Chicken and sausage gumbo
Growing up in Houston, I was no stranger to chicken and sausage gumbo. The city’s close proximity to Louisiana’s Cajun country insured that I knew plenty of kids with family…
Main dish recipes
Beef flautas, how to make the best
When I lived in Iowa City, a fellow homesick Texan was tired of the lack of good food, so he opened a Mexican restaurant called La Perlita. The name means…
Tex-Mex chicken and dumplings recipe
Is there a cuter word in the English language than dumpling? Nope, I didn’t think so. And when you pair it with chicken to make chicken and dumplings, you have…
Pickled shrimp with lime
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…
Dr Pepper ribs: sticky, spicy and sweet
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….
Cemita sandwiches with homemade rolls
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…
Lamb barbacoa: a special spring treat
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…
Austin and basic black beans
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…
Fish tostadas, Veracruz style
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…
Saved by red beans and rice
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…