Butter beans
One day my grandma mentioned my uncle was preparing a big pot of butter beans for dinner. She then asked how I liked…
Chicken tortilla soup
In the 1930s, a Dallas cooking school advertised its course offerings, stating that it would be teaching how to make tortilla soup. This…
Fideo loco
A few years ago, I was enjoying breakfast tacos at Pete’s in San Antonio and I spotted a sign advertising fideo loco. In…
Black-eyed pea gumbo
Black-eyed peas have long been the dish of choice for Texans on New Year’s Day. While this humble field pea was once considered…
West Texas black beans with green chiles
When I first moved to Austin in my early 20s, one thing that struck me about the Tex-Mex on offer there was the…
Hopkins County stew
In Northeast Texas, there’s a county called Hopkins that is famous for its stew. The tradition of making Hopkins County Stew harkens back…
The Grape’s mushroom soup
Almost 24 years ago, I was in my kitchen on the Upper West Side talking to my mom on the phone. In those…
Caldillo, West Texas beef and green chile stew
The first time I heard about caldillo, it was in a comment from a reader. The discussion was on how best to use…
Tex-Mex beef and bean stew, aka Lakemont chili
My family has a dear friend who moved from Houston to Georgia when she and her husband retired. She’s an excellent cook and…
