A Taste of Home

As a Texan that has lived outside of the state of Texas almost fifteen years now, I often get homesick for certain foods.  If you have never been to Texas and had TexMex, then you will have no idea what I am talking about here, but it is an entirely different cuisine than authentic Mexican, although the two can be found side-by-side in many authentic family-ownded restaurants in Texas.

I realized after I left Texas that what I consider to be enchilada sauce is not what anyone else  (aside from the state of Texas) considers to be enchilada sauce.   The sauce we tend to have is more of a chili-gravy sauce and it is delicious.  I spent years looking for a good recipe for it with no luck.   When I was pregnant, I discovered that Amy's Organic Cheese Enchiladas include the chili gravy sauce.  It is a wonder I did not gain 80 pounds during that pregnancy.  But, alas, I was unable to recreate it for myself.  That is until a few months ago when I ran across a post by Homesick Texan.  The recipe seemed promising so I tried it.  Definitely worth a try if you are a misplaced Texan craving this sauce.  My husband does not do well with meals sans meat so I just added ground beef and made them beef and cheese enchiladas with the gravy sauce. Yummy!

Here is the recipe- copy/pasted directly from Homesick Texan's blog (note: I eliminated the oregano):

Chili Gravy (from Robb Walsh)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup lard or vegetable oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
1 teaspoon kosher salt 
1 teaspoon powdered garlic 
2 teaspoon ground cumin 
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chili power
2 cups beef broth, chicken broth or water

Method:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux.

Add the black pepper, salt, powdered garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano and chili powder and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients. Add broth or water, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens. Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes. Add water to adjust the thickness. 

Yield: 2 cups

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil 
8 corn tortillas 
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (can make it with Velveeta for extra melting oomph and good ol' Tex-Mex authenticity)
1 medium onion, diced 
2 cups chili gravy

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450 and grease a large baking dish.

Pour the oil in a small skillet, and heat the tortillas one at a time. Keep them wrapped in a cloth until all 8 are heated.

Pour the oil in a small skillet, and heat the tortillas one at a time. Keep them wrapped in a cloth until all 8 are heated. Pour 1/2 cup of chili gravy in a baking pan.

Take a tortilla, put 1/4 cup of cheese and 1 tablespoon of onion in the center and roll it. Place rolled tortilla in baking dish, seam side down.
Continue with remaining tortillas.

Take remaining chili gravy, and pour it over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese and onions on top. Bake for 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Yield: 4 servings


So that was one recipe aside, but I still needed to find the Mexican rice you get alongside dishes like these in restaurants.  I tried several of those before landing on this one.  I made it the other night and it got rave reviews from the family.

Here it is copy/pasted from the recipe site (I edited it to show exactly how I made it):

2 cups white rice
3 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
4 tablespoons oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon paprika 
1/2 tablespoon chili powder 
1/2 teaspoon cumin 
salt and pepper
Directions:

1
Heat water and boullion in separate pot or microwave to make broth.
2
In separate saucepan add oil and brown rice until rice is golden brown color on medium/high heat.
3
Add seasonings, garlic, and onion. Be sure to keep stirring rice so it does not burn.
4
Add broth & tomato sauce. Boil for a second, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 25 minutes.
5
Fluff and garnish with fresh cilantro if you like.

Another classic I think every Texan has a recipe is King Ranch Chicken.  It is a slightly spicy,  chicken-y, Mexican-ish sort of casserole.  Some put corn in it, but I only like corn by itself on a cob- for some reason corn mixed IN my food skeeves me.

King Ranch Chicken (recipe mine):

whole chicken, cooked and deboned 

approximately 1 Tbsp butter

1/2 onion, chopped

can cream of mushroom soup

can cream of chicken soup

can RoTel tomatoes (original flavor)

3/4c chicken broth

corn tortillas

grated cheddar

Cook chicken and pull the meat off the bone- set aside.

In a saucepan, saute chopped onion in butter until onion is soft.  Add soup, RoTel and chicken broth and stir to blend.  Simmer on low, covered for 5-10 minutes.

In a casserole dish, tear tortillas in 1/2, dip them in the soup mixture and layer the bottom of the casserole dish.  Sprinkle chicken on top, cover with a few spoonfuls of soup mixture, spread cheese over the top then repeat the process layering until full ending with cheese layer.

Bake covered at 350F for 35-40 minutes.  Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Another "home recipe" I love to make, although not Tex Mex and more southern than Texan is chicken and dumplings.  I get compliments on this dish, so I thought I would share this recipe as well.

Chicken and Dumplings

Melt about 2 Tbsp butter in a stock pot and saute 2 stalks of celery (chopped) and 1/2 onion (also chopped) until onion is browning- then add enough water to the pot to boil the chicken and drop in 3 bouillon cubes, salt and pepper.  I usually buy a fryer already cut up and boil about 30 minutes until it is done.

