Queso with black beans, Austin style
When I was in my early 20s living in Austin, after a night on the town my friends and I would find ourselves at one of the city’s all-night cafes….
Appetizer recipes
Texas pulled pork queso
My cousin married a woman from Kansas City. We’ve become good friends and the other day when she was doing work in Marfa, she sent me a text discussing the…
Texas caviar
Back when I first lived in New York, finding black-eyed peas was a challenge. While I do enjoy them year-round, it was around New Year’s Day that I became most…
Milk punch
Last spring, my friends and I sat on the porch at Mattie’s in Austin. We shared a fried chicken dinner and enjoyed the unseasonably cool weather. With the sparkly lights,…
Texas chili powder cheese ball
The first time I wrote about cheese balls on this site, I featured a character named Aunt Betty. She was a fancy relation who impressed everyone with her culinary prowess,…
El Paso-style chile con queso, 1947
El Paso has long been one of my favorite cities. When I considered where to live upon my return to Texas, El Paso was high on the list, and eliminated…
Fried green chile strips
After a weekend at a friend’s ranch house in the Panhandle, I decided to stay in the area a couple more days. That night in Amarillo, I went to a…
Fried green tomatoes
The first time I encountered fried green tomatoes was via the film of the same name. I had never heard of the dish and at first thought it was a…
Guacamole with corn (guacamole con elote)
Some things never change and that old saw about Texas weather being predictably unpredictable still holds true. Take last Sunday, for instance. In the morning, the sky was clear and…
Shrimp nachos, San Antonio style
The other day I was at a restaurant, and we ordered the nachos. When they arrived, I was shocked to see that they were a pile of chips with the…