Carnitas, Houston style
The last time I visited Houston, I arrived at midnight. I was exhausted, but my mom was waiting for me with a to-go container filled with my favorite restaurant dish:…
Main dish recipes
Me and my stovetop smoker
I can be stubborn. And when a notion gets a hold of my imagination, it doesn’t matter if the experts and authorities wag their fingers and say, “It ain’t ever…
Barbecue shrimp
What would you say if I told you that you could barbecue shrimp on your stove in about five minutes. That’s right, you’d probably laugh and tell me I was…
Lessons learned from my first crawfish boil
It’s crawfish season (or crawdad, as we used to say in Texas when I was growing up), and nothing beats having a group of people over for a big boil….
Breakfast sausage to begin the day
Even though the days are growing longer and the month of March begins in just a few days (does Daylight Saving Time start soon? That sunshine poking through the bedroom…
Beanie wienies for grown-ups
I was talking to a friend of mine from Delaware the other day, and mentioned beanie wienies. “Beanie wienies?” she said. “What’s that?” I was shocked. I thought everyone grow…
Good fortune soup for the New Year
Collard greens? Check. Black-eyed peas? Check. Ham? Check. With these three ingredients, I’m now set to eat a meal filled with good fortune on New Year’s Day. And lord knows,…
King Ranch chicken casserole
Casseroles are an ancient dish, found all over the world. Yet for some reason, whenever I hear the word, I don’t think of France (the origin of the name), I…
An anniversary served with fried chicken
Sixty years ago, my dear grandparents were married. A few days before the wedding, my grandfather’s mother wrote a letter to my grandmother’s mother. In her correspondence with her future…
The good, the bad and the puffy tacos
New York City is shaping up to be a terrific taco town. There are taco trucks scattered throughout the five boroughs, with one even parked just a few blocks from…