Remove chicken to side to cool but keep broth simmering.

In a bowl, mix 2 1/2 c flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp baking powder.

Measure 1/4 c shortening and cut/blend the shortening into the flour.  Now, here is where you can use a pastry blender if you have one ( here is what I am talking about).  I have never owned one, though, and I just plop the shortening into the flour and use two butter knives, cutting in a criss-cross pattern and blending until the shortening is cut into the flour and blended well.

Slowly add approximately 1 cup of cold water, mixing with a fork, until you have a sticky, moist dough.

Spread flour on a flat surface and turn 1/2 of your dough out onto the flour and knead the flour into it until it is no longer sticky.  Flour your rolling pin and roll it out to about 1/8- 1/4 inch thick depending on how thick you like your dumplings.  Use one of the butter knives to cut lines down and across the dough so you have square dumplings.  Drop the dumplings in the boiling broth one-by-one waiting until they surface.

Repeat above step with second half of dough.

Pull chicken off of the bone and add back into pot with dumplings and broth, cover and cook about 10 minutes.  Taste broth and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Of course, if you are IN the state of Texas, disregard this and just go get yourself some good authentic TexMex at your local restaurant. If you are needing some chicken and dumplings, get your momma or your grandma to show you how to make it.  If, however, you find yourself outside of the state and craving these things, then, by all means, try my recipes.  

Enjoy.

Carnal Instincts

Have you ever had a moment ( or half hour or so) where all rational thought and self control completely desert you and you are overtaken by your primal instincts?

No, I'm not talking about THAT.

I'm talking about something even more basic to our needs, the very core of our survival.

I'm talking about food.

You see, I'm a bit of a picky eater. I have entire food categories I won't eat because of their texture, but this post is not about that, it's about one food group in particular. Meat.

I don't eat seafood of any kind. I only eat turkey if it is smoked. I don't like pork, except for bacon which I don't like to fry, so unless someone else is frying it for me (which is never) then I don't eat that either. So, it's safe to say that I don't eat pork. I also have a tumultuous relationship with red meat. I mean, for the sake of variety and sanity of my husband, I will eat red meat on occasion. Otherwise we would be eating nothing but chicken. But, I never just sit around and think, " You know what I really want? A nice juicy steak." It's just not something I crave.

In fact, I often think I could become a vegetarian without much loss.

Until I encounter barbecue. I mean, I was born and raised in Texas. Barbecue is in my blood- literally. The maternal side of my family was obsessed with barbecue and had their own family recipe for sauce. We had frequent barbecues growing up, complete with a pit made from a hollowed-out drum. Only charcoal was used for cooking. None of that propane stuff! It's pretty serious business to a Texan, and this former-Texan can tear up a brisket and pick a rib clean enough for presentation in a museum when prepared properly (i.e. smoked, tender and covered in a yummy barbecue sauce).

So, yeah. I don't encounter much barbecue in the northeast, thus I am fooled into believing I live this almost-vegetarian lifestyle. That is until the occasion presents itself (as it did yesterday) that we stop in at a Famous Dave's restaurant.

We were on our way home from the shore and stopped in for a late lunch. Upon walking through the front door, the smell of smoked meat and barbecue sauce overcame me. I felt weak in the knees. The primal instincts were kicking in. I swear I felt my incisors lengthen and sharpen in preparation for me to get my carnivore on. I don't remember much after that. The plate of food was set before me and I went into a frenzy. A little later ( I have no concept as to how much time had passed) I came out of my trance and looked around. My husband and children were staring at me horrified. I had meat in my teeth and barbecue sauce all over my hands and face. But I was sated, so, ignoring the stares of the rest of my party, I smiled and opened my moist towelette and began cleaning my hands and face. And fingernails. And a little out of my hair. And maybe a smidge that was in my ear.

Now, feeling completely in control of myself again, I began small talk regarding the flavor of the brisket, comparison and contrast of the different sauces and inquired wether or not my husband was going to eat his cornbread muffin. I was slightly embarrassed at the thought of what my husband and children might have witnessed previously, but decided it best not to mention it.

Everything seemed so normal. Perhaps it was a gross over-exaggeration on my part and it hadn't been quite so bad after all. Yes, I had quite convinced myself that what I had actually just experienced was a lovely meal with my family and nothing else.

I voiced just that opinion of the state of things as I was packing my leftovers into the container. Zoe reached her tiny little arm over mine into my styrofoam container and suddenly I snapped at her like a dog defending his bone. " STAY OUT OF MY FOOD, ZOE! YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE THE MEAT ANYWAY!" Two wide little eyes stared up at me and then she squeaked, "I want fry fry, Mommy."

" Oh, french fries. Alright. You can have one of those."