week, but I saw...

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The Homesick Texan Cookbook has finally arrived!

2011-09-13T10:43:00.006-04:00

Life is funny. If you had told me 16 years ago when I moved to New York that someday I’d be writing a cookbook about Texan cuisine, I would have just laughed. Sure, I loved to cook and I also wanted...

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Chicken fajitas recipe

2011-09-02T11:31:00.014-04:00

“Austin made me the best chicken fajitas,” said my grandma. “I have never had chicken taste so good.” My uncle is more renown for his squash enchiladas, so I was very intrigued. Now, I have to...

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Hatch chile apple cobbler

2011-08-26T15:33:00.009-04:00

Last weekend, I flew home to Texas for a family wedding. It was the Aggie branch of my family—a group that not only lives near College Station but they all also attended Texas A&M, a tradition...

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Tomato and cucumber salad with cornbread croutons

2011-08-17T14:03:00.003-04:00

My first experience with panzanella, or bread salad, was at a late summer outdoor gathering many years ago in Texas. At the time, I was a little suspicious of the salad, as I thought that the large...

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Spicy red onion jam

2011-08-05T10:50:00.009-04:00

Have ever bought an ingredient just because it’s so darn pretty? That happened to me at the farmers market this week—I saw a basket of red onions and was dazzled by their deep color and delicate...

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Poblano chorizo potato salad

2011-07-28T14:25:00.008-04:00

Going on a picnic or having a cook out? I’d like to offer you a suggestion—this bowl of poblano chorizo potato salad. Now, when I lived in Texas, my friends and I went on a lot of picnics. These...

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Corn and black bean salsa recipe

2011-07-23T13:23:00.006-04:00

Goodness! Where has this week gone? I can’t believe it’s already Saturday! I reckon this is what happens when you have a book coming out almost a month—your life starts to get a little busy. Take...

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Pecan-peach ice cream

2011-07-14T10:00:00.001-04:00

This pecan-peach ice cream is a mistake. A delicious mistake that turned out just dandy in the end, but still, it doesn’t quite fit in with the theme I had in mind. Let me explain. See, “Friday...

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Lemon-and-lime icebox pie with a chocolate graham-cracker crust

2011-07-07T11:06:00.018-04:00

The summer I was 10, I had an Elsie the Cow T-shirt. It had been a freebie at a swim meet, and so a bunch of my friends had the shirt as well. As it happens when several people have an identical item...

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Red chile hot wings

2011-06-29T14:22:00.014-04:00

These days, when you say you’re serving wings, most people assume it’s the spicy variety that were made popular in the far upstate New York city of Buffalo. In a nod to their provenance, when these...

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